Wie into Canadian Open

Michelle Wie accepts a sponsor exemption into the Canadian Women's Open. This is the last of her six LPGA sponsor exemptions. Her remaining tournaments are this week's Jamie Farr, the State Farm, and the Canadian (although she could theoretically get into a couple more tourneys by other means).

about 1 year ago Mulligan Stu 13 comments 0 recs |

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best laid plans

I still wonder what happened to “Leadbetter’s” master plan for Wie to play all of her exemptions in a fairly tight time span so that she could get some sort of tournament toughness and flow going. They pretty much wasted the other three starts – and all of a sudden, she’s going to play back to back weeks, then take three off before playing the Canadian Open ??? I never did get a good grasp of the new math. :-)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Jul 8, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Women's British Open

She’s listed among the many players eligible for the pre-qualifying tourney for the Women’s British Open on July 14th. If she does well there, she’ll have the qualifier on July 28th. I suspect she may get an invitation to the Italian and Evian events -if you were organizing those tournaments, wouldn’t you do it? There were 11 anonymous invites given out for the Italian LET event-wonder if she is one of them. But I don’t see her on the Evian list, so that’s probably out.

by The Constructivist on Jul 8, 2008 2:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Beam me up...and over, Scotty

good for her – entering the pre-qualifying.

there are a couple of problems, though – she’s entered in the Jamie Farr this week – and she has a 9:39 pre-qualifying tee time at the Berkshire GC in England on Monday the 14th. she’s facing a very long flight and a 5 hour time difference to get there the next day.

Then she’s accepted a sponsor’s invite to the State Farm Classic starting on Thursday after the pre-qualifier (and that’s leaving out the Pro-Am on Tuesday or Wednesday). This is also the same week as the Ladies Italian tournament. Somehow I don’t think she’s going to get an invitation to the Evian Masters either. The tour got tired of her act last year and she hasn’t done anything lately to justify giving her an entry into a prestigious limited field event like this.

sounds like at least one, if not all of these tournaments aren’t going to get the proper attention. are we SURE that “Leadbetter” looked at a calendar for this month…since “he” is the one helping her with scheduling decisions this year ? (ok ok – Wie made it clear that SHE is the one calling all the shots…but hey…even David Leadbetter can get his feelings hurt – I’m just throwing him a bone) :-)

the good news is that Hootie and the Blowfish are playing the big gala tonight at the JFOCC !

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Jul 8, 2008 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Aye Captain

While I’m at it I’ll Michelle search for her golf game.

by Bill Jempty on Jul 8, 2008 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

T6 in Germany?

yeah, not enough in my view either. so we’ll see if she actually does the PQ, eh?

by The Constructivist on Jul 8, 2008 4:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

imagine the backlash...

...against Wie if she dumps on one or both of the sponsor’s invitations to go to Europe for an appearance fee tournament and a pre-quali for the British Open. She’d be blackballed for good.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Jul 8, 2008 5:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

it depends

If Wie thinks she can still get an LPGA exempt card next year there’s no way she’ll back out of the exemptions. If she has access to charter flights, I’ll bet she does, her travel issues would be eased considerably.

by dianemarie on Jul 9, 2008 9:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I hope you're right

but since very little about Wie makes a whole lot of sense – you just never know. If her goal is an LPGA card for 2009, “pond” hopping for a pre-qualifier between tournaments seems kind of crazy. (maybe the Earth First crowd will protest the waste of fossil fuel) :-D

assuming she makes the cut – which is no guarantee – and has a decent finish (say top 20) – she won’t be away from the golf course before 4 or 5 pm on Sunday. then travel to whatever airport her charter (or maybe a Nike jet) is leaving from – 8-9 hours in the air between Ohio and London plus a possible stop on the US coast to top off the tanks – then travel time from London to Berkshire (about 50 miles) plus 5 hours for the time change – WHEW ! (and I get stiff driving 20 minutes to the golf course in the morning)

