Faldo named Golf Channel's top dog, Michelle Wie must make cut at John Deere, Morgan Pressel's a geek

Not meaning to be rude or anything, but do you ever do anything but regurgitate news items on this blog? Blogging is supposed to be a means of disseminating opinions and encouraging debate. By those measures, this blog is a wasteland. Why do you bother with it?

Diaz's article sums up my stance perfectly. Respectful of her talent, impressed by her LPGA results, but not at all convinced that she is, or will ever be able to transcend the woman's game. Hell, I'm not even sure she can win on the women's tour, let alone dominate. As far as truly competing against the men, it is as he said simply a sideshow--She may make a cut someday, maybe even this week, but she does not have the game to actually compete to win or finish in the top 20 and I seriously doubt she ever will. No shame in that, just the way it is.

I am actually suprised more people are not talking about Brittany Lincicome exposing MIchelle Wie---Before all the Wie Warriors jump down my throat about Michelle's results compared to Brittany's, hear me out. Michelle certainly has the better results and is the superior golfer in general. What I'm talking about is the hype/marketing factor. For years now we have been told that Michelle is the longest hitting woman ever, able to generate more spin, more ball speed and in turn is the only woman that can theoretically compete with the men. It has been proven that she can not hit it with the vast majority of men, and now it seems that her game is really not that much more evolved than all the other women. As I have said all along I believe Wie warriors are being sold a phony bill of goods. Michelle is an incredible talent and deserves much praise, but she is not the next coming of Tiger, she's not even the next coming of Babe.

Yeah Dot, Mike W does have a point. On the other hand, I'm guessing that your style is to highlight golf stories and provide the links. Readers go to the story and then come back here to comment, argue, whine, etc... Am I right?

One win and Britanny Lincicome thinks she's better than Michelle. There seems to be bottled up envy, jealousy and resentment in her against Wie. We knew about Morgan being jealous but I guess they all are incldg Se Ri Pak and I'm sure Annika too.

They may not make in a lifetime what Michelle makes in one year and that's enough to make them green with envy

I have a better appreciation of Morgan. At least she doesn't hide her emotions where Wie is concerned. It affects her game but she lets it all hang out

Mike W.

I for one am very appreciative of Dot and her efforts in finding an posting newsworthy links. True, it is not a traditional "Blog", but given they've only become popular in the last couple of years can anyone truly say there is only one paradigm to follow?

Jenny:

I agree with your assessment of Ms. Linicome. She is exhibiting serious jealousy now that she won a tournament. Apparently, she feels her one-dimensional game has now surpassed the all around skills of Michelle based on that single victory. Her comments regarding Michelle's alleged priveleged lifestyle are disconcerting especially to someone like myself who witnessed first hand her mother and father's daily sacrifices to mold what may well be the greatest young golfer ever to play this wonderful game.

Michelle did not have a silver spoon in her mouth early on. Instead, every afternoon from ~2:30-dark, mom would lug her bag around obscure Olomana golf course, while Dad dropped ball after ball and Michelle would pepper the flagstick with shot after shot. This was 10-11 year old Michelle finishing up 240-250 yard drives with amazing precision. One day, I had the privilege of follwing this dedicated trio and hit one of those rare 300 yard hacker drives drives right at the budding superstar. You know the kind that just explode off the club and occur about once every ten rounds or so. I screamed Fore, and thankfully the blast rolled on past the group. Needless to say, if looks could kill I'd be a dead man. Team Wie inmmediately put two holes between us.

They were on that course every single day, without press, fans, etc. This commitment is likely a product of their Korean roots and work ethic which is further evinced by the amazing success exhibited by the young Korean guns on the LPGA. It is not a fluke. Instead, it is the product of a day after day committment to an overall goal of becoming the best in what you do. Needless to say, she is on the road to becoming the best woman golfer of all time—like it or not.

