Michelle Wie pulls out of John Deere, citing wrist "injury"

Well done to Michelle for that mature and correct decision.

Yes the injury will affect her at the US Womens Open Tim.

If you:
a) watched the lpga championship
and
b) know anything about the golf swing.

you would know that she was compensating for the lack of strength she had in her wrist at that event. It was pretty obvious.

I don't expect her to do very well at the US Womens Open.

Your right Stanley. She won't do well in her next tournament. In fact she will not do well in any of her upcoming tournaments this year or next
She Promised.

Tim,

To paraphrase Edward G. Robinson in the 1930 gangster classic "Little Caesar", "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Bubbles?"

Stanley says he doesn't expect much out of Bubbles at the US Women's Open.

Neither do I.

First bit of contrition I've ever seen out of her. You would almost think she should probably skip the womens open but I don't really think it matters anymore. People have seen through the hype.

I wonder what the insightful folks at Nike and Sony think about this decision. $20 million dollars in 2005 for a 15-year old who is on the verge of making a cut on the PGA, materializing in 2007 to a 17-year old hopeful to make the cut on the LPGA. Additionally, she has failed to break par in the past 12 months and now declines to compete in men's events.

I would have to think that those sponsors are not thrilled at this point.

There's nothing wrong with her, other than
mental deficiency.

"Whoever strives unceasingly, is not beyond redeeming"

It's not mental defienciency, It's mental conflict. She know's the truth, but refuses to accept it. When she does she has a chance for redemption and maybe competing in The LPGA
That could be a long time from now. When She admits she can't compete with the men,wrist or no wrist that will be the first Step

Now Booger, that is the pot calling the kettle black.

One-Putt,

The mainstream press may be giving up on Bubbles, since the hype is not producing any results.

In today's Chicago Tribune, there was no mention by the wire services of Bubbles' withdrawal from the Deere.

A year ago, that would have been big news.

Addendum: Before all the nitpickers go berserk, Doug Ferguson of the AP does have a brief article about Bubbles' DNS on line and in a few dailies.

Bubbles was also recently quoted as saying that she will have more time to practice golf at Stanford than she did in highschool. She inferred that highschool was more demanding and that college was more flexible since you are paying to attend classes unstead of being required to do so.

If she maintains that attitude, her college career may be shorther and less sucessful than her tenure on the PGA tour.

If you actually paid attention to the LPGA, you'd know her wrist injuries are real. Considering who missed the cut at the last LPGA major, it was an accomplishment for her to make the cut. I predict a top 30 for her in the U.S. Women's Open. But hey, don't let me interrupt your Wie-bashing.

"Comment from: Alex [Visitor] Email
One-Putt,

The mainstream press may be giving up on Bubbles, since the hype is not producing any results.

In today's Chicago Tribune, there was no mention by the wire services of Bubbles' withdrawal from the Deere."

I hate to break the news to you Alex, but the "Windy City" is not the center of the known Universe. Over 1,900 publications around the Planet carried the story.

"A year ago, that would have been big news".

It was big news Alex, but not unexpected in light of her bouncing balls off cars at the Ginn and not finding a fairway with a course map at the LPGA.

Hey Constructivist,

I don't know if her injuries are real or not, I just have my doubts. I do know that it is not normal to drop out of an event with only two holes remaining citing an injury, only to go to another golf course and start hitting balls on a driving range. I also know that her downward spiral began during (or just after) the Evian Championship last July, which was before the alleged "injury." Since then, she has not broken par one any circuit. But hey, don't let me interrupt your Wie-worshipping.

The US Womens Open course would be made much harder by not hitting fairway. People might say that applies to all courses, but it's a much bigger factor with the rough they have there as opposed to a normal lpga event.

That's why I predicted it could be difficult for her to make the cut in the 2007 US Womens Open. However I do expect her to easily make the cut when it comes to the Evian Masters, where some miscues can be got away with easier.

The US Womens Open is part of the building process, the result there is not as important as the various progrress on wrist strength, upper body strength and general game.

What Wie-worshipping, LR? If you check my LPGA blogging, you'll see that from the start of the season I was predicting Wie would have trouble making the top 20 of the money list, given the quality of play and the few tournaments she was planning to enter. I agree she started playing badly last fall, but you could tell from her driving stats in Hawaii that her first wrist injury was real. I don't know how you could see her hitting the ball the way she did the last couple of events and wonder if she's faking the extent of her injuries. No one who could hit it 290 hits it 250 just to have an excuse for not scoring. As is usual for anyone who hasn't been playing competitively for awhile, her scrambling and short game, which were never that strong to begin with, are very rusty. The only cure for that is to play more tournaments.

Anyway, we'll see who's right this summer.

Constructivisit,

I agree that something probably is wrong with her wrist. They showed her on the 11th hole par 5 at the open this year and compared it to her swing on the same hole last year. Her swing has slowed down in comparison which may be due to her trying to protect the wrist. My point is that I think the problem is more involved than just her wrist. Her game began to come apart prior to her injuries, like when she came in dead last year at the 84 Lumber Classic and the European Open, and nearly last at the Casio Open in Japan. Also, she has compounded her problems by some of her recent actions and statements she has made. Even though she is still just a teenager, she is making it easy for others to dislike her.

I was just kidding about the Wie-worshipping. You predict a top 30 finsh for her in the US Womens Open. If your right, fine, but that's a lot better golf than she has been playing over the past 12 months. Conversely, I think she will do good to make the cut, and if she does, I think she will be at the bottom of the cut in the end.

Wie will see,

LR

LR, I think your prediction for the U.S. Open is more realistic than mine and agree that there's more to her downward spiral than her two wrist injuries. But hey, if she learns how to scramble and grind and deal with adversity from all this, she'll be a better golfer in the long run. Besides my overly optimistic U.S. Open prediction, I'm curious as to what you think her chances are for the rest of the summer.

Results that a golfer posts when coming back from injury aren't going to be looked upon later as that important.

While certain bashers might like to have a bit of fun at poorer results, it makes very little in the grand scheme of things.

If the likes of Phil Mickelson was to injure his wrists and he found it difficult to control the ball because he couldn't get his usual clubhead speed he might suffer.
If Phil had a wrist injury he might well suffer and he might even miss a US Open cut. Anyone agree.

I beginning to think that the young Wie is trying to pick up Target as a sponsor.

Stanley:

Phil does have a wrist injury and he did miss the cut at the US Open.

Yes kaialii that's the point.