12/21/24
June 26, 2005
15-year-old has chance to win U.S. Women's Open.: Going into the final round today, Michelle Wie is in second place, two strokes behind the leader. And four strokes ahead of undisputed women's champ Anika Sorenstam. Actually makes me consider watching golf. Maybe. Think she can pull it off?
posted by worldcup2002 to golf at 02:24 AM - 32 comments
Thanks for the clarification, Hal. Makes my question even more poignant. ;-) I think they can't win the cash because they still have amateur status. Or something.
posted by worldcup2002 at 11:00 AM on June 26, 2005
so what if Wei wins? Is she suddenly the best golfer in the world? Hardly. Can she win at the pace Annika wins at? Is she a factor in every tournament she is in? No. Does anyone really care about womens golf???
posted by bluekarma at 11:02 AM on June 26, 2005
don't count Sorenstam out just yet boys. My money is still on her. The heart of a champion. sunday is the day we find out who can handle the real pressure.
posted by bluekarma at 11:04 AM on June 26, 2005
I think they can't win the cash because they still have amateur status. Exactly. They only got into the tournament in the first place BECAUSE of their amateur status. If they were pros, they'd have had to qualify for the LPGA like everyone else. But as an amateur, they can make it for big tournaments as a sponsor's exemption or by winning an amateur tournament that is tied to it. In this case, I believe Wie get's a shot at the US Women's Open because she won the US Women's Amateur title (I think). Does anyone really care about womens golf??? don't count Sorenstam out just yet boys. My money is still on her. The heart of a champion. sunday is the day we find out who can handle the real pressure. How very odd. You question the popularity of women's golf, and then you follow it up 2 minutes later with who you think might win the tournament. I'm guessing you might be one of those people who really cares about women's golf...
posted by grum@work at 11:51 AM on June 26, 2005
Or one of those people who watches women's sport wondering when Wie will be of legal age. I think this is fascinating. Everyone has been dumping on Wie for not been Tiger or Annika, but for God's sake ... she's 15! Considering her age, even with the 17- and 18-year-olds playing well, Wie has had 10-20% less time to work on her game than them, and well less than the entrenched pros. Give her a couple years, boys, and she will be the next big thing ... maybe even on the men's tour. ;)
posted by wfrazerjr at 12:52 PM on June 26, 2005
The men's tour has the same exemptions for amateurs and sponsor-desired pros as the women's tour, these girls aren't getting any special treatment in that regard. Wie, maybe she wins today maybe not. But she's also qualified, by winning a regional tournament, for the US Men's amateur tournament. If she can win that title, she gets an automatic spot in next year's Masters. Anyone else want to have a webcam following Hootie Johnson during the Sunday round of the Amateur weekend if she's in the hunt? ROFL. BlueKarma: Perhaps--now that your opinion on women's sports is clear--you should take the advice given to me early in my participation here when I made comments like yours about baseball. Which was to just stay out of threads about it, since my comments contributed nothing to the discussion. You want to be a troll, fine, but otherwise this is probably a better idea.
posted by billsaysthis at 01:20 PM on June 26, 2005
Wie already appears to be choking by going +4 through just 5 holes so far, while Pressel (who's only 17, we might again point out) has stayed steady and is still in the lead at +1. Sorrenstam is +2 through 11, and has fallen completely out of contention (unless she birdies every single hole for the rest of the round!). Big Wiesy? More like the Big Teasy... US Women's Open LeaderBoard
posted by hincandenza at 02:06 PM on June 26, 2005
Ten over now for Wie through 11 ... ouch. How come we haven't heard the women bitching about the set-up of this course. It looks to be playing every bit as hard as last week's Men's Open. Perhaps the makes need to ... nut up?
posted by wfrazerjr at 03:54 PM on June 26, 2005
Everyone has choked today, whether they were in their teens or their thirties. Annika, Wie, Pressel, Stuppel, Kim, Kim, everyone.
posted by chicobangs at 04:39 PM on June 26, 2005
But what a splendid closer from Kim! That made watching the last 15 minutes worthwhile. Birdie for Birdie. Good stuff.
posted by worldcup2002 at 05:23 PM on June 26, 2005
Most everyone choked- as wc2k2 noted, that shot from Kim was outstanding, and she didn't blanche when the others did. For that matter, Pressel played well under pressure, and could have won this but for Kim making an insane shot. Wie however- what a joke! 10-over round?! That's embarassing. And the way she choked: I can't even tally the number of missed 1- and 2- foot putts for birdie or par. She would have shaved a half dozen strokes off her game and been in the thick of it if she'd putted as well as a 6-year-old might on the windmill hole. What a total fraud. She's no different than those "long-distance driver" champs; she hits a ton at a young age, but has no short game. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. It's embarassing having her on the field with any other players, she's a joke. Michelle Wie is the Anna Kournikova of women's golf. She'll have a calendar or two when she hits 18, but other than that we won't hear much of her on the course.