To hear comments like Linicome, Pressell, et al, is disturbing. Those who remember Ms. Creamer used to act the same jealous fashion, but somewhere along the way someone sat her down and explained the foolishness of such petty behavior. She is great for this game and has the ability to once again pack the courses and tournaments ala Mr. Woods circa 1999-2000.

To all, enjoy the ride Michelle is taking us on and please restrain from any criticism of her success. She has truly earned it.

1. If you viewers can't discern the wry, cynical, satirical and spicey underbelly to Dot Wong's blogs, you need to return to your literature classes. Her blogs are filled with metaphor, irony, synecdoche, simile, and other literary tropes that I fail to fully grasp.

2. Why does Morg-O need a Blackberry and a Treo? I have a Treo, and do not have berry-envy in the least? I am glad, though, that she is a geek. It makes the world a less lonely place.

RM

Ford:

Please tell me where it has been proven that Michelle can't hit it with most of the men? Have you watched her in PGA events? It is evident to me as I watch her in both types of events that she lays off the driver or goes with 3 wood when she plays the LPGA, while she really goes after the par-5s when playing the PGA events. At the Sony this year, I believe on hole 12, she hit a 334 yard drive, 1 yard further than up and comer Camilo Villegas (hope I spelled his name right). She had 7 or 8 drives in that event over 300 yards for the two rounds she played. I'm not saying that she can beat all the men, but come on, 334 yards? I'm sure she has nothing to fear from the women. And it has been mentioned by Johnny Miller that her length is carry distance whereas most other women are dependant on a lot of roll. This is why at the US women's open her driving average was around 265 and Brittany Lincicome's was around 240 (the course was wet and the drives weren't rolling).

bwlee,

What is it with you sheeple? If Bubbles, or most anyone else for that matter, hits a drive 334 yards, it's because it's downhill and/or downwind and/or on a baked out fairway.

Hey, I hit one 356 at the Ocala Golf Club the winter before last. I guess that's representative of my average driving distance, huh?

Bubbles could legitimately get it out there 334 . . . with two shots.

Ron Mon

I challenge the LPGA claim that Morgan Pressel is a gadget geek. Just owning a few gadgets does not a geek make. Can she take her gadgets apart and put them back together? Does she have a computer she put together herself?

With two phones, a Blackberry, a Treo, and an Apple iBook Pro, Morgan Pressel is a confirmed gadget geek.

What? no iPod?

bwlee--I hate to be the first one to break this to you, but Michelle is not nearly as long as the media would have you believe. The 334 yard drive you mentioned was with over 20 mile per hour gusts at her back and it is a downhill driving hole. Outdriving a male pro on a single hole does make you an equal driver of the golf ball. Bubba Watson hit drives in the 360 range all week, certainly not his normal yardage. Her driving distance puts her well below average for the PGA tour and more importantly puts her below the likes of Brittany Lincicome as evidenced in the match play event last week, when Brittany drove it by her all day. You have already been brainwashed by fawning Wie Media, so I'm probably just wasting my time, but trust me Michelle is not as long as you think.

Not to outdo you Judge, but I had 4 drives in my round yesterday over 300 yards, including driving the 375 yard par 4 number 10 hole at my father's club. I guess I should mention that the tenth hole plays from a 100ft. elevation, we had gale force winds behind us and if you can carry the ball 280 or so yards it's straight downhill from there. No matter by bwlee's reasoning I am now longer then Bubba Watson, J.B. Holmes, Camillo and the whole lot of them.

Ford,

I am perfectly content to take my place right behind you as number two in the world in average driving distance.

By the way, there's a hole at Shepherd Hills Country Club in upstate NY where I can hit a three iron probably 320-330. The course is best suited to a mountain goat.

bwlee, In answer to your question "When did Bubbles prove/show she can't hit with the men?", the answer is 13 July 2006 at Silvis, Illinois. Bubbles, 13 strokes off the pace! It is to laugh!

