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Michelle Wie West

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Template:Koreanname image Michelle Wie (born October 11, 1989) is a professional American golfer who has gained attention for her long drives and her attempts to make a cut at a PGA Tour event.

Early years

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, of Korean descent, she began playing the game of golf at the age of four. When Wie was 10, she shot a personal-best 64 in 18 holes from the 5,400-yard tees at the Olomana Golf Links, one of Hawaii’s most difficult courses. That year, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship and advanced into match play at the Women's U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship using her grandmother's clubs.

2002-2004: Amateur career

In 2002, Wie won the State Open Women's Division by 13 shots over LPGA pro Cindy Rarick. She also became the youngest player to qualify for an LPGA event, the Takefuji Classic...she would miss the cut.

A year later, she became the youngest player ever to make a cut in a LPGA event at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and shot a 66 in the 3rd round, tying the amateur record for a women's major championship, and placing her in the final group alongside eventual winner, Annika Sorenstam. A few months later, Wie earned an historic victory at the Women's Amateur Public Links tournament, becoming the youngest person ever (male or female) to win a USGA event for adults. In 2004 Wie became only the fourth female, and the youngest ever, to play in an event on the PGA Tour, at the Sony Open in Hawaii. She shot 72-68 to finish at even par, but missing the cut by one stroke.

That year, Wie was named to the U.S. team for the 2004 Curtis Cup and became the youngest woman ever selected to the play as the U.S. team went on to win. She then went on to finish fourth in the ‘04 Kraft Nabisco Championship. If she had played the 2004 season as a professional, she would have earned over US$250,000 from her tournament results.

2005: Turning pro

Wie had long attracted attention from male pro golfers who remarked not just on her height but on the length she was able to drive the ball and the form of her golf swing. When Wie was fourteen Ernie Els remarked, "Give her another couple years to get stronger, she can play on the PGA Tour." The 6 ft 1 in (1.86 m) Wie, at the age of 16, has an average drive of about 280 yards. Her size and use of Els as a model have led sports media to call her The Big Wiesy, a play on Els' nickname of The Big Easy. Fred Couples said, "When you see her hit a golf ball … there's nothing that prepares you for it. It's just the scariest thing you've ever seen." As to Wie's potential impact on the sport, Arnold Palmer stated in 2003 that "she's probably going to influence the golfing scene as much as Tiger, or more. She's going to attract people that even Tiger didn't attract, young people, both boys and girls, and families."

Wie started her 2005 season on the LPGA Tour by finishing second at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. That June, she placed second at the LPGA Championship, one of the women's majors. She became the first female golfer to qualify for a USGA national men's tournament, when she tied for first place in a 36-hole qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Public Links. At the U.S. Women's Open, she finished the third round in a three-way tie for the lead, but dropped severely after scoring an 82 in the final round, and finished tied for 23. The week after, she played in the John Deere Classic in her third attempt to make the cut at a PGA Tour event, where she missed the cut by two strokes.

In the Men's Public Links, Wie made the top 64 in the stroke play rounds to qualify for match play and losing in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion. She then played in the Evian Masters, a major on the Ladies European Tour and a regular LPGA event, and finished in a tie for second. The week after, she finished tied for third at the Women's British Open, the fourth and final major of the year.

On October 5, 2005, less than a week before her 16th birthday, Wie announced in Hawaii that she was turning professional, reportedly signing sponsorship contracts with Nike and Sony worth more than US$10,000,000 per year. At the same time she announced a pledge of $US500,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief.

Professional career

Wie played her first event as a professional in the limited-field Samsung World Championship, an LPGA event open only to 20 top professional ladies golfers, and was initially credited with a fourth-place finish and US$ 53,000. However, shortly after signing her scorecard, rules officials were alerted by a reporter of a possible infraction of the rules on the seventh hole of the third round (played the previous day). Because Wie signed her scorecard without reporting the rules infraction, she was charged with a violation of the rules of golf for signing an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified from the tournament.

Wie played her second professional event in November, 2005 at the Casio World Open on the Japan Golf Tour and shot four over par to miss the cut. Her third professional start was in January 2006, returning to the PGA TOUR at the Sony Open in Hawaii, and missed the cut again for the third straight year. In Feb ’06, the first release of the Women's World Golf Rankings placed Wie third in the world, behind Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer, but soon advanced to second. By April ’06, she was removed from the rankings for not participating in the minimum number of tournaments required.

To open her first season on the LPGA, Wie earned US$73,227 for a third place finish in the Fields Open in Hawaii and US$108,222 for finishing in a tie for third in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

In May 2006, Wie participated in the SK Telecom Open on the Asian Tour and became the second woman (after Se Ri Pak in ’03) to make the cut at a men's tournament in South Korea. Wie reportedly received US$700,000 in appearance fees for competing in the event that offered US$600,000 in total prize money. While in Korea Wie captured the attention of many fans, especially children. As she walked to her ball after driving a long fairway shot, a Korean toddler in a dress reportedly shouted "unni (big sister) fighting!" On May 16, Wie finished first in a local qualifying tournament for the Men's U.S. Open. According to officials with the sponsoring United States Golf Association, Wie is the first woman to ever win a local qualifier for the men's US Open.

She will also play in four more LPGA events as well as the US Women's Open and the Weetabix British Open. In late May, Wie accepted a sponsor invitation to play in the Omega European Masters, thereby making her the first woman to play in a European Tour event.

Amateur and professional victories

  • 2003 USGA Women's Amateur Public Links

(showing individual victories only)

As of May 4, 2006, Wie has played in a total of 35 professional events: 27 LPGA Tour events, 4 PGA TOUR events, 1 Nationwide Tour event, 1 Canadian Tour event, 1 Japan Golf Tour event, and 1 Asian Tour event. As an amateur she played in several Hawai'i state and USGA national amateur events.

Results in LPGA majors

Tournament 2003 2004 2005 2006
Kraft Nabisco Championship T9 LA 4 LA T14 LA T3
LPGA Championship DNP DNP 2 LA
U.S. Women's Open T39 T13 TLA T23
Women's British Open DNP DNP T3 LA

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = did not play
"T" = tied for position
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Golf records

  • The youngest player ever to qualify for an adult USGA-sanctioned tournament – 10 years, 9 months, 24 days (2000 Women's U.S. Amateur Public Links)
  • The youngest player ever to qualify for an LPGA tournament – Age 12 (2002 LPGA Takefuji Classic)
  • The youngest winner (male or female) of an adult USGA-sanctioned tournament – Age 13 (2003 Women's U.S. Amateur Public Links)
  • The youngest player to make a cut in an LPGA tournament and major – Age 13 (2003 Nabisco Championship)
  • The youngest player to play in a PGA Tour event – Age 14 (2004 Sony Open)
  • The lowest round by a female in a PGA Tour event (also the first female to score a sub-70 round in PGA Tour history) – 68 (2004 & 2006 Sony Open)
  • The youngest player to play in Curtis Cup history – Age 14 (2004 Curtis Cup)
  • The first female ever to make a cut in an Asian Tour-sanctioned event – 2006 SK Telecom Open
  • The youngest female to make a cut in any professional male tour event - Age 16 (2006 SK Telecom Open)
  • The first female medalist in a men’s US Open qualifying tournament – Age 16 (2006 US Open Local Qualifying at Turtle Bay Hawaii)
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Preceded by Laureus World Newcomer of the Year
2004 		Succeeded by
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