The unOfficial Michelle Wie News Blog

US teenage golf phenomenon Michelle Wie has arrived on this rural Japanese island to compete in a men’s tournament at the start of her foray into the lucrative Asian market.
She will go for her first professional paycheck in the 1.2-million dollar Casio World Open here next week, one of the richest events on the Japanese men’s tour, following her disastrous pro debut last month when she turned 16.
“Konnichiwa (Good afternoon),” the high school student told 300 people at the airport after flying in on a private jet from Honolulu where she lives with her family.
“I am very much moved by your welcome,” she said in Japanese.
Wie, the only child of South Korean parents who settled in Hawaii in the 1980s, is fluent in Korean and studying Japanese and Chinese.
“I am looking forward to playing in a Japanese tournament and as a pro,” said the 1.83m (6ft) Wie Saturday.
“I will do my best, and please cheer for me.”

Wie’s professional start at the LPGA Samsung World Championship five weeks ago was marred after she signed an incorrect scorecard by failing to give herself a two-shot penalty for restarting play from a wrong spot.
She was disqualified and had to forfeit the 53,126 dollars she would have earned for her eight-under-par 280, fourth behind the winner, world number-one Annika Sorenstam of Sweden.
The Casio World Open will be Wie’s sixth men’s event. She will face local and international pros including defending champion David Smail of New Zealand.
Despite her 300-yard drives, Wie has failed so far to make the cut in any men’s event which include three tournaments on the USPGA tour.
But she got encouraging words from men’s world number-one Tiger Woods, who also started his career as a child prodigy.
Woods said Saturday that Wie has “all the talent in the world and if she puts it together I don’t see any reason why she can’t make the cut”.
Speaking after taking the third round lead at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament under way in Japan, Woods said: “The pressure will be very new to her but I think she will do well.”
Before turning professional, Wie played in 24 LPGA events with four top-10 finishes in eight majors.
She finished second behind Sorenstam in the LPGA Championship and tied for third in the women’s British Open this year.
Wie has one victory to her name, the 2003 US Women’s Amateur Public Links championship.
She must wait another two years to reach the LPGA minimum age, but she has not missed an LPGA cut in any event she has played over the past two years and is likely to play eight LPGA events next year on sponsor exemptions.
Unliker other women golfers, the teenage star is handled by Hollywood agency William Morris, better known for its deals with movie stars Clint Eastwood and John Travolta.
In October, Wie signed contracts with Nike and Sony worth an estimated 10 million dollars and was featured on the cover of US business magazine Fortune.
She is only the second female to take on male players in Japan. Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson competed in the same Casio World Open two years ago but failed to make the cut.
The tournament has drawn big names since its first event was won by US great Lee Trevino in 1981. German Bernhard Langer and Japanese veteran Isao Aoki are also on the winners’ list. — AFP
US teenage golf phenomenon Michelle Wie has arrived on this rural Japanese island to compete in a men’s tournament at the start of her foray into the lucrative Asian market.
She will go for her first professional paycheck in the 1.2-million dollar Casio World Open here next week, one of the richest events on the Japanese men’s tour, following her disastrous pro debut last month when she turned 16.
“Konnichiwa (Good afternoon),” the high school student told 300 people at the airport after flying in on a private jet from Honolulu where she lives with her family.
“I am very much moved by your welcome,” she said in Japanese.
Wie, the only child of South Korean parents who settled in Hawaii in the 1980s, is fluent in Korean and studying Japanese and Chinese.
“I am looking forward to playing in a Japanese tournament and as a pro,” said the 1.83m (6ft) Wie Saturday.
“I will do my best, and please cheer for me.”
Wie’s professional start at the LPGA Samsung World Championship five weeks ago was marred after she signed an incorrect scorecard by failing to give herself a two-shot penalty for restarting play from a wrong spot.
She was disqualified and had to forfeit the 53,126 dollars she would have earned for her eight-under-par 280, fourth behind the winner, world number-one Annika Sorenstam of Sweden.
The Casio World Open will be Wie’s sixth men’s event. She will face local and international pros including defending champion David Smail of New Zealand.
Despite her 300-yard drives, Wie has failed so far to make the cut in any men’s event which include three tournaments on the USPGA tour.
But she got encouraging words from men’s world number-one Tiger Woods, who also started his career as a child prodigy.
