Wie still winless; for some reason still talked about like she's a star

http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/9573734/Wie-off-the-cart-path,-on-a-career-path

My first vision of Michelle Wie spurred this unmistakable thought: She was a can't-miss star in the making who would dominate and revolutionize women's golf.

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She seemed more composed and mature than most 23-year-olds and her swing was as sound as Tiger Woods' swing. Her future could not have been more promising. She surely was better than even-money to become the Woods of women's golf.

That was some six years ago, the last time Wie played a pro event in the New York-New Jersey area until this week's Sybase Classic at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J., where she's playing for the first time.

What transpired from those years of early-teen innocence slowly turned into an ugly sideshow worthy of a Jerry Springer episode.

Wie spun uncontrollably into a head-case spiral to golfing oblivion because of questionable direction and advice from her parents and greed from sponsors bent on cashing in on her star power.





"They weren't my best moments," Wie said yesterday. "But I feel like I've learned a lot from struggling more than I have playing well."

Just four years after those moments of brilliant promise at age 13, Wie became a cheap circus act. She futilely played in PGA Tour events (0-for-8 and a withdrawal attempting to make the cut) on sponsor's exemptions offered to bring more attention to low-profile tournaments and all the while exploiting Wie.

With the obvious talent she has, one can't help but wonder how much better she would be today had she followed a more traditional career path and competed against her women contemporaries.

It should be noted that Morgan Pressel, Yani Tseng and Inbee Park beat Wie in amateur match-play competitions and all won an LPGA major championship in their teens.

Where would Wie's career be had she followed the same path?

The path her parents chose for her was all a pathetic mistake -- one that wasn't corrected until she finally went to the LPGA Tour's Qualifying School last winter and qualified the hard way to get her tour card.

"One of my proudest moments," Wie said of making it through Q School.

Fellow LPGA member Christina Kim said everyone "is very relieved that she's finally out here full time."

"She did whatever she felt was the right way to get out here," Kim said. "She lived her life with conviction and for someone her age it's very difficult to do and it's something you have to respect."

Speaking of respect, Lorena Ochoa, the No. 1-ranked player in the world and one of the most respected players on the LPGA Tour, uttered some words Wie should have lived by years ago.

"I think I first need to prove and achieve my goals here on the LPGA. This is where I belong," Ochoa said when asked if she has aspirations to compete against players on the PGA Tour one day.

Wie is not dwelling on the past.

"There's nothing I can do to change the past if I wanted to, so all I can do is focus on the future, focus on now," Wie said. "It's a fresh new start for me. I'm moving forward now."

Hopefully forward for Wie will soon lead to victories and a return of that same exuberance I saw in her eyes six years ago.