Michelle Wie

Michelle Wie
Wie at the 2010 Women's British Open
Personal information
Full name	Michelle Sung Wie (Korea Name : Wie Sung-Mi)
Born	October 11, 1989 (1989-10-11) (age 21) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Champions Gate, Florida, U.S.
Career
College	Stanford University (ineligible for golf team)
Turned professional	2005
Current tour(s)	LPGA Tour (joined 2009)
Professional wins	2
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	2
Best results in LPGA Major Championships
Kraft Nabisco C'ship	T3: 2006
LPGA Championship	2nd: 2005
U.S. Women's Open	T3: 2006
Women's British Open	T3: 2005
Achievements and awards
Laureus World Newcomer of the Year	2004

Michelle Sung Wie (pronounced /ˈwiː/^[1]) (Korean: Wie Seong-mi Hangul: 위성미 Hanja: 魏聖美, born October 11, 1989) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. In 2006, she was named in a Time magazine article as "one of 100 people who shape our world."^[2] At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the US Women's Amateur public links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA tour event. Wie turned professional shortly before her 16th birthday, accompanied by an enormous amount of hype and endorsements.^[3][4][5]

Family and education

Wie was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her parents are both natives of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) who came to the United States in the 1980s. Her father, Byung-wook Wie, is a former professor of transportation management at the University of Hawaii. Her mother was South Korea's women's amateur golf champion in 1985^[6] and competed in a Miss Korea pageant. Her paternal grandfather, Dr. Sang Kyu Wie, a native of Jangheung, Jeollanam-do, was an emeritus professor at Seoul National University.^[7][8] When she was born, both her parents had Korean citizenship, so Wie had been a dual citizen of both the Republic of Korea and the United States automatically. But, the Republic of Korea does not allow dual citizenship after the age of 21. Wie has opted for United States citizenship.

Wie graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii in June, 2007. On December 19, 2006, she announced that she would be attending Stanford University where there are family ties. Her paternal grandfather was a visiting professor and an aunt and uncle are both graduates.^[9][10] She enrolled in September, 2007 as a freshman, but as a professional golfer, Wie is not eligible under NCAA rules to play for Stanford's golf team.^[11][12] During her first three years at Stanford, she attended only during the fall and winter quarters, running from late September through mid-March each year.^[13] She took leaves of absence during the rest of the year to play professional golf.^[14][15]

Amateur career: 2000–2005

Wie began playing golf at the age of four. In 2000, at the age of ten, she became the youngest player ever to qualify for the Women's U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. Eight years later, Wie's mark was broken by fellow Hawaiian Allisen Corpuz who qualified when she was five months younger than Wie had been when she set the record.^[16] In 2001, at the age of 11, she won both the Hawaii State Women’s Stroke Play Championship and the Jennie K. Wilson Women’s Invitational, the oldest and most prestigious women’s amateur tournament in Hawaii.^[16] She also advanced into match play at the Women's U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.

In 2002, she won the Hawaii State Open Women's Division by thirteen shots. She also became the youngest player to qualify for an LPGA event, the Takefuji Classic held in Wie's home state of Hawaii. While she went on to miss the cut, her record stood for five more years until it was broken in 2007 by 11-year-old Ariya Jutanugarn.^[17][18]

At the 2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship, Wie became the youngest player to make an LPGA cut,. She carded a 66 in the 3rd round, tying the amateur record for a women's major championship and qualifying her to play in the final group of the championship. In June 2003, Wie won the Women's Amateur Public Links tournament, becoming the youngest person ever, male or female, to win a USGA adult event. Later that summer, she made the cut at the US Women's Open when she was still just 13, the youngest player ever to do so.^[19]

Wie was given a sponsor's exemption to the 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii, becoming the fourth, and youngest, female to play a PGA Tour event. Her second round score of 68 was the lowest ever by a woman in a PGA Tour event, though she went on to miss the cut in the tournament.^[20] She again played in the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship, finishing fourth. As part of the victorious U.S.team she became the youngest woman ever to play in the Curtis Cup. Wie started her 2005 season by accepting another sponsor's invitation to play on the PGA Tour at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where she again missed the cut. She played five more LPGA Tour events that year as well as a PGA Tour event, the John Deere Classic. It was her third outing at a PGA Tour event; she missed the cut by two strokes.^[21] She entered qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Public Links and became the first female golfer to qualify for a USGA national men's tournament, tying for first place in a 36-hole qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Public Links. Wie made the top 64 in the stroke play rounds to qualify for match play.^[22] She lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Clay Ogden.

