Michelle Wie's "first" tournament as a pro is shaping up like all her other tournaments as a pro. She hit a few spectacular shots, particularly with her driver, at the Samsung World Championship. She hit a few clunker shots. She melted down the stretch. She said all the right things in the media room. And she is more than poised to extend her winless streak (the Wie specialty) to 0 for 30 in pro tournaments.

And they're touting this as something new? This would be like Sylvester Stallone claiming Rocky 6 as a standalone original.

Wie is playing in her 30th pro level tournament this weekend in Palm Desert. Twenty five on the LPGA Tour, five competing against men. That's a full year on tour by any legit measure. Good luck getting Tiger Woods to make 30 starts in any one season.

Wie claiming she's been an amateur is like LeBron James coming out and saying his first season in the NBA didn't count.

Wie's definitely now played a full season worth of pro golf and she still seems clueless about what it takes to win. The back-to-back bunker plops on 18 at Bighorn Thursday was just the latest example. Now she's six shots back of Annika Sorenstam, who you knew had to be annoyed that no one was talking about her anymore.

None of this would mean anything, she's only 16 after all, if the Wie Warriors weren't so determined to pretend no-win Wie is a dominant golfer. Or even a legit sporting marvel. This is a marketing creation, dependent on plenty of smoke and mirrors.

Now the Wie Warriors can tell us how Bighorn played tougher for their girl. It really wasn't that birdie pushover you saw on TV.

The next big thing? Michelle Wie looks like the next Natalie Gulbis. Which would mean a fine enough golf career. Just not many wins and a long, long wait for the first one. If Gulbis somehow stumbles into a win before Wie, the comedy will be at an all-time high.

O for 30 and counting. What changed today, again?

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