Michelle Wie, Fill the Missing Two Percent

“Wonder girl” Michelle Wie (Korean name: Wie Sung-mi, 14) will play in the 2004 Evian Masters Tournament, which will start on July 21, in Evian, France.

The total purse of the Evian Masters, which is a prelude to the British Women’s Open (from July 29 – August 1), is $2.5 million (about 2.9 billion won) or second only to the U.S. Women’s Open, which has a purse of $3.1 million.

Star players such as Annika Sorenstam (Sweden), who rested an entire week, Meg Mallon (U.S.), Karrie Webb (Australia), Pak Se-ri (CJ), Park Ji-eun (Nike Golf), and Ahn Shi-hyun (Kolon Elord) will play in this tournament held in France.

Out of these stars, the brightest one is the young star, Michelle Wie. The official website of the tournament (www.evianmasters.com) has Wie’s picture posted on its front page.

Golf fans are interested in how well Wie will play and what place she will finish. Wie has finished at the top during her tournaments with driver shots averaging over 300 yards, and improved approach and putting; however she still has yet to win a tournament.

It is unfair to expect a girl barely over 14 to win a tournament. Nevertheless, during the Nabisco Championship, which is the size of a major tournament, and the U.S. Women’s Open, she was a contender until the third round. The problem was her fourth round performance. She often played poorly during the fourth round because her stamina was weak and her experience short. Out of the four LPGA tournaments that Wie played this season, she only scored under-par in the fourth round during the Nabisco Championship.

In addition, during the course of five tournaments including this January’s PGA Tour Sony Open, Wie played 324 holes, scoring two eagles, 56 birdies, 46 bogeys, and three double bogeys, meaning that her number of birdies is close to her number of bogeys. In other words, it also means if she reduces the number of mistakes she makes in the final round, she might actually grab the winner’s trophy.

Wie will tee-off on July 21, 6:10 p.m., paired up with Nabisco Championship winner Park Ji-eun, and last year’s rookie of the year, Lorena Ochoa (Mexico).

The USA Today reported on July 20 the words of Wie’s father, Wie Byung-wook (44), “If Michelle goes to Stanford and stays as an amateur, she is very much interested in playing on the men’s team,” suggesting that Michelle might play for Stanford men’s team.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com