Woods said Saturday that Wie has “all the talent in the world and if she puts it together I don’t see any reason why she can’t make the cut”.
Speaking after taking the third round lead at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament under way in Japan, Woods said: “The pressure will be very new to her but I think she will do well.”
Before turning professional, Wie played in 24 LPGA events with four top-10 finishes in eight majors.
She finished second behind Sorenstam in the LPGA Championship and tied for third in the women’s British Open this year.
Wie has one victory to her name, the 2003 US Women’s Amateur Public Links championship.
She must wait another two years to reach the LPGA minimum age, but she has not missed an LPGA cut in any event she has played over the past two years and is likely to play eight LPGA events next year on sponsor exemptions.
Unliker other women golfers, the teenage star is handled by Hollywood agency William Morris, better known for its deals with movie stars Clint Eastwood and John Travolta.
In October, Wie signed contracts with Nike and Sony worth an estimated 10 million dollars and was featured on the cover of US business magazine Fortune.
She is only the second female to take on male players in Japan. Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson competed in the same Casio World Open two years ago but failed to make the cut.
The tournament has drawn big names since its first event was won by US great Lee Trevino in 1981. German Bernhard Langer and Japanese veteran Isao Aoki are also on the winners’ list. — AFP
US teenage golf phenomenon Michelle Wie has arrived on this rural Japanese island to compete in a men’s tournament at the start of her foray into the lucrative Asian market.
She will go for her first professional paycheck in the 1.2-million dollar Casio World Open here next week, one of the richest events on the Japanese men’s tour, following her disastrous pro debut last month when she turned 16.
“Konnichiwa (Good afternoon),” the high school student told 300 people at the airport after flying in on a private jet from Honolulu where she lives with her family.
“I am very much moved by your welcome,” she said in Japanese.
Wie, the only child of South Korean parents who settled in Hawaii in the 1980s, is fluent in Korean and studying Japanese and Chinese.
“I am looking forward to playing in a Japanese tournament and as a pro,” said the 1.83m (6ft) Wie Saturday.
“I will do my best, and please cheer for me.”
Wie’s professional start at the LPGA Samsung World Championship five weeks ago was marred after she signed an incorrect scorecard by failing to give herself a two-shot penalty for restarting play from a wrong spot.
She was disqualified and had to forfeit the 53,126 dollars she would have earned for her eight-under-par 280, fourth behind the winner, world number-one Annika Sorenstam of Sweden.
The Casio World Open will be Wie’s sixth men’s event. She will face local and international pros including defending champion David Smail of New Zealand.
Despite her 300-yard drives, Wie has failed so far to make the cut in any men’s event which include three tournaments on the USPGA tour.
But she got encouraging words from men’s world number-one Tiger Woods, who also started his career as a child prodigy.
Woods said Saturday that Wie has “all the talent in the world and if she puts it together I don’t see any reason why she can’t make the cut”.
Speaking after taking the third round lead at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament under way in Japan, Woods said: “The pressure will be very new to her but I think she will do well.”
Before turning professional, Wie played in 24 LPGA events with four top-10 finishes in eight majors.
She finished second behind Sorenstam in the LPGA Championship and tied for third in the women’s British Open this year.
Wie has one victory to her name, the 2003 US Women’s Amateur Public Links championship.
She must wait another two years to reach the LPGA minimum age, but she has not missed an LPGA cut in any event she has played over the past two years and is likely to play eight LPGA events next year on sponsor exemptions.
Unliker other women golfers, the teenage star is handled by Hollywood agency William Morris, better known for its deals with movie stars Clint Eastwood and John Travolta.
In October, Wie signed contracts with Nike and Sony worth an estimated 10 million dollars and was featured on the cover of US business magazine Fortune.
She is only the second female to take on male players in Japan. Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson competed in the same Casio World Open two years ago but failed to make the cut.
The tournament has drawn big names since its first event was won by US great Lee Trevino in 1981. German Bernhard Langer and Japanese veteran Isao Aoki are also on the winners’ list.

Source – Today Online

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