Sorenstam Could Present Samsung with a Wie Problem

Update: See this post for new info

The Samsung World Championship is a short-field "reward" tournament on the LPGA Tour. Only "an exclusive field of the world's top 20 players," in the words of the tournament Web site, make it in.

This year, when the tournament is played Oct. 10-14, the "world's top 20 players" will include Michelle Wie and may very well exclude Annika Sorenstam.

Michelle Wie in, Annika Sorenstam out.

No publicity is bad publicity, but if this likely scenario comes to pass - given the disaster of a year that Wie has had - Samsung's PR agents may have lots of 'splainin to do.

Here are the selection criteria for the Samsung field:

• 2006 LPGA money leader.
• 2006 LPGA scoring leader.

  Those are both Lorena Ochoa.

• Winners of the 2007 LPGA majors. That gets Morgan Pressel, Suzann Pettersen and Cristie Kerr (Ochoa won the fourth) in.
• The top Ladies European Tour player (which probably means Gwladys Nocera, who doesn't belong either, but that's for another time).
• One sponsor's exemption. That was given to Wie, announced on May 15 of this year.

The rest of the field is filled up with the highest-ranking golfers on the 2007 LPGA money list not already in. That means golfers inside the Top 18 on the money list will complete the 20-person field.

And right now, Sorenstam - because of her missed time and sub-Annika season due to injury - is $225,000 behind the No. 18 player on the money list.

So right now, Sorenstam is out.

Wie in, Sorenstam out.

Annika can still play her way in - there are two LPGA tournaments after this week but before the Samsung, the Navistar LPGA Classic and the Longs Drug Championship. Sorenstam is not currently committed to either, but it's likely (based on field strength) that she'll play the Navistar. If getting into the Samsung is important to her - she's a six-time winner of the tournament - then how she does at the Navistar may determine whether she plays the Longs Drug.

Even if she plays both, getting into the Samsung won't be easy. She'll almost certainly have to win one and finished third or higher in the other to make up enough ground on the money list.

Is there any way that Samsung could get Sorenstam into the field if Annika doesn't play her way in? C'mon, she's Annika, and a 6-time winner of the tournament.

Could Samsung retract its invitation to Wie after she's accepted and is listed on the tourney site as a participant? I've never heard of such a thing happening. Could Samsung add one player to the field? I've never heard of that happening, either, in a tournament where the qualification procedures are well-established.

Samsung could certainly put pressure on Wie to withdraw, as the PGA Tour John Deere Classic did earlier this year.

But would they? Perhaps. But the truth probably still is that Wie - even with her game in a terrible state and her reputation looking pretty shabby, too - is a bigger draw among non-golf fans and casual golf fans (the ones who can really move the meter on attendance and TV ratings) than Sorenstam is.

Maybe there's a loophole in the way the LET qualification criterion is worded. On the Samsung Web site and in a media tournament fact sheet, that spot is said to go to "the leading player from the Ladies European Tour." These sources don't specify the leading LET money-winner. Just the "leading player." Because Annika is an LET member, and is the highest-ranked LET member in the world rankings, could that mean her? Does that make her the "leading player"? I suspect that the tournament's full rulebook does specify the LET money leader, or this trick would likely have been used before.

So that's it. Unless I'm missing something, Wie is in the Samsung, and Sorenstam is probably out.

This presents an opportunity for Wie, however. An opportunity to begin repairing her reputation and her relations with the LPGA Tour. Assuming she hasn't suddenly rediscovered her old magic - assuming she isn't shooting 64s and 65s in practice rounds - should could withdraw to give the sponsor exemption Sorenstam.

I'm not calling on Wie to withdraw. As I often state about sponsor exemptions, Wie has a right to be there because she was invited. I'm suggesting she could probably do more for herself by withdrawing than by playing.

Issue a simple statement, thank Samsung and fans for their support, but say "I'm just not playing well enough at this time to take a spot in this elite field that could go to someone who is much more deserving than me."

Team Wie has an abysmal record on the PR front. But after this public statement, Wie could follow up with a private note to Sorenstam apologizing for her behavior at the Ginn Tribute.

And then we could all stand back as the pigs flew past us.