The Golf Blog: Michelle Wie survives 1st round Sybase match–will she ever live up to expectations?
The Golf Blog says: Michelle Wie is 20 years old, going on 30. We’ve heard about her — and had high expectations for her — since she was 13 years old. In the past 7 years, there have been glimpses of greatness sprinkled into a lot more disappointments, disqualifications, and, well, just drama. After her round, Michelle revealed how all the pressure has affected her: “There was a point where it wasn’t (fun), but then I thought to myself I can either keep dragging myself down or I can start fresh and keep moving forward. There is a point in your life where you have to make that decision.”
LPGA commissioner Michael Whan commented: “Michelle Wie brings an expanded level of exposure. Sometimes I don’t think that’s fair to her, sometimes I don’t think that’s fair to everybody else. It’s just a reality. The good news is that she has that kind of a star quota.”
We agree with Whan’s assessment of Michelle’s star power. But we disagree that it’s somehow not fair to Michelle. She got paid $10 million from Nike as a teenager. If she didn’t want the publicity that Nike would give her, then she shouldn’t have accepted the money or signed the contract. Or, at least, her parents shouldn’t have. Also, she shouldn’t have tried to make the PGA Tour in tour events, if she didn’t want the added media exposure. Michelle Wie got exactly what she — or, at least, her parents — asked for: marketing, money, and star attention. After 7 years, Michelle has not lived up to all the hype. And, although she is still young, the battle scars from the past seven years may run too deep for Michelle’s stardom to shine as brightly as we all thought it would.
Tweet