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Wie gets invite to LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship; Sergio Garcia to design Dubai golf course

Tuesday January 30, 2007 | 08:14:02 am 181 words, 2121 views  

Organizers of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first LPGA Tour major of the year, offered Michelle Wie a sponsor invitation for the event yesterday. The tournament’s director, Terry Wilcox, said Wie will play in the event for her fifth time, though Wie has not confirmed her participation …

Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia said yesterday he plans to design the first links-style golf course in Dubai. Garcia, 27, said the course will feature uneven fairways, thick rough and small greens …

“I love the demands of links golf,” he said in a statement. “A great links-style course means it is both a physical challenge and a mental test and offers the most enjoyable golf there is.”

The World Cup got a long-awaited title sponsor yesterday but will no longer be a part of the World Golf Championships. Omega is the new sponsor of the more than 50-year-old event, which has struggled to attract top players since Tiger Woods stopped playing it in 2001 …

At TravelGolf.com, podcast host Dave Berner talks to Chris Baldwin, senior writer for TravelGolf.com, about the best-conditioned courses in Palm Springs.

Permalink 12 comments

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: fair is fair [Visitor]
I will wait with baited breath for the blogs bashing Sergio for lending his name to a golf course design in Dubai.
PermalinkPermalink 01/30/07 @ 09:41
Comment from: smudge [Visitor]
Ok When is this chick ever going to earn her right to play in an event? The easy ride she is being provided merely because at 13 she could hit the ball a long way is pathetic.
PermalinkPermalink 01/30/07 @ 10:47
Comment from: One-Putt [Visitor]
"Comment from: smudge [Visitor] Email
Ok When is this chick ever going to earn her right to play in an event? The easy ride she is being provided merely because at 13 she could hit the ball a long way is pathetic."

Yeah, what is up with that? What are you going to do with a "Chick" that played well enough in limited events to hold a LPGA card as a 14, 15, 16 and yes now as a 17 year old.? Where is the outrage that she might never have to attend "Q school" if she joins the LPGA tour?

It is terrible that last season she stole enough money out of the pockets of real LPGA players to finish in 15th place on the LPGA money list if she were a member. Thank God she only plays in eight women's events a year or she would be stealing the food off their plates even more than she already has.

Man those Sponsors are really stupid to ask Michelle Wie to enter their event. What could she possibly do to benefit them by her appearance?

Got to go, I see a smudge I need to wipe up off the floor.

PermalinkPermalink 01/30/07 @ 13:02
Comment from: One-Putt [Visitor]
"Comment from: fair is fair [Visitor] Email
I will wait with baited breath for the blogs bashing Sergio for lending his name to a golf course design in Dubai."

The cups will be 55 gallon oil drums sunk into the green. That way Sergio and the Shieks might make a few putts.
PermalinkPermalink 01/30/07 @ 14:23
Comment from: PaulF [Visitor]
Finishing tied for 3rd place in last years event seems to me Wie earned a spot in this years event. Unfortunately the LPGA does not have the same rules as the PGA for major championship events. Can someone tell me why?
PermalinkPermalink 01/31/07 @ 08:31
Comment from: smudge [Visitor]
Paul F. couldn't agree with you more. Fact is when the pressure is on she wilts which is why the Wie Marketing Train can continue to chug along the track. The sponsors exemptions she has herself called "it's like getting something for free" give her teh risk free no pressure ride that many would dream. Question is, is she really marketable? She talks like a 12 year old, is not exhibiting the fitness one might expect of a true role model )compare with Annika for example), and well does she have game? questionable at best.

Lets through her into Q school, and a qualifier for a tournament, then when she has earned that right to be in the spotlight, all of the criticisms can stop. Until she gets of the "free" ride in my view she, and everyone that supports her, should expect and accept that many people will be critical.
PermalinkPermalink 01/31/07 @ 10:44
Comment from: PaulF [Visitor]
Smudge, I believe the "getting something for free" was in reference to her PGA sponsors exemptons, not LPGA exemptions. I see your point, but I feel she is under considerable pressure when she does play in LPGA events. The question is will she ever win under this pressure. I think she will, but not this year.
PermalinkPermalink 01/31/07 @ 14:29
Comment from: One-Putt [Visitor]
I guess you didn't read my post smudge, Michelle finished high enough in money earned to be in the top 90 on the LPGA Tour. Q School is not required. She walks on a fully exempt player with all the rights.

Michelle is not eligible to "Monday Qualify" for LPGA events (professional status) and can never play more than six events on sponsors exemptions. Of course she qualifies as a player for the two majors held outside the tour based on past performance.

That is earning your way.
PermalinkPermalink 01/31/07 @ 14:37
Comment from: Alex [Visitor]
smudge,

You just don't get it. Bubbles , according to One-Putt and other Wie sycophants DESERVES to receive exemptions from qualifying.

Why? Because she is something SPECIAL. Because she is GOOD. Because she is going to take golf to another level never before achieved.

Does the Queen of England need to qualify? Does Britney Spears have to qualify for anything? No and no! Bubbles is royalty. If you don't believe it, just ask one of her brown-nosers.

One-Putt doesn't think that Bubbles should even have to qualify for graduation from highschool by attending the required number of days and/or weeks.
PermalinkPermalink 02/01/07 @ 19:22
Comment from: One-Putt [Visitor]
That is between Michelle, her parents, Punahou Administration and Stanford admissions isn't it Alex?

Or maybe your thinking you should have a say in her life?

In the words of Michelle Wie, "Get Over It" Alex.
PermalinkPermalink 02/02/07 @ 21:26
Comment from: Alex [Visitor]
One-Putt,

It surely is the concern only of the aforementioned parties. It is not my business or, for that matter, yours.

But the last time I looked, the first amendment had not been repealed.

I personally think that it is an abomination to afford such preferential treatment to a faux star like Bubbles. You obviously think she deserves royal dotage since she is a prodigy, a personality, and "very special", a once-in-a-lifetime phenom.

You are entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine. It's merely a matter of difference of opinion.
PermalinkPermalink 02/03/07 @ 07:57
Comment from: Houdini [Visitor]
Smudge is a pathetic, chauvinistic, illiterate douche-bag. He has no concept of how to actually read stats, money earning lists, etc., or he would have been better informed before opening his piss-flaps. Just pathetic.
PermalinkPermalink 03/23/07 @ 19:35

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WorldGolf.com blogger Dot Wong keeps golf fans up to date on the latest breaking news reports from the PGA, LPGA and European Tours. Each day Dot scans the leading golf media outlets and she brings you the best stories from around the globe.