BWLEE and all others discussing driving distance.

Check the tournament and LPGA stats pages. Michelle ranks with Lorena Ochoa who is 5th in distance on the LPGA. However, Lorena has a much higher percentage for fairways hit and greens in regulation. Brittany is ranked 2nd about 10 yards further than Lorena and Michelle. In her PGA ventures Michelle's average has been around 270 yards (including today). Many of the top girls on the LPGA are capable of 300 yard drives but, it seems they concentrate more on accuracy.

Driving accuracy is Michelle's weakness. Because of that Greens in regulation is her next weakness. I think that if she concentrated on less distance and tried to hit more fairways she would improve her score.

Wow, I see that Bubbles is at seven just like the leaders . . .. Oh, wait . . . she's at PLUS seven . . . hmm. Seventy-seven, well, that's almost what I shot today. Hey, Alex, what do you think the chances are that I'll be able to finagle a sponsor's exemption? I think I can manage to find my way to one of the upcoming tour venues.

Now, in all fairness, Bubbles is only sixteen and she's improving. After all, when she was only fifteen she missed the cut at the John Deere by two strokes and at the Sony by seven. When she was only fourteen she missed the cut by one shot at the Sony. My, my, imagine how she'll be playing when she's only eighteen.

I do like her optimism, though. I'll have to remember to cultivate such an attitude in myself and manifest it the next time I "play well." Hey, I hit a drive fifty yards right, shanked a five iron into the woods, laid the sod over a seven iron and plunked the ball into a water hazard, and three-putted three greens. But, hey, take those insignificant missteps out of the equation and I played well. She must be seeing Phil Mickelson's sports psychologist.

She reminds me of the perpetually optimistic child who was the subject of a scientific experiment. They placed him in a room full of horse manure, and upon returning to check on him a half an hour later discovered that he was wallowing in the waste, tossing it to and fro. Incredulous, they asked him about his behavior. He replied, "With all the horse manure around here, there must be a Shetland pony somewhere!"

And that's Bubbles. No matter how excrementitious her game may be, she just knows that a Shetland pony must be grazing on the next fairway.

Judge--Upstate New York is not all that far from my old stomping grounds in CT and even closer to my former prep school in Pawling, New York. If you are hitting 300 plus yard 3 irons I will gladly hand the title back to you, I don't care if the course is on the runway of Westchester Airport that;s still a big 3-iron. I think the point we are both trying to make is that anybody even us "hackers" can rip off huge, impressive sounding drives, but like Michelle Wie we can't be counted on to average anywhere near our peak yardages. As Steve touched upon, Michelle in her four previous attempts to qualify on the PGA tour averaged 274 yards off the tee, a nice number, but a number that would rank her 159th on tour. Her real problem is on her approaches which would rank her dead last on tour with regards to proximity to the pin. Not enough power generated, means not enough spin, not enough spin means not enough resonable chances to make birdie. Despite what you may have read, or heard Michelle's game is not yet, nor in my opinion will it ever be ready for the PGA tour and age has nothing to do with it, Biology does.

Ford,

I do concur. But the hole I'm referring to in NY runs down a mountain tee to green! You could probably throw a ball 200 yards down the hill.

bwlee, Have you had enough? When will you Wie Warriors see the obvious? Bubbles went into the tank, pure and simple. Her agents and handlers told her to take the easy way out so dumbbells like you and Jim COULTHARD won't give up on her, Bubbles will never win Jack***t, and you can make book on iy.

I am sick to death of hearing, 'Brittany Lincicome is jealous of Michelle Wie and her achievements.'

Brittany has won something; Michelle hasn't. While Michelle's bank balance will always be bigger than Brittany's, Brittany has actually achieved something worth celebrating.