On October 5, 2005, a week before her 16th birthday, Wie announced that she was turning professional. She signed sponsorship contracts with Nike and Sony reportedly worth more than 10 million dollars per year.

Professional career

Pre-LPGA membership (2005-2006)

Having turned professional, Wie was not a member of any professional tour. LPGA Tour membership age requirements require a golfer to be 18, although some players such as Morgan Pressel and Aree Song have successfully petitioned for an exemption to join at age 17. Wie chose not to request an exemption and was thus only allowed to participate in a limited number of LPGA Tour events when given a sponsor's exemption from 2005 until 2008. She also chose not to participate in the Tour's Qualifying Tournaments (or "Q-School") until December 2008, when she finished 7th to gain LPGA membership for the 2009 season.

Wie played her first professional event in the 2005 LPGA Samsung World Championship, where she was disqualified from a fourth-place finish for signing an incorrect scorecard. A journalist (Michael Bamberger) reported she had illegally dropped the ball closer to the hole than its original lie the day after she completed her third round. At her other professional event in 2005, the Casio World Open on the Japan Golf Tour, Wie shot four over par to miss the cut.

2006 started with the PGA Tour Sony Open at her home course, the Waialae Country Club, Hawaii where she again missed the cut, this time by four strokes. In the initial Rolex World Golf Rankings in February, 2006, Wie was placed third behind Annika Sörenstam and Paula Creamer. She rose to second place in July but her limited schedule meant she failed to play the minimum of 15 worldwide professional women's tournaments over a twenty-four month period and she was dropped from the rankings entirely. In August, 2006, the calculation of the rankings was revised such that any player who had accumulated points in fewer than 35 tournaments had her ranking calculated as if she had played in 35. After the change, Wie's ranking dropped to 7th.^[23]

In her first two tournaments on the LPGA Tour in early 2006, Wie gained a third place finish in the Fields Open in Hawaii, finishing one stroke off the lead, and finished in a tie for third in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, finishing one stroke behind, again. May, 2006, saw her play the Asian Tour SK Telecom Open, becoming the second woman (after Se Ri Pak) to make the cut at a men's tournament in South Korea. Wie reportedly received US$700,000 in appearance fees at an event that offered only US$600,000 in total prize money. In all, she reportedly netted US$5 million in appearance and endorsement money for the two-week trip.^[24]

May, 2006, also had her become the first female medalist in a local qualifier for the Men's U.S. Open.^[25] Wie did not compete in the "easier" Hawaii final stage qualifier, as she would have been unable to play at the LPGA Championship the following week. She played at Summit, NJ, vying for one of 16 available spots, but finished 59th and did not advance. At the LPGA Championship Wie finished two strokes off the lead, tied for fifth and followed this up with a tie for third at the US Women's Open. In July, she played in the LPGA HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship where she lost in the quarterfinals, 4 and 3, to the eventual champion Brittany Lincicome.^[26]

In July, Wie played in the PGA John Deere Classic. After a 6 over par first round, she reached 8 over par and 10 shots above the projected cut line, before withdrawing from the tournament after the 9th hole, citing heat exhaustion.^[27] Two weeks later, Wie returned to the LPGA Tour, finishing in a tie for second at the Evian Masters, one stroke off the lead. She tied for 26th at the Women's British Open, where she drew controversy for hitting a piece of moss on her backswing while she was in a bunker. This resulted in a two-stroke penalty. In a post-round interview, Wie said, "I guess I knew the rule wrong, from what I always knew... if you swing through it, everything would be OK." ^[28]

In September, she competed in the Omega European Masters on the men's European Tour, where she finished last among the 156 competitors, 15 strokes over par. Wie missed the cut by 14 strokes, although tournament organizers reported that many of the 9,500 spectators on the first day came to see Wie.^[29][30] A week later, in Wie's third 2006 appearance on the PGA Tour, at the 84 Lumber Classic, she finished 14 over par after two rounds, 23 strokes behind the leader. At the LPGA Tour Samsung World Championship, Wie finished in 17th place in the 20-player field, 21 strokes behind the leader. Her last event of 2006 saw Wie compete in the Casio World Open on the men's Japan Golf Tour where she finished last, 27 shots behind the leader. With the conclusion of the Casio tournament, Wie had played 14 consecutive rounds of tournament golf without breaking par – eight on the LPGA Tour, two on the European Tour, two on the PGA Tour and two on the Japan Golf Tour.^[26] By the end of 2006, her first full year as a professional, Wie had missed the cut in 11 out of 12 tries against men, and remained winless in all 33 professional women's tournaments she had entered, the last 9 as a professional.

