The floodgates have opened, the scribes have sharpened their pencils and keyboards, and the rain continues to fall in Binghamton. Not more than ten miles from what I considered 2006’s “unkindest cut of all,” with deference to my colleague, I ruminate, ponder, meditate, cogitate, and deliberate on what Tadd Fujikawa and Michelle Wie’s performances over the last two days and four years, respectively, represent to the golf world.
Tadd Fujikawa suceeded at age 16 where Michelle Wie failed at age 14 (I may be wrong). When he needed an extremely clutch performance, he came through. Although he had two bogeys on his final nine, he countered with two birds and that glorious eagle. Pair that with two birdies on the front, and you recognize a recipe for success. Michelle Wie’s injury must be greater than anticipated, as she was done in by 14 bogeys and two doubles over her two days at Waialae. That or her mental stability is so, well, unstable, that she cannot summon much of anything when the chips are even or down. No, she wasn’t going to make the cut after that 78, but a 68 in round two, identical to 2006, seemed reasonable when she birdie hole number one on Friday. She also closed with a birdie, but had even bogeys and pars for the other 16 holes.
Is it time for “Sideshow Wie” to take a break from the PGA Tour? Yes. Is it time for Michelle Wie to recuperate from injury, return to a semblance of a teenaged life? Yes. Is it time for Tadd Fujikawa to bask in the glow of a fortunate performance? Yes.
Michelle Wie has given us a great deal to write about these last four years. Perhaps she will do so again, for the right reasons. Perhaps we will write about her performances at the Women’s Open, the Women’s British, the LPGA and the Nabisco. We will not cover her at the US Women’s Am, the Curtis Cup, nor these last few US Junior Ams.
Imagine if she had tried to qualify for the Boys Junior Am last year, or the year before, prior to turning pro, and gone deep into the match play rounds. I think that she might have done it. Now that would have been something to build on. As always, hindsight is better than foresight.
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Jason Scott Deegan:
The Accidental Golfer:
Katharine Dyson:
Kiel Christianson:
close with a birdie. She played the back
9 first. She was 4 over after 7 and after back to back birdies (18 & 1), she
followed that up with 4 more bogies. She
was never in danger of shooting a 68.
Did you say that you wanted to be ob jective, to tell it like it is?
I don't think so.
In just this one blog, you give away your bias.
Bubbles' "injury" must be worse than anticipated.
And Tadd had a "fortunate" performance.
The funny thing is that Tadd had a "fortunate" performance two days in a row. Bubbles hasn't been "fortunate" in about ten tries.
Fujikawa does seem like a second hand
compliment.
Or, maybe it's that it's better to be good than hyped.
Did you hear his interview? He said he is going to continue to play some amateur events...He did not mention he was planning to turn pro tomorrow, just because he did good (so far) in ONE event.
it's much better to be hyped and worth $30mil. just my personal opinon.
Waipahu, Hawaii
Now, on to the moment...could you not expand your respective pithy understandings of the adjective 'fortunate' to include hard work? Fujikawa is 'fortunate' that he has the guts and perseverance to go after and grind for what he wants. Wie is 'fortunate' that there have been so many suckers in the world (her parents included) that she can bankroll the next two or three generations of family on a smoke-and-mirrors performance. How's that for some truth in advertising?
Wrote on another blog and we need to consider the Big Three for the year; Wie, The Fed Ex Cup and The Win Zone...
Voting is open for the biggest croc of crap you don't want to hear anything else about the rest of the year...and it only January...
God Bless Tadd!!!
Mr. W.