posted by hincandenza at 06:11 PM on June 26, 2005
Michelle Wie is the Anna Kournikova of women's golf. You're killing me with the overstatements here. She's 15. Was Tiger always under par in pro tourneys at 15?
posted by yerfatma at 07:06 PM on June 26, 2005
she performed well over the first three rounds, no? is she not entitled to a little waver under pressure at the age of 15? only one round under par on the final day as I read. the final group in the men's US open share shat all over the course on the final day if I recall. one lousy round does not make a career.
posted by gspm at 08:09 PM on June 26, 2005
Hal, that's about four steps beyond harsh. She finished up tied with Annika. Exactly the same score. In the US Open. "It's embarassing having her on the field with any other players, she's a joke. [Annika Sorenstam] is the Anna Kournikova of women's golf. She'll have a calendar or two when she hits [35], but other than that we won't hear much [more] of her on the course." Please. Wie had a fantastic 54 holes. (And you know, she did finish second in the last major she played in. That was last month. Remember?) Hal, if I ever catch you praising Michelle Wie's innate natural golf talent or taking her in a betting pool,, formally or not, before or after she turns 18, calendars be damned, I will totally call you on it.
posted by chicobangs at 08:16 PM on June 26, 2005
I think somebody stole Hal's login information.
posted by billsaysthis at 09:55 PM on June 26, 2005
... and they're keeping it locked up with his brain (which they stole many years ago). Billy - Has Wie qualified for the US Amateur as well? Did I hear she also qualified for the Public Links? Or am I even more sleep-deprived than I feel this morning?
posted by JJ at 03:30 AM on June 27, 2005
Wow, Hal, washed up and her fate sealed at 15. How about we kick her off the tour for having a terrible final round because she's "an embarassment to the field", because that has never happened to anyone experien...oh wait a minute. Yes, I remember. In a major tournament, an incredible number of top quality players have choked repeatedly. See: Phil Mickelson. As well, if you watched the first 54 holes or even the last major played, you'd realize the girl has a short game, she, like many, just needs to hone it in. And I'd say that's entirely likely in, oh, the next 30 years of being on the Tour.
posted by dfleming at 05:16 AM on June 27, 2005
And she's not the only one it'll be fun to watch polish her game. Lang and Pressel are both at a similar place (Paula Creamer looks to be pretty much ready for prime time, which might be even more remarkable). On the other hand, I think Jean Van De Velde should be tied up and shot.
posted by chicobangs at 07:22 AM on June 27, 2005
Booooooooooo, Chico! Shame on you! The Frenchman is a legend! I wonder what odds he is for the Open...
posted by JJ at 09:03 AM on June 27, 2005
But -- but JJ, he did it again yesterday! He tanked the last hole! He found water twice! 6-year-old! Windmill hole! Kournikova! Hee. Honestly, I reckon the odds on him winning any given major at this point are long enough it might be worth throwing a fiver on him.
posted by chicobangs at 09:24 AM on June 27, 2005
i actually got into watching the Open after O-choke-a ripped her tee shot at 18 in the hope the surface tension of the prominent lake hazard would set up her approach.
posted by garfield at 09:52 AM on June 27, 2005
The best part of Van De Velde's second collapse was that the other player double-bogeyed the first playoff hole and still won. Baffling, simply baffling.
posted by dfleming at 09:53 AM on June 27, 2005
Jean-Francois was trying to teach VDV a lesson there - he was saying "Look, Jean, here's how you win with a double bogey at the last hole." I admire him for puting himself back into a position to choke at all - he's had a rotten run of luck (more off the course than on it) of late and I applaud him for not running away and crawling into a hole after what happened to him in '99.
posted by JJ at 10:42 AM on June 27, 2005
I admire him for puting himself back into a position to choke at all - he's had a rotten run of luck (more off the course than on it) of late and I applaud him for not running away and crawling into a hole after what happened to him in '99. He did try and crawl in a hole ... but he hit the water twice.
