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Montreux Golf and Country Club will eat Michelle Wie alive: So long, confidence
Thursday July 31, 2008 | 05:53:04 417 words, 5886 views
I long ago dubbed myself the worst golf-playing golf writer in the world, yet I love monster golf courses. There’s nothing quite like a track that’s geared toward leaving bruises. I’ve played some of the toughest courses in the world and left feeling better about golf after most of them. Only one golf course has ever made me consider walking off in utter frustration. Only one ever had me raising a club to seriously consider flinging it - a la USA Today golf blogger Larry Olmsted. That one was Montreux Golf and Country Club. Which happens to be the same course that Michelle Wie will be teeing off on this afternoon in her latest playing-with-the-men sideshow. Now, I usually think it’s silly for average golfers to compare their games to pros - even a pro who still somehow fails to realize she’s never proved she deserves these shots on the PGA Tour. But I’d stack my self confidence up against Wie’s (you have to be pretty secure to play like I do) and I know Montreux is one of those courses that can yank it from you quickly. It’s been amusing to see the Wie Warriors cite yardages on par 4s and the like in arguing that Wie has the slightest chance of making the cut. Montreux’s not a course where mere yardage tells the story - though at 7,500 yards, it’s certainly daunting there too. It’s an intimidating course with canyon carries, big drops and tall trees to mess with the truly horrid drives. I played it from the back tees - with three other golf writers who thought they were better than they were - and was the shortest hitter in the group, which Wie will surely be in hers too despite the distance myths that came with her false hype legend. Montreux intimidates more and more as the day goes on and the relief never comes. The altitude of the course can be more confounding than comforting as well. You think being so high, more distance will be added to your shots than actually is. You get a boost, but not as mega a boost as you expect. This just shows all the great “scouting” that goes into Team Wie’s decisions. They could scarcely have picked a worse course, one that’s more likely to produce another carted off on a stretcher from “exhaustion” scenario. I gutted it out and finished my round that Montreux day. Will Wie even manage that? That’s the question, not whether she can make the cut. Comments:
I have no idea whether the course will eat Bubbles alive; I only know she doesn't belong there.
Comment from: Brandon Tucker [Member]
How come whenever golf writers get together for a round we end up on the back tees??? Happens every damn time.
If history is any indication, Michelle Wie will attempt to summon more from her lithe ectomorphic frame than is possible. And every time she tries to look more like Babe Ruth than Babe Zaharias on her drives, comedy ensues. Her golf balls have a way of ricocheting off of an amazing assortment of animals, minerals and vegetables.
As Wie once stated so profoundly, "the problem is the ball didn't go where I was aiming." I can hardly wait.
Judge... Whether or not MW belongs there is a question that only PGA and/or tournament organizers can answer.
Fridays cut will show who will play on the weekend. I don't think Michelle will even be close but stranger things have happened. I believe she shot 81 on Wednesday, a good indication of how she will fair.
This may explain why Wie is at this tournament.
http://golf.about.com/b/2008/07/31/clearing-up-wies-womens-british-open-choice.htm
I see that Ashton shot a near perfect round of 65. It is amazing that every PGA tournament that Michelle has enter, there has always been some "unknown" that shoots either a career low first round or the lowest round during the year. I bet the cut line will be around 3 under par as it usually has been when Michelle has play with the PGA. She reminds me of the guy in Li'l Abner that walked around with a dark cloud over his head. If Michelle keeps insisting to continue what she is doing, there will not be anymore "dumb blond" jokes.
Putt4par During the Pro-Am Michelle had 3 birdies, 1 bogey, 4 double bogeys and 1 triple bogey. I think she is going to be about 15 strokes back of the leader after the first round. We will then hear the familiar refrain of..."my score does not really reflect how well I played" and "tomorrow I will have to shoot a really low round to get back in the tournament."
You won't get an argument from me. Although at the moment, she is playing some pretty darn good golf.
She's even on the turn.
Yes, well, I should have said this before, but I never thought she would play badly in this event. However, she still doesn't belong there.
Comment from: Brandon Tucker [Member]
She's even after ten holes...interesting...
I watched some of her recovery shots and they were pretty amazing. She did hit some loose shots, but, most of the others did also. I, as well as the commentators were very surprised to see Sunday pin placements on a Thursday! There was not one single easy pin placement on any hole. Hopefully, Michelle will get to tee off tomorrow in the morning with less wind and more receptive greens. Her short game seems to have improved quite a bit over the past year. As I had posted earlier that I thought someone would post a very low round the first day and someone who hasn't done much this year. Overton's average for 2008 is 72.0. If he shoots another 65 tomorrow, goodbye to a lot of golfers including Michelle.
Comment from: Ron Mon [Member]
Well, you're oh for one. 73 ain't bad, although she exhibited the same tendency to falter when faced with success. She made to early bogeys, got them back, then made two more. Three birdies tomorrow won't be enough if she keeps making bogeys
Wow She is Playng really well for a girl and even outdriving more than half the men. Maybe She can turn it around. I thought for sure her head would be her biggest enemy.
