Annika Sorenstam on Michelle Wie: 'Talent Is Not There'

[Moecat]

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/annika-sorenstam-michelle-wie-talent-not-there?sct=hp_t2_a10&eref=sihp

 

10-time major winner Annika Sorenstam said that Michelle Wie's decision to play in in men's events hurt her career.

 

By Alan Bastable, Senior Editor, GOLF Magazine

 

At the 2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship, Michelle Wie, then 13, became the youngest player to make a cut in LPGA history. Later that summer, she won the Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, and just months after that she lit the golf world on fire when she carded a second-round 68 at the PGA Tour's Sony Open.

 

The future looked bright for Wie, the possibilities endless.

 

A decade later? Not so much.

 

At least not according to one of the greatest players of all time, 10-time major winner, Annika Sorenstam.

 

"What I see now is that the talent that we all thought would be there is not there," Sorenstam said in an interview in the May issue of Golf Magazine.

 

Wie has won twice on the LPGA Tour, but not since 2010, and she is 0-for-31 in the majors. Sorenstam attributes some of Wie's struggles to her insistence on playing against men instead of first learning how to compete and win against her own gender.

 

"I don't think it helped her career," Sorenstam said of the 12 starts Wie has made on various men's tours. "I think we see some of it today. I think she jumped in way too deep, and I think it had some tough consequences for her."

 

When asked if Wie could still become the best player in the world, Sorenstam said:

 

"She has a long way to go, let's put it that way. There was a time when the LPGA really needed her. I thought she had a lot to bring to the table. Now she's one out of many."

 

In 2012, Wie missed the cut in 10 of 23 LPGA starts, calling it "probably the worst year I've ever had in my entire career." In five appearances thus far in 2013, she has missed three cuts and finished no better than 45th.

 

Wie is playing in this week's Kraft Nabisco in Rancho Mirage, Calif., the season's first major. She is paired in the first two rounds with the women¹s game newest teen phenom, 15-year-old Lydia Ko.

[BestGrips.com]

They paired her with Lydia? Ouch.

[JMiller]

You want me to be honest about Michelle Wie...

 

The chick can not putt for s*** anymore, you do not win on tour without a good flat stick simple as that. When she was young she putted very well, she didn't have method or miss stuck in her head. Now she has both method and miss stuck in her head.

 

Wie at 17 years old putting stance

 

Wie more recently:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3njBx2Yquvc

 

She obviously has some kind of conflict in the putting stroke at 90*, may it be the putter design, steering the head. But honestly her stroke looked more natural around when she was 16 or 17.

[Moecat]

Holy Carp that posture looks awful.

[whiskey golf]

I don't know how anyone could think that putting stance would work. I know there's probably recreational golfers that do something weird like that put for a pro? Seriously

[Shambles]

I don't know how anyone could think that putting stance would work. I know there's probably recreational golfers that do something weird like that put for a pro? Seriously

 

 

I agree. It's a classic new guy error that can go as far as the woods. That bending over to that extreme is indicative of an extreme effort that has gone misdirected. She has likely been subjected to too many conflicting ideas and is in a morass of confusion but still gamely fighting. Rather sad.

 

 

Shambles

[Tony Covey MGS]

And as these things always play out...

 

Annika has called Michelle to apologize while claiming she was misquoted.

 

I love that 'misquoted' has grown to be a catch-all for "I just said some s*** that somebody isn't going to be unhappy about". How about owning it?

 

There's absolutely nothing attributed to Annika that isn't 100% accurate. Let's not forget that Michelle Wie was supposed to be the best thing to ever happen to women's golf. She spoke about not only just competing against men, but actually playing in the Masters.

 

Nobody is saying she's not a nice girl (although I've been told that she along with other Nike-powered athletes are always among the first to leave LPGA autograph signings), and a genuinely decent human being. Those type of statements aren't value judgements. Annika gave an honest assessment of Michelle Wie's career to date. She wasn't just supposed to be the next Annika, she was going to be better. You should be able to have those discussions without phoning in an apology later.

 

Michelle's first deal with Nike was worth something in the neighborhood of 15 million. Nobody in golf got paid more, and is still getting paid based on promise and potential. Omega watches, Kia, and still Nike too.

 

She's very young, there's still time. But for now, there shouldn't be anything wrong with discussing the Michelle Wie reality; she's Ty Tryon with cheap car and a fancy watch.

