Golf Prodigy, Michelle Wie

‘A 13 year old girl with the smooth swing of Ernie Els and the long hit of John Daly.’

The U.S. media is taking tremendous interest in a genius golfer, Michelle Wie (Korean name: Sung-mi Wie) who will play in the Chick-fil A Charity Championship of the U.S. LPGA Tour.

On the 24th, USA Today introduced her in detail in an article titled ‘Everything about Michelle,’ as well as in its online edition. At a time when foreign players from Korea and Sweden occupy the LPGA Tour, the appearance of Michelle Wie, who was born and raised in Hawaii, the U.S., is a welcome event. The paper fully expressed its high hopes and expectations of her.

USA Today quoted those who praised her highly. “Michelle talks and acts like a 13 year old girl but plays golf like a veteran. The fact that she participates in the Chick-fil A Charity Championship is enough to draw attention from many fans,” said Nancy Lopez, a member of the Hall of Fame.

The world`s No.1 female golfer Annika Sorenstam (Swedish) praised, “Michelle plays at a completely different level than I did at her age.” Gary Gilchrist, coach of Michelle, indicated her unlimited potential, saying, “The sky is the limit for Michelle.”

On 25th (KST hereafter), one day before the opening of the competition, Michelle Wee was invited to interviews along with last year’s champion Julie Ingster, Seri Park, and Lopez.

She said, “I feel a little uncomfortable because I got famous in the Nabisco Championship (Ranked 9th). I have spent a lot of time on short games and putting. I will not let you down.”

She also expressed her ambition, saying, “I`m planning to participate in the US Public Links Championship for male golfers and obtain the ticket for participating in the Masters that is awarded to the winner.”

At 2:50 a.m. on the 26th, Michelle Wie will start her hunt for the second consecutive entrance into top 10 in the same group with Lorena Ochoa (Mexican), a candidate for the award of this year’s LPGA rookie.

Young-Sik Ahn ysahn@donga.com