There has been a lot of discussion in these blogs about the relative strength of men vs. women, particularly when it comes to the case of a 16 year-old female wunderkind, one Michelle Wie. She dreams of playing in the Masters and duelling with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and the like. Much anecdotal evidence has been offered supporting the pro and con views of her future in the game.

Golf is a game of skill and nerve, where physical strength is a huge advantage when combined with them. Fred Funk defies rational thought in this area. He's small in stature, virtually the shortest hitter on the PGA Tour (excluding the diminutive Corey Pavin), and perennially near the bottom of the Tour putting rankings. Yet he has won 7 PGA Tour titles in his career including the 2005 Players Championship, which has the best field of any tournament in the world and is generally considered the game’s 5th Major Championship. How in the hell does he do it?

The good news for the shorter hitters is that strength alone does not rule a round, a given contest, a year or even a career. Nor does one’s average skill level. Oh sure, to be blessed with natural talent is preferable, unless the dreaded “potential” becomes a curse by going unfulfilled. Then everyone wants to know what happened.

This game of golf is so unpredictable. It lends itself to such clichés as “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” Certain players, when playing at the top of their skill level and finding themselves in a tight competition, are somehow able to sometimes kick it into another gear and do things they normally don’t do. Like the Ryder Cup Matches or Presidents Cup when players seem to knock in chip shots on every other hole. Or like Fred, when he’s making a lot of putts.

So, back to the case of the ultra-talented Miss Wie, there are so many questions for her to answer, given the lack of winning efforts - even against her peers - that we don’t know how much fight is in that dog. I find it extremely unlikely that she could ever compete at the highest level with the likes of Tiger, Phil, Vijay & Ernie. In fact, I’d bet against it. But just because I don’t think so, and just because it’s never been done before, doesn’t mean that it couldn’t possibly happen. Just ask Fred.

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