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Laura Baugh won the 1971 Women's Amateur at 16 and was a glamour girl. She was on the fron of Golf magazines in 1973 and 1974 and made more money than Kathy Whitworth (the Sorenstam of the 1970's) just from appearance money. She became pro after she graduated from high school in 1973 and joined the tour in 1974. She had about 10 2nd place finishes, and her best golf was in the 1970's, though she had cahcnes to win until about 1984. However, she married another pro golfer and had 7 kids and divorce and a serious drinking problem. To give her credit, she's a recovering alcoholic. Is it possible Wie could foloow her path?

It's about the same likely as she is to win the next 20 lpga majors straight.

While speaking to Whitehouse press reporters today about the war in Iraq, President Bush was thrown for a loop when a reporter asked about his thoughts on Michelle Wie playing PGA Tour events. After scratching his head, and offering a few "uhs and uhms" he finally found the answer he was searching for. "She's making progress. She should stay the course!"

(no, that didn't really happen. But the irony is splendid....)

This statistic can be seriously misleading when it's based on only one tourney. I remember a few weeks ago Birdi Kim's drives only averaged 160 yards. Obviously she can hit the ball more like 260 usually. The stat comes from only two holes per round. If she happens to hit a tree or duck hook one, the average can be sharply decreased.

I don't think she should play in men's events right now and agree that until she wins regularly on the LPGA she shouldn't play any more on the PGA. With that said, the statement above (she won't be in the game in 5 years) is just plain ridiculous. I also think that she'll STILL be the highest paid women's golfer in 5 years even if she never makes a PGA cut. She's an outstanding women's golfer that is likely to get much better. Nike and Sony and such will still sponser the living daylights out of her.

Look, say what you want, but the "supporters" are looking more on the extreme side than the "bashers" at this point.

It may not be a backlash per se, but the sentiment in professional golf and the golf media is pretty universal tonight, and that is: she needs to stop with the men's game thing.

They just had a big report about the Omega, and everyone who was quoted said the same thing: she needs to stop, and now.

It was coming, and now it's here...

I can't see it happening...although I may "see it happen." The course will be too long and soft for her, and she'll struggle to do much better than she did this week unless she putts phenomenally.

Watching Michelle in Switzerland was painful (I have a 14 yr old daughter).

She looked lost, not knowing what was going on, no smiles.
The antics on 18th in the second round was unbelievable.
"I want a free drop for line of site"
"Why?"
"Because the Scoreboard is in the way"
"In the way of what?"
"My line to the pin"
"But the scoreboard is about 25yds left of the pin"
"Oh"
Neither Michelle nor her caddie walked forward to check where the pin was.

I live in Yorkshire (the biggest county in England for you US guys) and we have three up and coming teenage women. Two have just played in the Curtis Cup, and all three are playing full time golf. They are all off 'Plus' handicaps and one is the lowest handicapped women in Britain at 17yrs old.
I have been lucky enough to play with one of them and I think she is a better player than Michelle.

Are these three thinking of turning pro?
Yes, but they want to be sure that they can play full time on the Tours before they do.

My point?
Michelle turned Pro too early and she is being ill advised on her career.
For one, if I was her coach and she was playing in the 'Spotlight' I would want to be there to make sure she performed well.
She lost her game in round 1 and nothing that was done helped her for round 2. Also she herself thinks that she is not far off competing with the men, sorry but she still has a long way to go.

Have to agree...
For me, the novelty has worn off. It is painful to watch a disaster in progress esp. when it could negatively affect her psyche for a long time. Tiger said he learned how to close the deal by winning however many hundreds of Jr. titles and that it carried over to his winning now. Michelle should stick with the ladies tour, learn to win, then if she wants to Monday qualify and give it a shot, great.
...and do I blame her for doing what she is doing? NO! To some degree, everyone I know is guilty of thinking their abilities are equipped to play better than they really are. Me? I just got hammered for 5 rounds playing courses from the tips that measured between 7700 yards and 8092 yards. Humbling.

Glad you came back witha sensible post Dave.
For example there was a hole where she took driver, completely hooked it left and hit the trees at 200 yards. If the ball is stopped in full flight by a tree, obviously the driving average is compromised.

Typical! The guy says something that goes along with your thinking, since its wie and he all of a sudden has a sensibile post

DaveHowe is one of the most respected posters on the forum, even when we don't agree.

I didn't realize they took the stats on two holes only. Doesn't seem to me they can really call it an average by only taking stats from two holes a round.

Yes, it's always been 2 holes... one on the back and one on the front, I believe. I think they usually pick holes where they expect the players to use driver. That's why stats from one tourney are often deceiving... at least on the low end as one lousy drive skews everything.

As I read this thread and it's constant back and forth between the two sides (which appears to be rodney_c vs. ROW) I have to ask one question:

Why does it bother folks (mainly men) so much that Michelle Wie is playing in this or any other golf tournament? Do you have a personal stake in the outcome of the tournaments? Were you possibly the only other person who could have gotten the exemption, so you blame MW for taking it from you? So many of you take this way too personal. It's like your life has been altered because MW is playing against the men, even if she does poorly.

I believe as long as the rules don't forbid her from entering and a sponsor wants to give her an exemption, let her play. The girl obviously loves the game, and wants to get better. Is that any different than the rest of us? So she has companies giving her millions to use their product - wonderful! More power to her and the company. I'm sure the money wasn't offered and paid without considerable thought going into it. If you disagree, boycott the sponsor's product, don't blame MW, her father, her coaches, or anyone else for accepting what any sane person would accept.

I wonder how many of you non-Euros would have even watched or paid attention to this Omega sponsored event if MW wasn't in it. I believe her presence, even for only 2 days, accomplished exactly what the sponsors wished - more international exposure for the event and for their products.

If MW hadn't been in this tourney, and someone else was given that exemption and also managed to come in dead last, would there be a thread on GR about it saying "That guy took an exemption away from someone who could have used it better!"?

There appears to be a double-standard in place. Since MW is a talented young woman, a media darling, and a big draw at any event she goes to, she is expected to perform at her best every time she plays. She's not allowed to have an off week, even after returning to Hawaii, starting high school, and then flying to Europe to play. When she does perform well enough to place higher than many seasoned male players, since she doesn't make the cut she isn't supposed to play against the men anymore. Why not? If she can beat 50 pro golfers one week, why not try to beat 60 of them at another tourney and maybe make the cut? Are any other players told that if they miss the cut the same amount of times in a year as MW has, they can't play any more?

Sorry for the rant, of sorts. But I just don't understand why so many people, who love golf and play every chance they get, would hold it against someone for doing the same thing. Maybe it's jealousy, maybe it's chauvinism. Maybe it's something else. If you know, please enlighten me!