"There is a strong possibility she is going to play early in Hawaii, one or maybe both of the events there," says Leadbetter. "She's dug a hole for herself. Right now she is not in any of the majors. She has to play a lot. She hasn't complained once this week about her wrist. Playing in Hawaii will give us an idea where she stands."
Let's flash back to last May, when Leadbetter said: "She hasn't got any PGA Tour events planned at the moment. She's going to commit herself to the LPGA and play a number of events, and next year she'll probably take up membership." No sooner did those words hit the Internet than Jesse Derris of the Ken Sunshine Agency, which handles public relations for the Wie family was on the phone to Golf World saying: "It's fair to say no options have been ruled out." A little more poking around by this intrepid reporter elicited this quote from a source extremely well plugged into the Wie camp: "I wouldn't jump to any conclusions that she's not [playing against the men]."
The message here is that Leadbetter was out of the loop last May when it came to Wie's schedule. What he seemed to be doing was using a public forum to give his advice on what she should be doing, hoping her parents would listen. They didn't. Sure enough, a week later Wie's camp announced she was going to play the John Deere Classic, a decision she had to rescind later in the summer as her game continued to unravel.
"Her attitude is really great," Ledbetter says of Wie's state this week. "She went out [Thursday] and came back and said, 'I really played good.' She hasn't said that in a while. She was mismanaged this year," he says. "It was just bad planning. Hopefully, everyone has learned. They got into this mindset that, 'This is Michelle, and she can do anything.' " Asked for comment from Wie's parents, B.J. and Bo Wie, about Leadbetter's comments, Derris said he was still waiting to hear back from them.
This 18-year-old needs to regain balance in every aspect of her life. The swing needs to regain its once glorious rhythm, and she needs to somehow rediscover the reason she started playing golf to begin with--to have fun. The love/hate relationship we all have with the game was clearly out of balance for Wie all year. Putting playing against the men on hold would be a great first step. Clearly, Leadbetter knows what's best for the kid. He just has to get the other adults onboard.
"If she digs herself out of this, if she has one good tournament people will take her back in their hearts and minds," Leadbetter says. "I told her you don't become a bad player overnight. The talent is still there. She's got a bit of sparkle in her eye again. Last year she was suffering." That was something apparent to most everyone--including Leadbetter--except Wie's inner circle. Hopefully this time his advice will be heeded.
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