JudD, I have to say that I agree to some extent. I'm looking at Michelle's game and how it has progressed over the past few years. I just don't see the progress, and it appears to me that she has actually regressed. Again, I don't have numbers to prove it, just watching her play over the past couple years. Given her youth, I think she has tremendous upside and would like to see her develop her talent.
If you go to the LPGA website and click on the players link and scroll down the page you can click on an adobe page with Michelle's finishes for all the years she has played. She definitely had a superb year and there are few LPGA players who consistently outplayed her in the tournaments that she was in. Yes, she didn't win, but look at the players that did. Karrie Webb came back from a horrible few years and again this year is not exactly burning up the links. Se Ri had a comeback last year but this year is out of form again. These are two of the people who came out of nowhere to take two championships that Michelle was in contention for. The other major that she was contending in was the Open which was won by Annika. The only major she didn't do great in was the Weetabix this year and even that she was 27th and tied with Annika. How can anyone say she wasn't playing well or didn't improve. Six of her eight tournaments were top tens and mostly top fives.
Whats its been like 6 months since she hit the ball off the cart path and she still is complaining about it.........Wie is a burnt out flame......she was dumb for becoming pro too early.....She should have played in college
It would be nice if you checked facts before commenting. She fell while she was visiting Stanford. She was running on the track there. She hurt her right wrist at the Samsung in October. When she fell at Stanform, she hurt the left wrist and that was only five or six weeks ago.
Will Morgan Pressel's win motivate Michelle Wie to locus on competing against the women and trying to win?
My hunch is if she doesn't win soon, she better be investing that money from NIKE, because I have a hunch once that contract expires, she won't be getting near the money she does.
Jud, I am referring to Michelle's inability to put consistently and her erratic play with all of her clubs at times. Again, she has a lot of talent that will take a long way, but there is a lot of work to be done on her game for her to see her potential realized.
Well, I think she did make around $20 million last year. Meanwhile, if you look at what someone like Lorena Ochoa earned last year, it will take her many many years to make that much.
Really, it's wait and see. She's injured right now and we haven't seen her play in an LPGA Tour tournament this year. She's historically finished very well on the LPGA Tour. She hasn't won yet and I think that's the next step. We'll just have to wait and see.
Now, Zach Johnson wins the Masters and he normally competes in the John Deere Classic. Currently, Michelle Wie is an afterthought at best in that event.
In addition, it is not big news that she decided not to participate this weekend. I wonder if people are now losing interest in her.
NIKE is probably thinking about how much money they wasted on Michelle Wie right now.
I'd say interest level is definitely not at its peak for her. I wonder if Nike regrets signing her to that contract, though. She's still a big name and brings a lot of attention. I'm sure Nike is in it for the long term but she has to step up for sure.
Has anyone heard when she might play next? Looking forward to seeing how she does on the LPGA Tour. She's always done really well there and I would like to see a good performance out of her after her recent struggles playing against the men.
i believe a hiatus would be good for her. disappear for a while get it together then come back roaring and just smoke the field. but right now shes not getting a whole done for herself. well she did make what $20 mil last year?
Lincicome's win puts her among the young guns. With each week Wie misses, she is overlooked more and more. There will be increasing pressure for her to win.
NIKE is probably crying at all the money while the Wie family has to be grateful. Hopefully, they invested it well.
Lincicome won an important matchplay event last year also. + She may have Wie beat in the distance department.
That said, Wie is nowhere near retirement age. Let's see what happens over the next couple of years....
I am not writing her off yet, but the pressure is on for her to produce. I think NIKE regrets the decision of paying her $20 million. I also think her decision of attending Stanford after turning pro was a mistake, and if NIKE had known she would have done that, they may have given her a smaller contract.
It turned out to be a mistake of her playing in the Sony Open and aggravating her injury. I wonder if she hadn't played at the Sony Open, she would have competed insome LPGA events including the Nabisco.
Michelle may end up doing well, but in order for her to get futute lucrative contracts like her last NIKE contract, she will have to produce like Annika or Tiger..
It turned out to be a mistake of her playing in the Sony Open and aggravating her injury. I wonder if she hadn't played at the Sony Open, she would have competed insome LPGA events including the Nabisco.
I believe her more recent injury that has been plaguing her was to her other wrist. I think she fell while she was exercising.
Given the choice between her playing in the Sony Open or the Nabisco, I'd also rather see her in an LPGA event. I don't think her playing in the Sony Open was the cause for her being out right now, though.
As straightshooter mentioned, she isn't exactly nearing retirement age or anything. She's still a full time high school student and has proven to play very well in her LPGA Tour appearances. Her recent mens appearances have been embarrassing but I still think she will be one of, if not the best, female golfer in the future. I guess only time will tell.