To quote Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy as he’s late to the first tee at the US Open – “Got time for a quick bucket?” :-)

it would definitely pay to be 18 years old with that travel schedule – because she’d have to do it all over again to get back here for the State Farm Classic that Wednesday (pro-am time, you know) – then back to England for the qualifier.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Jul 9, 2008 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh geez

if she DOESN’T make the cut – she’s wasted yet another of her allowed sponsor’s exemptions – this is one of three remaining – and after the State Farm – she’ll only have one, and that one is spoken for.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Jul 9, 2008 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it all hinges on missing the cut this week!

if she can just achieve that, she can get to the PQ in plenty of time.

seriously, as a non-member, she could present the LPGA with quite a dilemma at the Farr if, after 36 holes, she’s one of the top 5 who haven’t already qualified for the WBO—their website says only “LPGA members” count toward those 5 slots, but imagine the furor if it was both Wie and Stacy Lewis being denied a trip to the WBO because of another dumb LPGA rule to protect its members (like Lewis’s US Open winnings not counting toward her total for the season toward a membership exemption).

this the British OPEN after all, so why shouldn’t anyone playing in the 36-hole qualifer be eligible for the trip to England???

by The Constructivist on Jul 9, 2008 9:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

but that's their job

Con – if anybody on “Team Wie” didn’t know that the WBO exemption is for an LPGA member only before accepting the sponsor’s invitation – including her highness – then there are some serious questions that need to be asked – especially of her management and coach. (remember – MW got DQ’d from a tournament because she didn’t know how to take a drop properly – and naturally, her caddy got fired for her ignorance)

The people who run the LPGA Tour are SUPPOSED to protect the membership. Wie and Lewis should already know they aren’t eligible for the invitation to the WBO (isn’t that a boxing orgnization ?) The R&A isn’t required to offer ANY exemptions to the LPGA players. It’s just a courtesy that is returned for the US Open.

Since the plan – such as it was when it was released – was to get her high enough on the money list to get her LPGA card for next year using her 6 sponsor’s exemptions, but that plan got tossed out pretty quick. Who knows what the plan is now. Playing in the British Open doesn’t get her anywhere with the LPGA or LET unless she wins it. As usual – things around Michelle Wie make very little sense.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Jul 9, 2008 2:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

gotta give Bivens credit here

b/c if Wie is among those 5, maybe she’d petition for a special membership so she can go to the WBO. I’m sure the LGU (not R’n’A) wouldn’t mind having her in the field and the LPGA would love having Wie as a member!

http://mlyhlss.blogspot.com/2008/07/on-stacy-lewis-and-michelle-wie-womens.html

by The Constructivist on Jul 10, 2008 9:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

nah - I just don't see it

Stacy Lewis has been a pro what – a month ? She hasn’t asked for any special treatment and seems prepared to do whatever it takes to earn her way onto the LPGA Tour. And she’ll succeed.

All of the scenarios are plausible – but there is a consideration that will shut them all down. We’re talking about Michelle Wie – the little girl who has basically spit on the LPGA and possible memberships for several years. The LPGA, and the women’s game in general, were beneath her highnesses dignity. She looked down her nose at Carolyn Bivens, who would’ve bent over backwards to have Wie on board.

For nearly two years, Wie hasn’t managed any kind of consistent play, and she showed a complete lack of respect to a major sponsor (Ginn), the then #1 player in the world and tournament host (Sorenstam) and Tour rules when she pulled out of the Ginn faking another wrist injury and showing up at the site of the next tournament a day later (knowing that Tour players would not be allowed to be at the course until Monday).

If any sort of special deals were made in her favor, Bivens would have serious problems from the real LPGA players – the ones who show up week after week – playing not only the tournament game, but the media game to support the tour. They get it – Wie doesn’t. Bivens would have a mutiny on her hands if she makes deals on Wie’s behalf.

Wie has burned too many bridges to expect special treatment. If Bivens is going to keep some semblence of control over the tour, she can’t make deals and exceptions for Wie.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Jul 10, 2008 10:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs