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Sports

Wie deserves shot at PGA tour

Titan

Mark Suarez 

Making the cut on the PGA Tour has long been the standard of excellence in golf. The cut at a PGA tournament separates the elite from the ordinary and acts as a rite of passage for the very best players in the field to compete for a tournament championship.

   In the past two years, 16-year-old phenom Michelle Wie has attempted five times to make the cut at a men’s PGA event. Her 6-1 frame is enough to garner the attention of most people when she steps onto greens and fairways, but it is her ability to drive a golf ball 280 yards that captivates spectators and makes her the real deal on the golf course. Wie possesses tremendous ability and a track record that indicates she will one day compete with the men on a regular basis.

Critics who maintain she does not deserve to play on the PGA because she lacks credibility as a golfer know little about Wie’s career. In 2002, the Hawaiian native demonstrated she could compete with the pros as an amateur when she won the Hawaii Open Women’s Division by 13 strokes over LPGA pro Cindy Rarick. Wie went on to become the youngest player to make a cut at an LPGA event a year later at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, and shortly afterward, she became the youngest player to win a USGA event for adults when she earned a first place finish at the Women’s Amateur Public Links in 2003.

To claim she has not won on any level is false, and to assume prestige in golf can only be obtained by finishing in first place every time out is ludicrous. Participants who regularly finish at or near the top of the leader board typically receive large prizes and recognition as an elite player among their peers. In 2005, Wie finished second at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay and at the LPGA Championship as well. 

Wie declared her intention to turn pro Oct. 5, 2005, which opened the door for her to sign sponsorship deals with Nike and Sony worth a reported $10 million a year. Not bad for a girl who was one week shy of her 16th birthday.

Since then, Wie has taken the opportunities given to her by sponsor exemptions to play in PGA events, and although she has yet to make a cut, the fact is she does not need to win a Women’s US Open to gain credibility to play with the men. Wie showed that making the cut at a men’s professional tournament is an obtainable goal, when she missed the cut by one stroke at the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2004.

If Wie is capable of playing with the men this early in her career, imagine how much better her game will be the time she turns 21. Wie has the potential to be great on the PGA tour and even more so, she has the ability to inspire millions with her play. 

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