This weekend saw the return of a star player to the land of oversized checks.
One whose candle-power outshines the rest of the tour by significant wattage and draws sizable galleries, considerable attention (both positive and negative) and isn’t always the cheeriest of post-round interviews.
Tiger Woods?
No, Michelle Wie.
With a wire-to-wire effort in Manitoba, Wie secured her second victory on the LPGA Tour by a three-stroke margin at the CN Canadian Women’s Open.
“It feels awesome. It feels absolutely fantastic,” Wie told LPGA.com. “You know, I just — it’s been a long time since November, and it feels great. You know, I just feel like I haven’t been playing as well as I wanted to the last couple of months, and just really makes me more motivated for the rest of the season.”
Awesome is the likely expression coming out of LPGA commissioner Michael Whan’s office, too, with Carol Mann’s recent anti-Muslim remarks on her Facebook page and a semi-percolating cheating scandal involving a pair of Korean players at the just-concluded tournament.
Throw in the current marketplace that has caused sponsors to retrench, a shrinking schedule and a shallower prize-money pool and good news is a friendlier sight than a loyal hound dog.
And Wie atop an LPGA leaderboard is good news.
Michelle Wie. Photo courtesy of LPGA.
This is a circuit that is powered by the celebrity of its stars and the two players who have been the face of women’s professional golf in recent memory have both chosen to pursue a life beyond the tour. Annika Sorenstam departed two years ago at age 37 and Lorena Ochoa opted out earlier this year. She’s 28.
That’s 99 victories worth of void to fill.
The PGA Tour is more interesting with Tiger Woods in the field and the LPGA needs a similar attraction, even more so.
Wie can provide that.
Her ill-advised foray into the men’s game is getting dimmer in the rearview and she has now posted her second straight year with a victory in just her second full season as an LPGA touring pro.
With a high-profile career that started in her early teens, it is easy to forget that Wie is still a month shy of her 21st birthday.
And she’s still a student. Wie said she is heading back to Stanford after next week’s P&G tournament in Arkansas.
Wie was the leader at the halfway point this past weekend in Canada after rounds of 65 and 69, but Jiyai Shin caught her at 54 holes. Wie’s game did not wilt in the final round, though, and Shin faded with a 73 to Wie’s 70.
“I’m surprised she’s not up there more often because she’s a great ball striker,” runner-up Suzann Pettersen told LPGA.com. “When she gets her game together, she’s tough to beat.”
Wie’s best finish in a major these past two seasons is a T-11 at the Women’s British Open, but she was second at the LPGA five years ago at the age of 15. So the expectations that Wie would break through in a grand slam event are well-established.
But her performance at the Canadian Open should signal her game is ready to compete at a high level and provide the LPGA Tour the ratings bump it needs.
Not so fast: Woods set the blogosphere afire last Thursday with an opening-round 65 at the Barclay’s, the first tournament in the four-event run to the FedEx Cup.
It was a season-low 18 holes for Woods and seemingly pointed to a weekend that would feature Woods in the hunt.
Respective rounds of 73 and 72 prevented that from happening, though, and forced Woods to scramble with a 67 on Sunday to ensure his spot in the Deutshe Bank. Only the top 100 in the FedEx points standings gained advancement into Boston this week and Woods had started the playoffs in the 108th slot.
Woods improved to No. 65 and gained some encouragement in his second-best finish this season. He posted T-4s at both the Masters and the U.S. Open.
“I certainly haven’t won all year. But this is a week that I was very close at,” Woods told PGATour.com. “I felt that if I would have put it together on the greens for all four days I would have been right there. But looking forward to next week.”
Bad PR: On the negative side for the LPGA are two recent stories.
The first is the disqualification of two Korean players, Shi Hyun Ahn and Ilmi Chung, who signed their scorecards at the Canadian Open, but had played the wrong ball (each played the others). Various reports said the pair turned themselves in to rules officials but the caddie of the third player in the group was also prepared to turn them in.
Allegations have surfaced in the past about Korean players speaking in Korean and getting advice from friends and family outside the ropes.
LPGA communications director David Higdon told CBSSports.com they will investigate.
“We have treated this situation very seriously, and have or will speak to all principles involved,” Higdon said. “Yes, we are looking very closely at it.”