I doubt that Brittany is jealous of Michelle, but I could concieve of Michelle being jealous of Brittany. Perhaps these off-hand remarks from Brittany simply represent the general feeling of annoyance of the golf world towards Michelle - yes, she is increasing revenue, but not helping the game. If profit is more important than the game itself, professional golf should be abolished - but we all know what is more important, anyway.

Or perhaps Brittany's comment are, 'Hello.. I'm quite good at this game.. have achieved more than Michelle Wie has.. and I still get zero attention.. something is wrong here!' Don't mistake this for jealously; in fact, it is obvious that the Wie warriors are somewhat resentful towards Brittany's newfound ability to actually finish a tournament off.

And yes, Brittany HAS achieved more than Michelle in this game.. one victory beats a million top-fives. Furthermore, it is absolutely undeniable at this stage that Paula Creamer is a better player than Michelle Wie.

Paula Paula Paula, why is it always Paula?

Soooo sick of Paula Creamer. She has a great rookie year with 2 wins and now what? I'm so over Paula Creamer. Michelle Wie has finished higher than Paula Creamer in every tournament they have both been in, minus match play. And that hardly counts since they didn't play each other.

Paula might have a chance to win this weekend in Ohio, but she's hardly ever in contention to win anything these days. People who keep talking about Paula Creamer have no idea what goes on in the LPGA. It's like people comparing Michelle Wie to Morgan Pressel... Morgan Pressel... WHO CARES?

Dot Wong, nobody cares about Morgan Pressel. She's not that interesting. And having gadgets, doesn't make you a geek. I'll care about Morgan Pressel when she's actually in contention to win. I'm doubting it will be this year. Thank God we haven't had to watch her bawl her eyes out anymore.

There are so many other better female golfers than Paula Creamer or Morgan Pressel or even Brittany Linicome. Brittany Linicome wins one match play tournament, but during stroke play... is she ever in contention to win? NO. Really the only reason why these girls get so much press for doing so little is because they're young and white. It's like people are grasping for their new great white hope against the "evil" powers of Wie.

If you want to talk about golfers who are currently better than Wie. Why don't you talk about Lorena Ochoa or Jeong Jang. These are young female golfers that you can make a case for being better than Wie.

And as far as the whole jealous drama crap. Who cares? The media is setting up these rivalries by asking pointed questions. It's ridiculous. This media idiocy would never happen in the PGA, yet it's okay to cultivate this tabloid journalism when it comes to the LPGA?

Jenny-poo,

One reason why Bubbles garners all the attention she does is that she's not white. And I wonder, are you jealous of Creamer? I mean, she's a mighty attractive young lady and we know how envious you women can be of such women.

Alex,

It seems to me that Jenny-poo has an outside chance of being the first woman to take home the Alan Cup. It occurs to me, though, could the prospect of being bested by a woman breed insecurity among the other Alan Cuppers?

Judge Smallmind

Are you addressing this to me?

If you are, don't you think Creamer is a bit young for you?
If anyone is jealous of anyone, I 'd think you're the one jealous of Michelle Wie. She gets PGA exemptions, you do not. It's sad how all these grown men are threatened by a girl.

Anyway, Paula Creamer isn't to my tastes. She's on the short side and more cute than sexy. Really I think if I'd be jealous of what a woman looks like it would be Natalie Gulbis. Too bad you guys can't see past her FHM profile, because I think she's probably been more in contention than Creamer. I'd like her to win in Ohio this weekend.

No, Jenny-poo, Creamer isn't a little young for me. Perhaps I'm not as old as you think?

And, yes, I was addressing it to you, Jenny-poo. You're the only Jenny-poo around.

Jenney gave away her age a long time ago when she failed to catch that you're name was an obvious homage to Caddyshack. Paula is actually 5"9, hardly short by women's standards and she pulled a "Wie" this weekend by just falling short of a playoff. Gulbis is still winless, at least she can be secure in one title she holds--Best looking on tour.

Yes, Ford, I realized that her failure to understand that reference was telling. And they love to say young women are more mature than young men. Ha-ha.

