| Michelle Wie Biography |
Michelle Sung Wie was born on October 11, 1989 in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is a professional Korean-American golfer who has gained attention for her long drives and attempts to make a cut at a PGA Tour event. In 2006, she was named in a Time magazine article, "one of 100 people who shape our world."
She began playing the game of golf at the age of four. When Wie was 10, she shot a personal-best 64 in 18 holes from the 5,400-yard tees at the Olomana Golf Links, one of Hawaii's most popular links style courses. That year, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship and advanced into match play at the Women's U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship using her grandmother's clubs.
In 2002, Wie won the Hawaii Open Women's Division by 13 shots over LPGA pro Cindy Rarick. She also became the youngest player to qualify for an LPGA event, the Takefuji Classic and missed the cut.
A year later, she became the youngest player ever to make a cut in a LPGA event at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and shot a 66 in the 3rd round, tying the amateur record for a women's major championship, and placing her in the final group alongside Annika Sorenstam and eventual winner, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc. A few months later, Wie earned an historic victory at the Women's Amateur Public Links tournament, becoming the youngest person ever (male or female) to win a USGA event for adults. In 2004 Wie became only the fourth female, and the youngest ever, to play in an event on the PGA Tour, at the Sony Open in Hawaii. She shot 72-68 to finish at even par, but missed the cut by one stroke.
That year, Wie was named to the U.S. team for the 2004 Curtis Cup and became the youngest woman ever selected to the play as the U.S. team went on to win. She went on to finish fourth in the Kraft Nabisco Championship. If she had played the 2004 season as a professional, she would have earned over US$250,000 from her tournament results.
Wie had long attracted attention not just for her height, which had reached 6 foot 1 inch (1.85 meters) by her early teens, but for the length she was able to drive the ball and the form of her golf swing. When Wie was fourteen professional golfer Ernie Els remarked, "Give her another couple years to get stronger, she can play on the PGA Tour." The 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Wie, at the age of 16, had an average drive of about 280 yards. Her size and use of Els as a model have led sports media to call her The Big Wiesy, a play on Els' nickname of The Big Easy. Fred Couples said, "When you see her hit a golf ball … there's nothing that prepares you for it. It's just the scariest thing you've ever seen." As to Wie's potential impact on the sport, Arnold Palmer stated in 2003 that "she's probably going to influence the golfing scene as much as Tiger, or more. She's going to attract people that even Tiger didn't attract, young people, both boys and girls, and families."
Wie started her 2005 season by again accepting a sponsor's invitation to again play in the Sony Open in Hawaii on the PGA Tour, where she again missed the cut. She then turned to the LPGA Tour, finishing second at SBS Open at Turtle Bay. That June, she placed second at the LPGA Championship. She became the first female golfer to qualify for a USGA national men's tournament, when she tied for first place in a 36-hole qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Public Links. At the U.S. Women's Open, she finished the third round in a three-way tie for the lead, but dropped severely after scoring an 82 in the final round, and finished tied for 23. The week after, she played in the John Deere Classic in her third attempt to make the cut at a PGA Tour event, where she missed the cut by two strokes.
In the Men's Public Links, Wie made the top 64 in the stroke play rounds to qualify for match play and losing in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion. She then played in the Evian Masters, a major on the Ladies European Tour and a regular LPGA event, and finished in a tie for second. The week after, she finished tied for third at the Women's British Open, the fourth and final major of the year.
On October 5, 2005, a week before her 16th birthday, Wie announced in Hawaii that she was turning professional, reportedly signing sponsorship contracts with Nike and Sony worth more than US$10,000,000 per year. At the same time she announced a pledge of US$500,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief.
(Source: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.com)
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