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:55 AM on June 27, 2005
It's embarassing having her on the field with any other players, she's a joke. Michelle Wie is the Anna Kournikova of women's golf. Did this really happen? I'm reserving comment until Hal can confirm that SpoFi got hacked.
posted by YukonGold at 11:41 AM on June 27, 2005
Hal - you may go down in Spofi history with that quote. Sure Wie folded up like a 15-year old lawn chair, but with her physical stature and distance already (she is at or better than the PGA average) she may not be playing just against women in the future. And she's already more than a tad better than a fucking 'longest drive' player. For three rounds at the US Open she was better than the best women in the world. Credit where credit is due.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:34 PM on June 27, 2005
Sure Wie folded up like a 15-year old lawn chair I prefer "Folded faster than Superman on laundry day." Also, the formatting and punctuation suggests Hal. A drunken, blithering one, but Hal nonetheless.
posted by yerfatma at 01:50 PM on June 27, 2005
Well, the "long drive" comment is totally worthless to begin with. She ranked 36th in driving distance with a long drive a good 30 yards behind the leaders in that catergory. After that, only one player shot under par on Sunday and the best player in the world carded a 77. Discarding the future of 15 year old amateur seems a bit ridiculous. I'm still holding out hope for a hacking though. That would be a really sweet locker room post.
posted by YukonGold at 02:23 PM on June 27, 2005
JJ, I expect you have better golf resources than me. I just recall reading that a week or two ago an article in the paper mentioned she won a regional qualifier for an amateur tournament which, should she win, would guarantee her a spot at next year's Masters. So you better believe I'm rooting for her.
posted by billsaysthis at 04:31 PM on June 27, 2005
Sorry to disappoint, boys and girls. That was pure, hack-free Hal-icious goodness! Geez- would you all have been less offended if I had called her the "Shawn Bradley of women's golf"? I don't know... the day after, I do think I went a wee bit too far in my condemnations. She'll probably mature, get her head straight, start putting it all together and scaring the panties off the LPGA. But we've been burned by other prodigies, and as Pressel's impressive showing yesterday demonstrated, the "female Tiger Woods" may not only not be Wie, but be someone we're not talking about while discussing the Age of Consent countdown for Michelle. Other than her early growth spurt, and her scary long-distance for her age/gender, have we really seen anything in Wie's game to make her particularly notable at this point? I would hazard we have not. And my ultimate point was that plenty of young kids have come up through the years with 300+ distance off the tee at 16 or 17 years old... and we heard very little from them in their futures. Praising her on her ability to hang for 36 or even 54 holes is silly: the game is played on 72 holes, and that's the only standard by which you can judge. Yes, if she gets a couple of years and starts snagging major and minor tournaments in the LPGA with reckless abandon before she's out of her teens, we'll begin the Wie-mania in earnest, and talk of her being the first woman to compete with considerable success in the men's game. Until then, though, she's just an overhyped bundle of potential, and little else.
JJ: I think somebody stole Hal's login information. ... and they're keeping it locked up with his brain (which they stole many years ago).Well that wasn't called for! You may disagree with some of my more flamboyant posts, but I like to think I've got some serious street cred at the ol' SpofArena. Heck, my NFL playoffs ESP is practically the stuff of legends!
posted by hincandenza at 04:32 PM on June 27, 2005
I would agree that we see far too much of "The Greatest of All Time" nowadays, often amongst youngsters with "Tremendous Upside Potential". Outside of the NHL, it seems like every championship team has to be one for the ages now. The Patriots are The Greatest of the Free Agency Period. 5 games after Al Michaels opened the NBA Finals saying it was the first meeting of the top 2 defensive teams in 20-some years, people were seriously discussing if Tim Duncan's performance would hurt his legacy as the Greatest Power Forward of All Time. It doesn't matter that we can't compare across eras. It doesn't matter if they're not our team. The point is some day we can be old bastards in a bar saying it was better then and we had their rookie card.
posted by yerfatma at 04:51 PM on June 27, 2005
Actually, the story you linked to was from the end of the second round, wc2k2. Her actual standings going into the final round is now tied for 1st, in a 3-way tie. What's interesting is that one the other two people she's tied with, as well as a person 1-stroke back, are 17 and 18 respectively- so there's an all-teen group at the top of the standings. My guess is Wie won't win it, while Morgan Pressel might have the greater will to win. Wie is not the only prodigious young golfer out there, after all, and hasn't lived up to her hype (yet). But if she does, then I think we'll look back on this Open as the lit fuse for what will be a spectacular career. Huh?! Why wouldn't they be eligible? It's one thing if they were in the NCAA and taking prize money would invalidate their NCAA standing; but why shouldn't two people be eligible for the prize money? And if Wie or Pressel win... what happens to the cash?!