Judge Smails, Well, the Wie Warriors seem to be settling down. Several have talked themselves into believing that heat exhaustion rather than poor play caused Bubbles to miss another cut. In fact, many Wie-wee's think that it shouldn't be called a missed cut since she withdrew. After the sorry spectacle that Bubbles made of herself at the John Deere, it will be interesting to see if BJ and her agents and handlers concoct some excuse to decline the exemption to the Sept 14-17 84 Lumber Classic. When Bubbles and her entourage see the course at Mystic Rock in PA, they'll be thinking "gee, this ain't like our home links in Hawaii." That baby is LONG. In last year's event it played at 7516 yards, and the tournament committee is actually thinking of LENGTHENING some of the holes. And that course isn't just hilly, it's MOUNTAINOUS. True to it's name , the course is dotted with huge boulders, many of which are in play on several holes. There are many bunkers in which a Peterbilt tractor could be hidden. If she does decide to play Mystic Rock the Wie's better hire their own ambulance. I doubt if Bubbles, in her weakened physical state, could complete two rounds there by walking, regardless of the temperature. In any case, two rounds is all she'll have to play. Bubbles' chances of making the cut at Mystic Rock are between slim and none, and Slim just left town.

Ford, not sure what you mean by a long time ago, since I'm pretty sure I've only been posting on these blogs for 5 days. But I don't see why I should worship at the grail of Chevy Chase and address someone properly when they don't accord me the same niceties.

Paula is pretty short next to Michelle Wie. And for her pulling a "Wie"... well it's the best she's been able to do all year.

Alex,

Yes, the Wie-zeals were tossing and turning for days and using up their prescriptions for Zoloft, but it seems that they have finally settled upon a rationalization that enables them to make sense of the world.

If Mystic Rock is as mountainous as you indicate, then Bubbles may be able to withdraw while claiming vertigo. All the changes in elevation can be very hard on a "phenom."

I thought some facts might be a welcome change. Some driving averages from the recently completed Evian Masters, according to the LPGA site:

Michelle Wie: 272.5
Laura Davies: 268.6
Brittany Lincicome: 266.5
Si Ri Pak: 263.6
Anika Sorrenstam: 256
Paula Creamer: 247.5
Mi Hyun Kim: 231.4

Michelle is only 16, so we can assume she will get longer. Brittany, by the way finished 29 strokes behind and 28 behind Michelle. She didn't have a birdie on her card until the last round.

Driving distance can be misleading anyway. Current PGA stas have Bubba Watson at 318 and Tiger at 302. However at the Western Open, Tiger's average was 320 to 316 for Watson. So clearly Watson's average is inflated by the fact that he plays easier courses than Tiger and, being rarely in contention, he can let it fly. Put him in contention ofn the back nine of a major and let's see how he does.

Back to Michelle. She is partly a victim of her own raised expectations. Stick another 16 year old out there who is in her first year and is doing the same things Michelle is, and she would be a sensation. Other than the mental, which is hard to gauge, Michelle's game is and will be more dominant in regard to the ladies than Tiger's is towards the men. There simply aren't that many good women golfer's out there, and her physical gifts are greater in relation to her peers than Tiger's.

She certainly has the potential to put together unprecedented numbers and win almost every tournament she enters on the LPGA tour by the time she is in her twenties. The men's tour is a different matter. It will be very difficult for her to win there, although she will make some cuts.

Before you guys jump down my throat, I meant to say Michelles physical gifts are greater in relation to her peers, not her game. Her game is not dominant yet, I realize that. It is however just about on par with the best ladies right now, now that Annika is no longer dominating.

One more thing. The total men's prize money has tripled since Tiger came on tour. That is no coincidence. Guys that have never won and miss more cuts than they make are earning a million dollars.

So what if Michelle is a media darling? It will mean more money for every golfer on the PGA tour.