Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Wie should not be playing with men.
And if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
Or at least that’s what Michelle Wie’s camp must be preaching to her everyday to encourage her to persistently compete against male golfers in major tournaments. But playing against men, who are much older than she, isn’t going to make Wie a better player. In fact, Wie’s game and confidence stands to get worse if she keeps this up; She finished last in her latest attempt to compete against the men.
Very few women have opted to compete against men. And even fewer have made any kind of success. Annika Sorenstam tried a few times, failed, and has said she has no desire to compete against men any time soon. The Williams’ sisters, at the top of their game, also received a lot of offers to compete against some male tennis players, but declined. Se Ri Pak is the only woman since Babe Zaharias—who is the only woman to make the PGA Tour in 1945—to make the cut of a men’s tournament, tying for 10th in an obscure Korean tournament no one seems to remember, in 2003.
So we ask ourselves why Wie is trying to hone her skills against the men instead of boosting her confidence and garnering some wins against the women. She has yet to win a tournament on the women’s tour, and at times even struggled to win tournaments against her peers before turning pro; but was already entering into men’s pro tournaments before she turned pro.
As a society, we always seem to be enthralled by celebrity news and publicity stunts. Why else are we keeping up with where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have made a pit stop or who Matt Leinart was spotted club hopping with. Wie’s decision to enter the 84 Lumber Classic is merely a publicity stunt that does nothing but increase her endorsement bargaining power. This brings to mind another female athlete who’s cashing in on her presence in a male dominated sport—Danica Patrick. But Danica is competing in a sport that desperately needs her presence to help its ratings and marketing. Men’s golf hardly needs any more attention than it is already getting, and Danica doesn’t have a female tour to compete, but has still performed relatively well on the men’s tour.
Wie may still be young, but her window of opportunity has already begun to close on her. We see it happen regularly in tennis, which has a similar following to golf. Prodigies are proclaimed the next great tennis star; they turn pro in their teens, and begin the sometimes slow climb up the pressure ladder to show fans why they were branded with the status. Andre Agassi rebelled against it, Andrea Jaeger abandoned it, and Jennifer Capriati took more than a decade to come to terms with it.
If Wie doesn’t start winning soon, it will only be a matter of time before we start getting tired of her redundant lack of wins. We, as a sports-loving nation, love winners. Her career is eerily similar to Capriati’s at this point. Capriati advanced to the semi finals of Wimbledon at 13, but could not sustain that level of play. Wie has finished as high as second on the women’s tour, but we expect more from her. She is facing an even bigger pressure to win now than ever before, especially since some of her other peers who have been monitored since their pre-teen days have already started showing success.
Maria Sharapova, the tennis phenom who was interviewed as an 11-year-old on ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’ has already won a major tournament on the women’s tour and has since become the highest earning female athlete. Sharapova has also been approached about playing against men, but has wisely declined.
Playing on the men’s tour may increase Wie’s popularity and endorsements, but not her level of play. If Wie doesn’t win a tournament this year, our interest in her will begin to wane. So will her endorsements. There are already younger prospects hoping to take her place. Cheyenne Woods, the 15-year-old niece of Tiger Woods, is starting to garner attention and comparisons to her famous uncle’s game. In two years, she may become the object of our obsession, and the one earning the sponsors exemption to play in tournaments. Wie, without any wins, would be relegated to nothing like the abandoned pile of books drawing dust in our attics.
Wie can learn from Sharapova in dealing with the pressure. When asked if she’d rather have $20 million or the Wimbledon trophy, the then 13-year-old Sharapova smartly chose to win Tennis’ most prestigious tournament.
“When I win the tournament, the money will come. I know it will come,” Sharapova said.
Well Sharapova has accurately predicted her way into a successful future, and it did not involve playing on the men’s tennis tour. Wie should stick to playing on the women’s tour, and actually winning a tournament if she hopes to get any better in her sport. We would hate to see her join Anna Kournikova on the retirement scene after only a few years on tour.
