Tim McDonald: Here's hoping Michelle Wie is humiliated in her quest for qualifying

Golf News for Friday, June 2, 2006 | Daily Golf Blogs

Tim McDonald: Here's hoping Michelle Wie is humiliated in her quest for qualifying

I love a feel-good, underdog story as much as the next guy, maybe more. In fact, if I have no other compelling reason to root for someone, I'll almost always choose the underdog.

But, for the life of me, I cannot make myself root for Michelle Wie to qualify for the U.S. Open. Not the women's. The men's.

I like Wie, at least what I've seen of her on television, and I'm all for Title IX and equality for women, but this just looks and smells like a publicity stunt. Now, if Wie had the same accomplishments as Annika Sorenstam, I'd be pulling for her. In fact, if it were Sorenstam trying to quality for the men's U.S. Open, I'd be all, you go girl!

But, Wie hasn't paid her dues. She's a millionaire because of her marketing potential, not because of actual deed. Yeah, it's a dream of hers to play with the big boys, and I respect anyone's dream. But, this seems to me to be a money-driven dream, a dream twisted by the profit-driven world of celebrity-worship and maximizing ancillary rights. Hey, I thought it was the Masters she dreamed of playing.

Not only has she not proven she can play with the men, she hasn't yet proven she can play with the women on a consistent basis.

Look at who she's competing against at the sectional qualifier at Canoe Brook in New Jersey starting June 5: Bernard Langer, Mark O'Meara, Billy Andrade, Tom Pernice, among others. These guys have labored long and hard on the PGA Tour. They didn't just have Nike hand them a check when they were teenagers for a gazillion dollars because they had long legs to go with their talent. They had to work for a living.

In fact, I'd like to see Wie humiliated at the qualifier. Maybe it will force her to question the advice Nike is almost certainly giving her – "Go for it, girl, it will keep your name out there in the public, and people will buy more of our shoes." Michelle Wie is a brand name at this point, and Nike knows the score. And it could – could – make her understand that dreams can come true only after long and hard work. They aren't just handed to you by CEOs at press conferences.