Michelle Wie accepts invite to play John Deere Classic

Leadbetter talked about MW committing to the LPGA and not having any men's events scheduled at the time he spoke, but it didn't seem to me that he said she would not compete in any men's events.
It makes sense for MIchelle Wie to play in the JDC. She may not make the cut, but she has a pretty good chance to improve on recent results. Leadbetter talked about courses for horses. The 84 Lumber in the rain was a terrible course for her, but the JDC figures to be one best PGA courses for her so she may as well give it a shot if she is sufficently recovered from her injury.

Jim C,

Now how would anyone suspect that you would take that tack?

For those out there who are uninitiated, Jimbo is Wie Warrior Numero Uno.

Last year he predicted that Bubbles would not only win the Evain and the Weetabix, she would also make the cut in the 84 Lumber.

Just recently, he flatly predicted that Bubbles would win the LPGA championship.

I fully expect Jimbo to be right about something before the end of the decade.

Jim,

Do you smell what you are shoveling? "It makes sense for MW to play in the JDC..."?

Aside from her "0 fer" record in making cuts in PGA events, her participation comes on the heels of her injury. And that makes sense?

When are we going to get beyond this BS? This is no longer MW's problem, this is the PGA's problem. I am tired of seeing this product diluted for the sake of sensationalism.

PGA - If you're listening, stop taking hits off the crack pipe. This whole MW deal, in the immortal words of the late John Wayne, "is getting absolutely re-goddamndiculous".

Jim is right. Of pga events in general, the JD is a good pick. The good news is that it is likely that she is playing well in practice for her to accept the exemption.

2under,

Semper Fi, brother.

I'm going out of town(Chicago)for business(Lexington, KY) for the remainder of the week and then to the Memorial outside of Columbus for the following week.

It will your mission to keep these Wie-wee's at bay until relieved.

Do your best to bust their chops until my return.

Regards, Alex

Jim C,

You said that Bubbles has a pretty good chance to improve upon recent results. Well, my, my, that's really sticking your neck out. Yes, I suppose that once you bottom out, there's no place to go but up.

Jimbo, that's not called an accomplishment -- it's called deviation toward the mean.

That's "regression toward the mean." Deviation is, by
definition, away from the mean.

Kiel,

The phrase "deviation toward the mean" is used quite often by statisticians and those studying probabilities.

I'm surprised that you've never heard of it.

It is self-explanatory

I just don't understand it.

Herm Edwards said it best..."HELLO....YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME."

Do we really think Ms. Wie has any shot to win? If not, why the heck is she out there? To make a cut? I find that highly objectionable. I have no question in my mind that she is a skilled golfer, and at some point can make a cut on a select event on the PGA. But what does that prove? In the meantime, until such an even occurs, we are subject to the repeated media hype? Maybe that is why the PGA is going with the larger corporate tents around 18 - because the circus is now in town. Where are the clowns?

At the very least, maybe we can expect another book by Ms. Mario. "The Champion's Saga - Making the Cut". Tough to label someone a champion when the aspiration is making the cut, isn't it?

C'mon people, this is absolutely ridiculous. Let's stop the circus sideshow. No disrespect to Ms. Wie personally, I am sure she is a fine young woman. But let's not continue the charade. At least put the PGA thing on hold until she has proven herself to be competitive at the LPGA level, and substantially so to merit consideration for play at a higher level.

2Under:"Do we really think Ms. Wie has any shot to win? If not, why the heck is she out there? "
___

Did you think Tiger had a chance of winning in his first 7 pga events when he was missing the cut by larger margins, the worst being in his 7th attempt when he finished last in a pga field?
Of course Tiger didn't have a chance to win, but he was using it as good experience.

PS: This is not a comparison of MW and TW. This is simply using the example of a player who had no chance of winning, yet still entered the event to gain experience.

Of course it is a comparison between Tiger and Michelle if it wasn't you would have used another player to make your point.

The difference as you well know Johnny is that Tiger went on to win and win often on the PGA tour something Michelle will never do...So what experience is she actually gaining? I think it is safe to say that her forays into the men's game have not helped her win on the LPGA tour and they are certainly not in prepaeration for life on the PGA tour, so it would seem she is learning how to get her brains beat out by superior golfers.

Kiel,

Alex and I are correct, and you are wrong. I learned "deviation toward the mean," my friend, in a probability and statistics course I took in college.

No it isn't a comparison Ford. The point is that Tiger did not produce anything really good in his first 7 pga sponsors exemptions. So why would you be stupid enough to write someone else off who did the same, or actually performed a bit better than him from a scoring point of view.

Johnny,

Comparing Tiger to MW is absolutely ridiculous.

MW hasn't even won on the LPGA. Not that she hasn't had ample oppt'y to do so. Tiger may have finished last in the field. I am sure some of the greats in the game have, on occasion. But nothing MW has done to this point has decisively illustrated she is going to be a contender, much less a "great of the game" among the men.

Tiger at least learned to win on the amateur circuit before he went pro. He even put a good go in at Stanford before he threw his hat in the ring for the PGA. I don't think we can argue with his meteoric success since...

MW needs to learn how to win on a higher level before she even thinks about the PGA. I blame the PGA equally as I do MW on this, because her participation is tantamount to a sideshow. There are more deserving people out there, if we are just throwing exemptions around.

So it is equally an indictment of the exemption process as it is an indictment of MW ability, or lack thereof, to compete in a PGA event.

Net/net: She doesn't deserve to be there. So if the PGA isn't willing to cut the cord here, someone in the MW camp needs to. The point of her participating shouldn't be to "make the cut". What the hell does that prove?

I think Michelle should accept the exemption after all she has accomplished everything she can on the LPGA tour. She has so many top 5 finishes that they might as well just hand her the 4th place check before the events begin. She has completely dominated her female competition and really has nothing left to prove against the ladies. A win would be nice, but who needs one when you can scrape by on your reputation and potential. Michelle has also shown that she has far too much game for the Nationwide tour, the Asian tour and the European tour so the next logical step for her is the PGA. Sure she has bombed at each tour spot she has made, but who needs to play on the weekend when you can collect a fat appearence fee check and hit the malls on Saturday. Why is everyone so concerned about her making the cut? I predict she will not only make the cut, but finish in the top 20, after all as some extremely intelligent posters have noted she is on a better career arc than Tiger Woods. I mean Tiger didn't make any cuts in his first seven events so why should she? All she needs to do is start consistently winning events on the PGA tour in two years and add a Master's Title in the next three to prove all those Tiger comparisons correct.

I have never posted before on a golf blog or any other blog for that matter, but the level of stupidity on this site merited a response. Michelle Wie is nothing but a media creation, bolstered by pc liberals and big corporations looking to cash in on the "next big thing". She is an extremely talented young woman who I think will have a fine career on the LPGA tour, if her poor decision making on and off the course(tournament selection, lack of amateur experience, caddy firings, and choice of coaches) hasn't permenantly scarred her. The notion that she is the future of golf and the chosen one to cross gender lines and win is, however insane and an unfair burden to put on anyone.

Welcome to the fray, Will.

Many of us have said the same things for a long, long time. If enough of us say it frequently enough, maybe the Wiebots will begin to listen.