Go Bibbles
Comment from: Jay [Visitor]
Well, so much for predictions. Let's see who has the last laugh. Wie just might make the cut...
Gotta give her credit for being persistent. That is how things get done in the end.
Eat Michelle alive? Hardly. Do you want to know her first round score? Let me tell you that it is not bad for an 18-year teenager. Round 2 maybe another story altogether.
What happened to the field? It's down to 132. Didn't it start at 156?
MW is T77 tied with 6, but just one shot back of 23 more players. +1 should make the cut easily, and +2 has a good chance of making the cut as well--and the cut could be higher. I think Wie would be happy enough to post another 73 tomorrow, and hope things work out in the afternoon. Wie had a great round today, and it's asking a lot to expect her to do the same tomorrow--but if she does I think she will make the cut.
David Duval is living up to the pre-tournament hype.
After he misses the cut he can ask for an exemption on the Futures Tour.
Last event 67-65-67
I'll just go with 73-70 in this event to end up at minus one for two rounds. If she signs her score card.
First, the projected cut is even. Second, I noticed that she had only 24 putts, which placed her sixth in that category. This is reminiscent of that 68 she shot at the Sony when she was 14, a round in which she had 23 putts.
What this means for those who aren't very well-acquainted with golf, is that it was probably a fluky round. Pacrim, I've said on numerous occasions that she'll eventually make the cut if given enough chances. However, read my first two paragraphs and then understand that there is something called deviation toward the mean.
Funny, how posts from those Wie Warriors basking in another premature celebration yesterday have suddenly stopped.
So predictable.
"I feel my game is a lot better. Obviously the score doesn't show it, but I know what I need to work on," Wie said. "I gave it my best today and I felt like I did a lot of good things and hopefully that outshines the ones I made mistakes on."
Good grief Charlie Brown, when is it all going to end??
As I had predicted several days ago that an unknown would either shoot a record round or a career low round. The 62 by McLauchlin tied the course record. I think Michelle in the field really gets these guys pumped up.
Hey Pacrim, old buddy,
You came close in your prediction. You only missed by ten strokes. But you can take solace from your idol, Bubbles. As she might say, there is a fine line betwwen 70 and 80. Alex USMC 1969-73
The fact that Michelle's first-round 73 was actually a solid round for her shows that she was by leaps and bounds the worst player in the field.
Her second-round 80 shows that she has absolutely no backbone whatsoever. You can rave over her tee shots or marketing value all day long, but the inescapable truth is this: Michelle DOES NOT have the abilities to cope under pressure that all other true champions have (regardless of whether we're talking about PGA Tour or LPGA Tour).
There's also a fine line between an intelligent post and Pacrim's.
Or maybe not.
Wie's last few holes were disappointing--but overall it seems like a decent result for her. What she did here is comparable to her 2006 SONY. Not counting the one match play event, she then played 5 straight stroke play tournaments on the LPGA and never finished more than 2 strokes back in any of them.
I predict she will get the top 3 she needs in the Canadian to get her LPGA card for next year==and I think this week will help give her the confidence she needs to do so.
Dave,
I have to agree with you about Michelle under pressure. Over the years we have seen her fold too many times when she has those dreaded last five holes to play on Sunday with the LPGA and on Friday with the PGA. When she took that 7 on a par five that for everyone was a birdie hole, she seemed to loose it and knowing she could not make the cut, simply said "to hell with it." Some think that she will make enough money from the Canadian Open to get her LPGA card for 2009. Frankly, I doubt if she even wants her LPGA card for 2009. I feel that she would be happy to just have the six exemptions for next year and be invited back for the Legends. If she still has the mindset to continue college, then forget about the LPGA as a present career.
Go Sign your Score Card..
this has been the last thing that David Far. has told the winner of the last two tourneys on tv..this is not fair at all.. after what happen to Michelle Wie.. the golfers should not be reminded by any outsider unless they are going to sat their and tell each golfer that finishes to go sign your scorecard..
MW under pressure. MW has generally done better on the PGA when she has not felt pressure to make the cut. On the LPGA she has not won, and she has not shone when she has been in a position where she might win--but she hasn't done a Suzanne Peterson(2007 KN) either.
On the PGA she needs to follow her own advice, and just try to play each hole the best she can without worrying about the cut. On the LPGA she should do the same and the wins will come. For the Canadian Open, top 3 is almost as good as a win. That is something she has done before, and she seems to be back to her old form. Going for top 3 means less pressure than going for a win, and that should actually help her chances of getting a win. On the LPGA once she gets the monkey off her back, I expect her to win regularly.
Comment from: Shanks [Member]
I agree with wkuman. Feherty has no business advising golfers to "now, go sign your scorecard". At least he shouldn't do it on air. His job is to interview and report, not assist the contestants.
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