This came in the same week that the Hall-of-Famer Mann stepped into controversy with her Facebook post as reported on weiunderpar.com.
“I am against the Muslim worship center at Ground Zero because it’s too much of a flagrant demonstration of our own ‘tolerance’ out of control. I do not believe the Muslims are the children of the God I know, the one who sacrificed His only Son, Jesus, to provide forgiveness and salvation for us without earning it by ‘works.’ All we have to do is believe in Christ and we gain His Kingdom. The United States is a Christian country, founded on Christian principles and with an expectation of Christian behavior. Let the Muslims erect their worship centers in other countries that are not Christian. Go away — soon!”
And to think the stories used to just be about the golf.
Mike Scarr is the editor of Golflink.com. He can be reached at golflinkeditor@demandmedia.com.
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Mann’s remark should NOT be considered anti-Muslim! She may be anti-Ground Zero worship center, just as I am. This country needs to re-evaluate it’s “melting-pot” procedures. Carol is right…we are not the country of origin for the Muslim faith and to have it become a national shrine in one of this country’s greatest cities is not something I want to be supporting. Let’s start taking care of our own heritage and exemplifying what made us the nation we are ( well…let’s dispel the greed part! ).
The Korean incident is not surprising. What the LPGA needs to do is demand that the countries that all these players come from start bellying up to the bar and putting up some major money for tournaments so the United States isn’t footing the majority of payroll for all these players.
Nice to see Tiger Woods starting to find his game again.
I am glad to see someone finally mention that Michelle Wie is still not 21 years old and has won TWICE on the LPGA. All she has going for her is upside and she could still be the best ever!
My hat is off to Mann for not being ashamed of her Christian convictions. After all isn’t face book for expressing one’s opinions? Not to mention that she is correct about our nation’s founding. It’s only controversial because today there is no tolerance toward Christian beliefs. Do you see Christian churches or “Centers” being allowed in Muslim countries?
Brian, how can you say Carol Mann’s remarks aren’t anti-muslim? Her statement that Muslims are not the children of the God she knows is hateful. Our constitution guarantees freedom of religion and protection from persecution in worship for all faiths, not just Christians. Facebook is indeed a social network, and as such those of us who use it must know when we post that we are going to be judged by those who read our thoughts. Carol obviously does not care that others will likely conclude that she is a bigot. She does not represent the best interest of the LPGA, which is clearly not an organization just for Christians.
Vicki, without getting too far into a Theological discussion, Carol’s remark “i do not believe the Muslims are the children of the God i know” is a correct statement from a Non-Muslim point of view, just ask a believer of Islam whether he believs in Christ(Jesus) or Allah, does he/she read the Holy Bible or Qouran, you wont be surprised as to which answer is given. That being said although you may not agree with her satement it’s hard to believe that someone as progressive as your thinking seem’s to be could brand Carol as a “Hateful Bigot” because of her religious views, dont just react, Interact.
I wonder how many people will eat their words and opinions about Michelle that they made not very long ago when she was still a teenager? Will they even admit that they said anything derogatory?
I think that Michelle will make us forget about Annika and Lorena before she is through!
Mann’s comments aren’t surprising, and they can be considered controversial only because she represents an organization that is very sensitive about it’s image.
I think she sounds very close-minded, but that’s her right. I have no problems with that. Where I believe she is wrong is this statement: “The United States is a Christian country, founded on Christian principles and with an expectation of Christian behavior.” The US is populated by many Christians — but also Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, etc. We are not a “Christian country” beyond simply having a large population — the Founding Fathers did not want that and the Constitution reflects that. There is an expectation of MORAL behavior, but it is close-minded to associate morality solely with the Christian faith.
Also, let’s stop comparing ourselves to less-tolerant countries who persecute their population for not acting, thinking, or worshiping a certain way. This is America, we are Americans, and we are above that type of behavior.
Mann also has the freedom of speech in this country. People forget about that. If you do not like her opinion, so what. God created Muslims but they worship the wrong one. That’s her point. Aside from what Oblunder says, this is a Christian nation, like it or not. We are just not very good ones.
Also, you saying Wie is great….after Lorena and Annika quit she has more of a chance now. Match her handicap to theirs. Who’s better. Well, Wie will do fine, good for her. She needed to get away from dada.