What Michelle Wie does well ... and what We need to know.

Something has been bothering me about the Wie-Creamer-Pressel blog threads of the last two years, and I am proud to announce that I have finally outsmarted myself and figured out what it is: the bottom line.

Roll tape back fourteen years to when Tiger first played in the LA Open at Riviera. He missed the cut. He missed the cut again at age 17 and a third time at age 18. He has never played well at Riviera. Since he had a junior record of win after win after win, no one questioned his ability/the bottom line.

Return to the present. For whatever reason, female junior golfers return better results in same-geneder professional events than do their junior male counterparts. The Songs, the Wies, the Creamers, the Pressels, the list goes on, of juniors who have made the cut at the Kraft, the Open, etc. When was the last time a junior male golfer made the cut at the US Open (essentially the only one they might consider)? Somebody help me, please.

Wie has placed top-five at the Kraft. I liken it to Augusta for Tiger. I believe that she is a horse for that course, and (playing full-time now) will come to own Mission Hills. Whether she develops into a horse for a number of courses, is unpredictable at present.

Creamer proved herself on the AJGA circuit, as did Pressel. Their bottom line records speak for themselves. To date, the only knock against Michelle is that she hasn’t won as many events. She does represent a connundrum, in that the high-profile event in which she blew up on Sunday (the colonial Open), seems to remain in the memory of followers long after the successes of other adult events have passed.

Here are some Wie results in major events over the past three years:
US Open 2003-t39 2004-t13 2005-t23
Kraft Nabisco 2003-t9 2004-4 2005-t14
British Open 2003-did not play 2004-did not play 2005-t3
LPGA Championship 2003-did not play 2004-did not play 2005-2

It is true that a decent score on Sunday at the 2005 U.S. Open and the 2003 Kraft Nabisco would have won her the tournaments. However, to dispute that these major championship results, posted between the ages of 13 and 15, against adult professionals, do not predict greatness, is flawed.

Is every great player a born closer? No. Does Michelle need to learn to close the deal? Yes. Did she miss an opportunity in junior golf for that education? Perhaps. Will she learn to do it? Nike and I both hope so. My suggestion is that Wie will learn to close in the minor events in 2006. She will win two of them. She will also challenge on the back nine on Sunday in one major championship. Beyond that, the crystal ball is cloudy.