Parents’ Day: From Michelle With Love

A woman wearing a pair of sunglasses stood amongst the gallery and crossed herself watching Michelle Wie tee off. The teen golfer’s mom, Seo Hyeon-gyeong always performs this humble Catholic ritual for Michelle during the game.

Not too far away, a lanky figure of a man scoped the field with binoculars. He is Wie Byeong-uk, Michelle’s dad, carefully monitoring his daughter’s swing. The forty-something couple followed their daughter like shadows at the final round of SK Telecom Open held on May 7.

At hole five (par 4), Michelle’s tee shot fall in a divot that was dug deep in the ground. This greatly affected the following shot and led Michelle to make a three-putt bogey for the first time in the event. “Ouch,” Byeong-uk groaned in disappointment. “It’s like three of us are in one body, playing the round,” said Byeong-uk. “After every game, we share with each other what we thought about how the course could have been managed better.”

Mom packs power snacks for the daughter-

Carrying a bundle of snacks consisting of sports drinks, peanuts, and red ginseng extract for their daughter, Hyeon-gyeong applauded with the gallery as Michelle moved on to her next spot. Both parents follow the game separately in order to add dimension to their observation. After anxiously watching throughout the game, the couple exchanged hugs with their daughter at the end of the 18th hole.

Mom is a former beauty pageant winner-

Wie Byeong-uk teaches tourism at the University of Hawaii. Mother Seo Hyeon-gyeong is a former Miss Korea beauty pageant (1985 Miss Boryung Pharmaceutics) winner. Wie’s parents, single handicap golfers, put a golf club in the hands of their five-year-old daughter. For 10 years afterward, they assumed the role of Michelle’s coach and manager, on top of being parents.

Michelle Wie’s 183cm height comes straight out of the gene pool. Her dad stands 187cm tall and her mother, 170cm. May 8, coincidently, is Parent’s Day in South Korea. And daddy Wie feels that his daughter gave him his most exciting Parents’ Day present ever: making the cut in the tournament. Ditto, says mom. “She always does something special for us on Mother’s day and Father’s day every year. This year it’s even more meaningful.”

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com