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Watched the Feherty profile in Michelle and I agree, she seems like a really good kid. Sadly, a really good kid burdened with "unlimited potential" and high expectations while still an adolescent. Reminds me a little of Jennifer Capriati, without the cocaine. Capriati had all the talent and potential in the world, but it took her a while to get her head right in order to compete at the highest levels.

[JMiller]

I heard some crap on golf channel yesterday where the person talking said "I'm not sure why she is not winning more with that swing" as they watched he hit practice shots on the range.

 

I sat there and thought to myself it's obvious to me why she is not living up to potential:

1) Mental Aspect

2) Putting

 

You really can not compete at a high level without both.

 

She is a nice girl don't get me wrong, but if we are going to talk about why she has under achieved in golf it's because of the above two reasons. She has two many conflicting things in her mind IMHO. She needs some convection about putting and even the full swing to stop changing things because of frustration. It sort of echos what a lot of AMs end up doing and screw themselves worse, here we see it form one of the top players on the Women's tour in terms of "potential".

 

It really is sad to see happen and it makes me personally want to help her but, she is probably not reading MGS or other golf forums

[Super Tuna]

The other thing to consider is that yes, her putting isn't great but she's putting it under more pressure then ever. Her GIR stats are down again this year as well as hitting greens period. For someone with her length, it's inexcusable she should be missing a green with a 8 iron in her hands while Lydia/Pressel/etc hits it to 10 feet with a 5 iron.

 

Her putting isn't great. We all know it. My theory is that if she put that aspect under less pressure from her shot making, it wouldn't seem as bad as it is. I frequently get the impression she's trying to be the Mickelson of the LGPA but doesn't have the wedge game to back it up and Phil's putting when he's cold is still better then her's. That being said, I've only seen her play in person twice so my sample size is limited.

 

Rather then go see a putting guru, I'd prefer she dropped Leadbetter and go see someone like Harmond or whomever else. Heck, I bet Nike could get her with Foley pretty easily.

Leadbetter is making her play golf swing, not golf shot. She might not be as obsessed with her swing as CH3 got with him, but the result is the same. Golf swing, not shot which doesn't give results on the course.

 

I think she'd do better without him. I also think CH3 would be in double digit wins by now if his younger days weren't spent with LB. I still don't think he's out of that funk yet.

[The Artful Duffer]

; she's Ty Tryon with cheap car and a fancy watch.

 

This had me rolling. Lol

[JMiller]

Good point super, I probably have to agree missing a green with an 8i is not excusable that's for sure.

[revkev]

IMHO everyone did Michelle Wie, including her own family and those whom the family secured to handle her game, a huge diservice. She was playing in a men's tour event before she had won anything of significance as a woman or even as a girl. No US Junior, no US amateur, nada, nothing, zilch. No matter how physically talented you are you need to learn how to win. A 13 year old girl who had perhaps the greatest ball striking potential of any woman ever learned how to not win by being thrust in so far over her head that she drowned. It's tragic golf wise. That was then compounded by having her turn pro at a ridiculously early age - so she learned she couldn't beat men as a young teenager and then that she couldn't beat woman as an older teen so she went to college but of course without any eligibility because she was a pro - she actually did better going to school and only playing the tour part time which tells us something.

 

By contrast, consider even Tiger - he played college golf, entering an occasional Tour event but not making it his focus, instead he focused on and won USGA events - when he came out on tour it was the next logical step, he had played with the big boys in no pressure scenarios that he was more than ready.

 

With T I wonder why in the world Anneka felt compelled to apologize to Michelle - She was only being Ms Obvious - she said what she said and should just stand by it.

 

There is still time for Michelle to have a nice career - My real hope for her is that she has a nice life though - I think that the people who where put here to guide her really let her down. She comes across as nice in an interview, she's most certainly attractive, Stanford is a great school so she's well educated - she can go a long, long way without doing a thing in golf.

 

I thought the Ty Tyron line was funny, T is an incredibily gifted writer so that's not a shock. Let's be real though Michelle has had a far better career than Ty - I don't think the Capriatti thing holds - Michelle should hope to have as good a career as Jennifer but I don't think she has a substance issue - perhaps both had a parental issue though.

 

Here's to a happy life for Michelle.

[wbealsd]

"Here's to a happy life for Michelle."

 

Well said!