Or at least that’s what Michelle Wie’s camp must be preaching to her everyday to encourage her to persistently compete against male golfers in major tournaments. But playing against men, who are much older than she, isn’t going to make Wie a better player. In fact, Wie’s game and confidence stands to get worse if she keeps this up; She finished last in her latest attempt to compete against the men.
Very few women have opted to compete against men. And even fewer have made any kind of success. Annika Sorenstam tried a few times, failed, and has said she has no desire to compete against men any time soon. The Williams’ sisters, at the top of their game, also received a lot of offers to compete against some male tennis players, but declined. Se Ri Pak is the only woman since Babe Zaharias—who is the only woman to make the PGA Tour in 1945—to make the cut of a men’s tournament, tying for 10th in an obscure Korean tournament no one seems to remember, in 2003.
So we ask ourselves why Wie is trying to hone her skills against the men instead of boosting her confidence and garnering some wins against the women. She has yet to win a tournament on the women’s tour, and at times even struggled to win tournaments against her peers before turning pro; but was already entering into men’s pro tournaments before she turned pro.
As a society, we always seem to be enthralled by celebrity news and publicity stunts. Why else are we keeping up with where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have made a pit stop or who Matt Leinart was spotted club hopping with. Wie’s decision to enter the 84 Lumber Classic is merely a publicity stunt that does nothing but increase her endorsement bargaining power. This brings to mind another female athlete who’s cashing in on her presence in a male dominated sport—Danica Patrick. But Danica is competing in a sport that desperately needs her presence to help its ratings and marketing. Men’s golf hardly needs any more attention than it is already getting, and Danica doesn’t have a female tour to compete, but has still performed relatively well on the men’s tour.
Wie may still be young, but her window of opportunity has already begun to close on her. We see it happen regularly in tennis, which has a similar following to golf. Prodigies are proclaimed the next great tennis star; they turn pro in their teens, and begin the sometimes slow climb up the pressure ladder to show fans why they were branded with the status. Andre Agassi rebelled against it, Andrea Jaeger abandoned it, and Jennifer Capriati took more than a decade to come to terms with it.
If Wie doesn’t start winning soon, it will only be a matter of time before we start getting tired of her redundant lack of wins. We, as a sports-loving nation, love winners. Her career is eerily similar to Capriati’s at this point. Capriati advanced to the semi finals of Wimbledon at 13, but could not sustain that level of play. Wie has finished as high as second on the women’s tour, but we expect more from her. She is facing an even bigger pressure to win now than ever before, especially since some of her other peers who have been monitored since their pre-teen days have already started showing success.
Maria Sharapova, the tennis phenom who was interviewed as an 11-year-old on ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’ has already won a major tournament on the women’s tour and has since become the highest earning female athlete. Sharapova has also been approached about playing against men, but has wisely declined.
Playing on the men’s tour may increase Wie’s popularity and endorsements, but not her level of play. If Wie doesn’t win a tournament this year, our interest in her will begin to wane. So will her endorsements. There are already younger prospects hoping to take her place. Cheyenne Woods, the 15-year-old niece of Tiger Woods, is starting to garner attention and comparisons to her famous uncle’s game. In two years, she may become the object of our obsession, and the one earning the sponsors exemption to play in tournaments. Wie, without any wins, would be relegated to nothing like the abandoned pile of books drawing dust in our attics.
Wie can learn from Sharapova in dealing with the pressure. When asked if she’d rather have $20 million or the Wimbledon trophy, the then 13-year-old Sharapova smartly chose to win Tennis’ most prestigious tournament.
“When I win the tournament, the money will come. I know it will come,” Sharapova said.
Well Sharapova has accurately predicted her way into a successful future, and it did not involve playing on the men’s tennis tour. Wie should stick to playing on the women’s tour, and actually winning a tournament if she hopes to get any better in her sport. We would hate to see her join Anna Kournikova on the retirement scene after only a few years on tour.
