Apparently, the top 35 women on the money list are exempt for the Open and if Michelle collected her paychecks, she'd be #28 right now (in limited tournament play). She is not only the fourth person to receive an exemption in all of Open history (men's, women's and senior).
Wow. Only the fourth person in Open history. Where I'd really like to see her qualify is for the Women's British Open. It would be fun watching her trying to navigate the winds there.
i definitely think she deserves the exemption. she would have qualified if she were a pro playing in a limited amount of tournaments being 28th on the money list. that's amazing. hopefully she'll put it together one day to win an lpga tournament. while i don't fully buy into tiger's "you have to learn the art of winning" approach (it worked for him but he couldn't have competed on the pga tour at 14), i do think she has to chalk up a few more wins. she can do it in amateur play but doing so on the lpga tour would really get everyone excited.
i'm watching grey goose 19th hole on golf channel right now and one of the guys is dissappointed they just decided to hand an exemption to michelle. my reaction is one big HUH? she would have been 28th on the money list and qualified herself if she wasn't an amateur! come on, she's already denying her checks! i know there are rules and she's technically not on the money list but i think they have to change the rules to acknoweldge this.
one way you can qualify for the women's u.s. open is by being in the top 30 of the lpga tour money list. she would have been #28 if she wasn't an amateur. don't you think it's great that the usga noticed this and granted her the exemption? now, what makes it even better is she'll be able to play another event during the time when she would have had to qualify.
I agree Montipora. It already is more difficult for amateurs to qualify for the Open. Why does it have to be even more difficult? The rules should be ammended to read something like, "if the amateur player would have qualified as a pro, they should qualify." If Michelle were a pro, she would have qualified via her standing on the money list. The only reason why she's "technically" not 28th on the money list is because she can not accept her checks as an amateur.
Think about it. Why was the exemption passed on to Michelle? Money. Annika's a great female golfer but the LPGA doesn't do so well on TV even with her in the tournament. Michelle can benefit the LPGA Tour in the way that Tiger benefited the PGA Tour.
I've heard that "she would have qualified if she were a pro" argument but the fact is, she's an amateur. There's all of this talk about ammending the rules. This is a whole different topic. We know what the rules are as of this moment and the rules say you must be in the top 30 of the money list. To do this, you have to be pro. Let her qualify the same way every other amateur will try to qualify.
[i]I've always thought the US Open is just that open to all who can qualify. I think by recieving this exemption she has bypassed the most important part of the process, the ability to play well enough to qualify and get into the field. thats MO>
It's all about the money. Wie sells right now and everyone wants a piece of the action. Yes she's good, but if she's that good she should have no problem qualifying. Some think she's under "pressure" when she plays in men's events, I say make her qualify to play in the Woman's US Open.....then we'll see how she handles pressure! She's still an amateur. How can she receive exempt status for where she would have been on a the Ladies PROFESSIONAL Golf Association Tour? Again, its the $$$
May 24th, 2004, 05:44 PM
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