Golf Capsules: With overdue win, expectations return for Wie

From a hotel suite in Honolulu overlooking the golf course where Michelle Wie first showed her awesome potential, she looked at newspaper photos from various stages of her youth and realized those days were behind her.

She was 15 and had just turned pro.

Within a year, her income approached $20 million, more than any other female golfer.

"I know I have to win. That’s my priority now," Wie said that day. "They all expect me to do better and work harder."

That was four years ago, spanning 42 starts on the LPGA Tour. Those expectations took a long time to fulfill.

Her face was flush with celebration and relief Sunday when Wie blasted out of a bunker to tap-in range for a two-shot victory in Mexico. She thrust her arms in the air, covered her mouth and before long, she finally tasted that LPGA tradition for first-time winners by getting showered with beer.

It was clear an enormous burden had been lifted.

Wie created those expectations by shooting 68 on the PGA Tour at age 14, by having at least a share of the lead on the back nine of three major championships when she was 16, by coming within nine holes of qualifying for the U.S. Open and by developing shots that few other women were capable of hitting.

"For sure, it’s definitely off my back," said Wie, now 20 and in her third year at Stanford. "I think that hopefully, life will be a lot better. But I still have a lot of work to do. I still have a lot to improve. It just feels so great right now."

But as one burden is lifted, another is soon to arrive.

The timing could not have been better for the LPGA Tour, which is starved for attention and struggling to climb out of an economic morass that likely will lead to the fewest tournaments it has had in years.

The tour finally got rid of its commissioner, Carolyn Bivens, and replaced her with Michael Whan, who is to be introduced in Houston on Wednesday and takes over at the start of 2010.

The LPGA needs star power, and no other player can move the needle like Wie.

She was attracting the largest crowds even when Annika Sorenstam was still playing and winning majors.

Paula Creamer was 18 and had not gone through high school graduation when she captured her first LPGA Tour victory. Morgan Pressel was 18 when she became the youngest major champion in LPGA Tour history. Neither generated as much attention as Wie winning for the first time in Mexico at a tournament that was shown on tape delay.

Wie won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, named after the No. 1 player in women’s golf. Yet not even Ochoa could not carry the tour. When she was going for a record-tying fifth straight victory last year in Oklahoma, it received only local coverage. The Golf Channel did not send a crew to document her winning streak.

Wie has the kind of appeal not seen since Nancy Lopez — but only if she keeps winning.

Clearly, her impact on women’s golf would have been far greater had Wie won much earlier. She attracted attention because of her power and her youth, and she only has one of those left.

Even now, Wie has only one victory. Ochoa remains the No. 1 player, while Jiyai Shin has shown to be the best this year, on the verge of becoming the first player since Lopez in 1978 to win player of the year and rookie of the year in the same season. Wie played 18 times this year and is not among the top 10 on the LPGA money list.

To predict greatness after one victory is tantamount to the predictions she faced when she first turned pro.

Wie winning can only help, although the LPGA Tour still faces a mighty struggle. Sponsorship dollars remain tough to find and the tour does not have a network TV deal. The Golf Channel televises LPGA events on a tape-delay basis. And while Wie played a full schedule this year, she also remains devoted to her education — and the Cardinal football team — at Stanford.

She is still only 20, but already has been through more than most players on the LPGA Tour.

Wie lost goodwill in some golf circles by trying to compete against the men before she had proved herself on the LPGA Tour. She was 0-for-7 trying to make the cut on the PGA Tour, although it has been almost three years since she last tried.

She endured more criticism from the media than any other female golfer in 2007 while trying to play through an injury. The worst of it came after she withdrew from Sorenstam’s tournament while on the verge of shooting 88 — which would have banned for from playing for a year — only to show up two days later at Bulle Rock to prepare for a major.

Most impressive about Wie was that through it all, she never lashed out at any of her critics. She earned respect by going through LPGA Q-school last year and by leading the United States to victory in the Solheim Cup.

And now — finally — she’s a winner.

Among her immediate plans were "definitely bask in the glory."

The LPGA Tour surely will try to capitalize on this moment, as it should, although the tour should be mindful of the four years that preceded Wie’s victory, and the four years before that when she was girl among men.

Keep the expectations reasonable.

Doug Ferguson covers golf for The Associated Press.

Elsewhere

U.S. Magistrate denies restraining order to Barron

NEWARK, N.J. — The ShopRite LPGA Classic is back in business.

Tournament organizers, ShopRite and the LPGA announced Monday that the longtime Atlantic City-area fixture will return to the women’s schedule in June after a three-year absence.

The $1.5 million event will be held June 14-20 at the Seaview Resort in Galloway Township outside Atlantic City, coinciding with the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Tournament executive director Tim Erensen said the parties signed a series of five one-year contracts that include opt-outs for all signees after each year.

The return is good news for the LPGA, which has lost at least seven tournaments since 2007 because of the troubled economy. The tour lost one of its marquee events in September when Anheuser-Busch did not renew its sponsorship of the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill in Virginia after seven years.

"The timing was right," Erensen said in a telephone interview from Atlantic City. "Events have been going away with the economy struggling. We had an opportunity to return to Atlantic City with ShopRite being the title sponsor. I think Atlantic City has missed this event since the day it left. Hopefully, it will return even bigger and better."

Acting LPGA Commissioner Marty Evans was thrilled to have the ShopRite Classic back in the LPGA lineup.

"The rich history of this 21-year long event is woven in the fabric of the LPGA," he said. "We look forward to continuing this tradition for many more years to come."

Erensen said the tentative plans for 2011 are to hold the tournament the weekend after Memorial Day. He admitted that going against the U.S. Open might have been a concern had the men’s championship not been in California.

"I don’t think it will be a negative," Erensen said. "Our feeling would be different if it was in the East Coast at Winged Foot or Baltusrol, but we should be finished before they even tee off."

The 54-hole event will be televised by the Golf Channel.

Originally known as the Atlantic City Classic when it debuted in 1986, the tournament was played at several courses in the casino resort area with the first two and last nine years played at Seaview. The tournament was officially changed to the ShopRite LPGA Classic in 1992.

Previous tournament winners include Juli Inkster, Nancy Lopez, Betsy King and Annika Sorenstam.

The ShopRite Classic folded in 2006 after the previous organizers accused then-LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens of providing three unsuitable dates for the 2007 event.

Five-time champ Watson gets British Open exemption

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Tom Watson’s place in the next five British Opens is safe after the Royal & Ancient’s decision to change one of its exemption rules.

The 60-year-old five-time British Open champion finished runner-up this year but would have lost his exemption status because of the R&A’s age rules. But golf’s governing body outside the United States said Monday it has amended one of its rules so that former champions who finish in the top 10 in the previous five Opens get a five-year exemption.

That also applies to Greg Norman, a two-time champion who tied for third at the 2008 British Open.

"We have introduced this exemption as a direct response to seeing two of our great Open champions, both in their 50s, challenging to win our championship these last two years," R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said. "We rightly reduced the age of exemption for past champions from 65 to 60 two years ago and our intention was never to remove players still at the top of their game from competing in the Open."

Watson, at 59, almost became the oldest British Open champion at Turnberry this year, but he missed an 8-foot putt and bogeyed the final hole before losing a playoff to Stewart Cink.

Next year’s British Open will be played at St. Andrews from July 15-18.