Pre-LPGA membership (2007-2008)

Wie accepted her fourth consecutive sponsor's exemption to the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii in January where she missed the cut by 14 strokes, finishing third from last in the 144-player field, 25 strokes behind the second-round leader. Her next competition, after a four-month absence and reported injuries to both wrists, was at the LPGA's Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika where she was 14-over par through 16 holes in the first round before withdrawing, after a conversation with her agent, citing an aggravated wrist injury.^[31]

The withdrawal was controversial due to the LPGA Rule of 88, which states that a non-LPGA member shooting a score of 88 or more is forced to withdraw and banned from LPGA co-sponsored events for the rest of the year. Wie claimed the injury and not the rule of 88 was the cause of the withdrawal but some observers, including one of her playing partners, Alena Sharp questioned this claim.^[32][33] There was further controversy when both Sharp and Wie's other playing partner, Janice Moodie, questioned the involvement of Wie's father, B.J.. They said he appeared to give Wie advice during the course of play could have resulted in a two-stroke penalty but as Wie withdrew, this became a moot point.^[34]

Wie was seen two days later practicing at the site of the LPGA Championship in Bulle Rock, Maryland, which drew criticism from Ginn Tribute host Annika Sörenstam who said, "I just feel there's a little bit of lack of respect and class just to kind of leave a tournament like that and come out and practice here."^[35][36] At the LPGA championship Wie was 3 over par and bang on the cutline after two days to extend her run of cuts made at LPGA majors to 13, but shot rounds of 83 and 79 on the weekend to finish last of those who made the cut, 35 strokes behind the eventual winner.^[37] Wie entered the US Women's Open in June but withdrew midway through the second round after hitting her second shot out of the rough on the 10th hole citing a wrist injury. Her tournament score through 27 holes was 17-over par, 22 strokes behind the second-round leader.^[38][39]

At the Evian Masters in July, Wie broke her year-long streak of 24 consecutive rounds at or over par by shooting a second-round one-under par 71 but shooting a 12 over par 84 in the third round led to her finishing 20 strokes behind winner Natalie Gulbis,third from last of those making the cut. One week later at the Women's British Open Wie shot rounds of 73 and 80, missing the cut by two strokes, her first missed cut in an LPGA Tour event since 2003, and her first missed cut in a major.

Wie next played in August at the Canadian Women's Open, where she was invited as a sponsor's exemption. She shot rounds of 75 and 74 on the par 71 course, missing the cut by four strokes. The following week, with another sponsor's exemption, Wie played in the Safeway Classic, at Portland, Oregon. After shooting rounds of 79 and 75, she missed the cut by six strokes and finished 21 strokes behind the second round leader. Three weeks after beginning her freshman year at Stanford University, Wie played as a sponsor exemption in the limited field Samsung World Championship, finishing 19th out of the 20 player field, 36 strokes behind the winner.

In December 2007, Wie was ranked at #4 in the Forbes Top 20 Earners Under 25 with an annual earnings of 19 million dollars.^[40]

2008 was the first time since 2004 Wie was not granted one of four available sponsor exemptions to play the PGA Tour Sony Open. She started the year on a sponsor's exemption at the LPGA Fields Open where she shot 69,73,78 to finish tied for 72nd, last among players making the cut.^[41] Two LPGA sponsor exemptions were offered and accepted to the Safeway International and Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill tournaments but Wie was unable to play at the Safeway as she announced she had injured her wrist practicing.^[42][43][44] She did play the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, shooting rounds of 75 and 71, missing the cut by four strokes. Wie's next competitive appearance was her first on the Ladies European Tour playing on a sponsor invitation in the Ladies German Open where she finished sixth place, seven strokes behind the winner, fellow eighteen year-old Amy Yang.^[45]

In June Wie played in Maryland at a sectional qualifier for the 2008 U.S. Women's Open. She finished in second place, earning one of the 35 qualification spots available.^[46] She shot an eight-over-par 81 in the first round of 2008 U.S. Women's Open and ended up with a 10-over total of 156, missing the cut. July saw Wie playing on a sponsor exemption at the LPGA State Farm Classic. She was in the middle of her third round when it was realized she had failed to sign her second round scorecard. Event organizers waited until the conclusion of that round to notify her that she was disqualified in order to give her an opportunity to explain what had happened. She was one stroke off the lead at the time.^[47] Two days later Wie announced that she had accepted an invitation to play her eighth PGA Tour event in the alternate field Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. She shot rounds of 73 and 80, missing the cut by nine strokes.^[48]

Wie had expressed her desire to attempt to earn membership on the LPGA Tour for the 2009 season by earning the equivalent of 80th place on the 2008 money list through her earnings at the events she played in through sponsor exemptions. When she failed to reach this goal, she entered an LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournament.^[49] At the tournament, held from September 16 through 19 at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, she finished tied for 4th place. This was sufficient to advance her to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament held in Daytona Beach, Florida in December, 2008.^[50] During the Final Qualifying Tournament, Wie finished in a tie for 7th place to make her eligible to play full time on the LPGA Tour in 2009.^[51]

LPGA membership (2009-present)

After passing LPGA Qualifying School in December 2008, Wie declared that she still planned to play in tournaments against men. However for the second consecutive year, she did not receive a sponsor exemption to play in the Sony Open in Hawaii where she had played four years in a row from 2004 through 2007.^[52][53] Her first tournament as an LPGA member was the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay where she shot 66, 70 to move into a tie with Angela Stanford going into the final round of the tournament. Wie held a three-stroke lead with eight holes remaining, but ended up losing to Stanford by three strokes.

It was reported in early March, 2009, that Wie had left the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent agency that had represented her since she turned pro in 2005, and would be signing with sports agency IMG.^[54]

In Wie's next two tournaments, the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International and the Kraft Nabisco Championship, she struggled to make the cut, finishing on the cut line after the second round both times. She finished tied for 57th and 67th respectively in the two events. In the Kraft Nabisco, a major on the LPGA Tour, she shot a score of 81 in both the second and third rounds. In mid-April, Wie traveled to Korea to play in a LPGA of Korea event, the Lotte Mart Open, for the first time. She finished tied for 36, earning $1,536. She spent the next two months playing in every available LPGA tournament, with results ranging from a tie for 3rd at the Sybase Classic to a tie for 54th at the State Farm Classic, the same event at which she was disqualified in 2008 for failing to sign her scorecard. At the second major of the year, the LPGA Championship, she finished tied for 23rd, her best finish in a major since 2006. During this tournament she also scored her first recorded hole-in-one as a professional.^[55]

The day after the end of the LPGA Championship, Wie participated in a sectional qualifying tournament for the 2009 U.S. Women's Open to be held during the first week in July. She joined 110 players at the Rockville, Maryland site, one of several sites around the country set up for qualifying purposes on that day. Wie missed qualifying after shoot rounds of 70 and 74.^[56][57]

In August, at Rich Harvest Farms golf course in Sugar Grove, Illinois, Wie was a captain's pick for the United States team in Solheim Cup competition. She finished the tournament with a 3-0-1 performance in four matches.^[58]

On November 15, 2009, Wie won her first professional individual tournament, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico, a limited field event on the LPGA Tour, posting a score of thirteen under par 275 for a two-stroke margin over fellow American Paula Creamer, and besting Jiyai Shin, Christie Kerr and Morgan Pressel by two strokes. It was Wie's 81st professional tournament and her 66th LPGA Tour event.^{[59] [60] [61]}

On August 29. 2010, she posted a three-shot win over a full field at the CN Canadian Women's Open, held at St. Charles Country Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba on nines designed by Alister MacKenzie and Donald Ross, for her second career professional victory.^[62]

Professional wins (2)

LPGA Tour (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	15 Nov 2009	Lorena Ochoa Invitational	-13 (70-66-70-69=275)	2 strokes	Paula Creamer
2	29 Aug 2010	CN Canadian Women's Open	-12 (65-69-72-70=276)	3 strokes	Kristy McPherson Suzann Pettersen Jee Young Lee Jiyai Shin

Amateur wins

• November 15–17, 2002: Hawaii State Open, Women's Division (Wie's last stroke-play victory) (67-71-70—208 (8 under), 13 strokes over Cindy Rarick)^[63]

Wie won several other Hawaiian local and junior events during the years 2000 through 2002.^[64][65]

• June 17–22, 2003: U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links (Stroke play: 73-71—144 (even par); 18-hole matches: 2&1, 2&1, 5&4, 6&5, 5&4; 36-hole final: 1 up over Virada Nirapathpongporn)^[66]

Wie played her first professional event while still an amateur in February 2002. Prior to her first win in a professional tournament, on November 15, 2009, she played in a total of 80 professional events as either an amateur or a professional:
66 against women: 64 on the LPGA Tour, 1 on the Ladies European Tour, and 1 on the LPGA of Korea Tour.
14 against men: 8 on the PGA Tour, 2 on the Japan Golf Tour, 1 on the European Tour, 1 on the Asian Tour, 1 on the Nationwide Tour, and 1 on the Canadian Tour.

Results in LPGA majors

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = did not play
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
CUT = missed the half-way cut
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

LPGA Tour career summary

• Official as of August 22, 2010

Professional record and earnings outside of LPGA membership

Dates are span of competitive rounds, regardless of whether Wie participated in all rounds.
** = tournament shortened to three rounds due to rain.
DQ = disqualified
MC = missed halfway cut
WD = withdrew
* = limited field, no-cut event
Margin = strokes behind winner or cutline, not applicable in cases of withdrawal, disqualification or matchplay format.

Team appearances

Amateur

• Curtis Cup (representing the United States): 2004 (winners)

Professional

• Solheim Cup (representing the United States): 2009 (winners)

Solheim Cup Record

Golf records

• The youngest winner (male or female) of an adult USGA-sanctioned tournament – Age 13 (2003 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links)
• The youngest player to make a cut in an LPGA tournament and major – Age 13 (2003 Nabisco Championship)
• The youngest player to play in a PGA Tour event – Age 14 (2004 Sony Open)
• The lowest round by a female in a PGA Tour event – 68 (2004 & 2006 Sony Open)
• The youngest player to play in Curtis Cup history – Age 14 (2004)
• The first female to qualify for a USGA championship that is generally played by males - Age 15 (2005 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship Pittsburgh sectional)
• The first female to make a cut on the Asian Tour - Age 16 (2006 SK Telecom Open)
• The first female medalist in a U.S. Open qualifying tournament – Age 16 (2006 U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Turtle Bay Hawaii)

Quotes about Wie

When Wie was fourteen, professional golfer Ernie Els remarked, "Give her another couple years to get stronger, she can play on the PGA Tour."

At sixteen, Wie had an average drive of about 280 yards. Her size and use of Els as a model have led sports media to call her The Big Wiesy, a play on Els' nickname of The Big Easy.

Fred Couples said, "When you see her hit a golf ball…there's nothing that prepares you for it. It's just the scariest thing you've ever seen."

Arnold Palmer stated in 2003 that "she's probably going to influence the golfing scene as much as Tiger, or more. She's going to attract people that even Tiger didn't attract, young people, both boys and girls, and families.

Gary Player said she would become the face of womans golf around the world and is as important to the ladies game as Tiger is to the mens."^[68]

Quotes by Wie

Wie has been criticized for making statements which are considered arrogant and unfounded by many. Some of these statements have been considered offending to her (female) peers on the LPGA.

"Hopefully, I will be able to play the Ryder Cup one day, that would be awesome and I think it is totally possible" ^[69],

"My ultimate goal is to play in the Masters" ^[70],

"My favorite player is Tiger Woods. I think I can beat Tiger when I’m 20. It’s a life goal."

"If I ever get bored with golf, I'm going to start over and play lefthanded".

"I watch the PGA, not the LPGA. I like the players on the PGA better".^[71][72][73]

Criticism and controversy

Poor performance in men's events

Observers of golf have criticized Wie's efforts to play in PGA Tour events through sponsors' exemptions. Wie has made only one cut in a men's tournament, and has made no cuts on the PGA Tour. After missing the cut at the 2007 Sony Open by 14 shots, many sports critics began to doubt whether she ever will.^[74] Following Wie's poor performance at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii, AP golf writer Doug Ferguson suggested that her nickname be changed from "the Big Wiesy" to a more appropriate moniker, "the Big Queasy."^[75][76]

Use of exemptions

Professional golfers, fans, and media critics have remarked that allowing Wie to compete in PGA events takes away opportunities from more deserving golfers.^[77][78][79] However, a tournament sponsor has a maximum of only four completely unrestricted exemptions available, and those exemptions are often used to invite players (including amateurs) who can increase ticket sales and tournament visibility. The first four exemptions offered by a sponsor must be offered to PGA Tour players or other competitive players.^[80] By late 2007, the criticism over the use of exemptions had extended to Wie's participation in women's events on the LPGA Tour as well. Wie declined to enter LPGA Tour qualifying school after turning 18 and therefore would have to depend on sponsor exemptions to play in future LPGA tournaments. This decision drew criticism from golf fans and commentators.^[81][82] Such criticism ended after Wie qualified for the LPGA Tour through the 2008 qualifying tournament.^[51]

Caddie turnover

Wie has employed at least nine caddies since her father stopped caddying for her in 2004. She created controversy when, after finishing tied for 26th at the 2006 British Open, her caddie Greg Johnston was fired over the phone by Wie's then-agent Ross Berlin. Johnston said he was "surprised and disappointed" at the firing and at the fact that "no one named Wie gave me the news."^[83] Wie employed several other professional caddies after Johnston, and also returned to using her father for the remainder of the 2007 season parting ways with caddie David Clarke after she missed the cut at that year's British Open. For much of 2009, Wie used on-loan caddy Patrick Tarrant, who worked for then-injured PGA pro Brett Wetterich; however, at the end of that year but prior to her first LPGA victory, Tarrant recommended that she work with his friend Brendan Woolley, who has continued as her exclusive caddy through the 2010 season.^[84]

Inappropriate clothing

Some fans and media have commented that Wie has increasingly dressed in inappropriate clothing during golf tournaments. These criticisms began in the summer of 2004 when Wie was 14 years old and increased after Wie began wearing Nike-provided clothing in 2006.^[85][86]

2007 wrist injury claim

In the first week of February 2007, it was reported that Wie hurt her left wrist in a fall while running, though when family members acting as her spokespeople were asked by the media, they declined either to give any details on the nature of the injury, other than to report that she was wearing a hard cast,^[87] or to state what treatment was done, citing privacy.^[88] Initially, her public relations staff reported that she would be away from golf for 4 to 6 weeks^[89] but this stretched until the end of May.

In response to the lack of information and prolonged absence, some golf fans and LPGA players, including Brittany Lincicome, questioned whether Wie and her parents had fabricated the injury in order to give her a reason to take a break from golf.^[90][91][92] More questions were raised about her wrist injury claim after Wie's withdrawal from the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika in May 2007 when she flirted with the Rule of 88 before withdrawing citing a "tweaked wrist."^[93] Her playing partners were divided in their opinions. Alena Sharp questioned her injury claim but Janice Moodie stated that she heard Wie say "Ouch!" after hitting her tee shot on the first hole, which was the group's 10th of the day. Wie had said that was precisely when she began feeling the pain. Moodie said "She didn't swing as hard from that point on."^[94]

Further questions were raised about Wie's wrist injury when, in April 2008, she announced that she actually had three broken bones in her wrist, contradicting her agent's March 2007 announcement that the wrist was not broken.^[95] A 2009 article about Wie's injury stated that the original misinformation resulted from the Wies' failure to "understand or accept the severity of the injury."^[96]

Withdrawal from pro-am event at 2009 KLPGA tournament

Wie refused to play the pro-am event at the Lotte Sky Hill Jeju Country Club a day before the first round of the KLPGA Lotte Mart Ladies' Open after her request for waiving a rule which prohibits players from using their own caddy during the pro-am was denied by the tournament organizers. This caused many negative comments in the Korean media, labeling Wie as being too arrogant. ^[97] Wie refused to comment on her withdrawal. ^[98]

References

External links

• Official web site
• Profile and statistics on LPGA official site

United States Solheim Cup team – 2009 Nicole Castrale  • Paula Creamer  • Natalie Gulbis  • Juli Inkster  • Cristie Kerr  • Christina Kim  • Brittany Lang  • Brittany Lincicome  • Kristy McPherson  • Morgan Pressel  • Angela Stanford  • Michelle Wie Beth Daniel (non-playing captain)  • Meg Mallon (non-playing assistant captain)  • Kelly Robbins (non-playing assistant captain) Won: 16 – 12