michelle wie invited to u.s. open — women’s
I was excited to hear Michelle Wie received an exemption to play the U.S. Open, but then found out it was for the women’s tour. The Open will be played from July 1 – 4 at Donald Ross-designed Orchards Golf Course on the campus of Mount Holyoke College in western Massachusetts. I’ve never played this golf course, but I used to play another amazing course, the Taconic, in this part of the country. It’s absolutely gorgeous in Western Mass. in the summer. But I still find it pretty amazing that a college course is the site of the women’s U.S. Open.
UPDATE: If you’ve been wondering about the exemption for Wie, it’s the first amateur exemption for the U.S. Open given on the women’s tour. 2 LPGA pros are also receiving exemptions: Dottie Pepper and Betsy King. I don’t have a problem with Wie’s exemption, because she no doubt “qualifies” and could even win the event. Apparently, 4 amateur exemptions have been given in the past to the men’s or champion’s U.S. Open, including Aaron Baddeley and Jay Sigel. Wie has won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links tournament and has already placed well on the LPGA tour, not to mention almost making the cut at the men’s Sony Open.
UPDATE 2: Ron Sirak of Golf World disagrees with me, saying it’s unfair. Unfair to whom? As David Pay, executive director of the USGA explained, “This year’s high 35 rankers in prize money of the U.S. LPGA tour are exempted from the preliminaries of the U.S. Women’s Open, and Wie places 28th when her results convert to prize money.” What would be really unfair would be to penalize Wie for her amateur status. Forcing her to qualify for the women’s U.S. Open would conflict with her chance to play the U.S. Amateur Public Linx qualifier and potentially qualify for the men’s Masters.
UPDATE 3: Here’s more about Michelle’s plans to make the Masters, and further comments about why she qualifies for an exemption based on being the 28th best player on the LPGA.
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