Wie Could Make More Money than Woods

Could the 14-year-old golfing prodigy, Michelle Wie (Wie Sung-mi) lay more golden eggs than golf’s reigning emperor, 29-year-old Tiger Woods of the United States?

American sports marketing experts say it’s possible. Wood’s total career prize money comes to $40.05 million (approximately 48.1 billion won) as of January 7 ever since he became a pro golfer in 1996. It is obvious that he will be able to break the prize money mark of $100 million (approximately 120 billion won) in five or six years. However, experts say that Wie can make more money than Woods if she jumps onto the professional golf stage.

“She can be created as an unique brand if we consider her variety, look and charisma,” said Kathleen Hessert, the chief of Sports Media Challenge, an American company based in North Carolina. “I have never seen a player whose potential capacity has been recognized at such a young age,” said John Spolst, a marketing expert.

Sports marketing experts also point out that her being a Korean-American is the crucial factor that could help her hit the jackpot. They expect sports marketing using Wie can be successful in Asian regions including Korea and Japan, where golf is popular, and in China, which is being raised as a new golf market.

“The fact that she is a minority is not a handicap but a blessing,” said California Professor David Carter. “Her looks can be friendly to world golf fans for a long time.”

However, Wie Byung-wook, the father of Michelle Wie and a professor at Hawaii University, says that “Michelle is still an amateur player. I don’t want to talk about money until she becomes a pro.” Jo Gomez, the public relations director of Titlelist which is a golf club equipment maker that Michelle Wie uses, said that “I don’t think we have to use Wie for advertisement activities. We have established the principle that her amateur position must not be flawed.”

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com