Mutual Aid

Wie plotting her way around LPGA International. Photo: Scott A. Miller

All four majors this year were won by non-Americans, and Ochoa—26 when she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship—was the oldest, joining Yani Tseng (19), Inbee Park (19) and Ji-Yai Shin (20). While those four are exceptional talents and promise to be consistent winners for years to come, Wie brings with her seven years of hype. As they say in politics, she has the name-recognition factor.

Wie reaches beyond the core golf fan to the casual observer, many of whom are unaware that other players her age have achieved more. Pressel, Tseng and Park not only defeated Wie in USGA amateur match-play tournaments, but also won LPGA majors in their teens. Still, Wie is the biggest name of that group, even though her last victory was at the 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links at age 13.

There was a time when LPGA insiders feared Wie would never join the tour, playing instead a mix of men's events, accepting seven-figure overseas appearance fees and competing in a handful of LPGA tournaments on sponsor's exemptions. But things began to sour for Wie when she withdrew because of heat exhaustion in the second round of the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic in 2006 after a first-round 77.

In three more events against the men in '06, she had rounds in the 80s three times and was never below 77. After a 68 in the final round of the Evian Masters, an LPGA event in France, Wie went a year before she broke par again.

The 2007 season began with a missed cut by 14 strokes at the Sony Open, then Wie was out of tournament play for four months with a left wrist injured when she fell while running. The year was a series of missed cuts and withdrawals. The low point was "88-Gate" at the Ginn Tribute near Charleston, S.C., in May, when she withdrew with two holes to play in the first round, saying her wrist hurt, then showed up at Bulle Rock, site of the McDonald's LPGA Championship, two days later to practice, prompting Sorenstam to say she lacked class and encouraging other players to doubt the severity of her injury.

LPGA members can't play a venue the week before an event, and Bivens heard from angry players. Responding to the discord, she had rules officials kick Wie's parents and agent off the practice range, enforcing the rule that only the caddie and one coach are allowed with the player. B.J. Wie confronted Bivens in the players' dining area, saying his daughter did not have to follow the rules since she is not an LPGA member. Bivens, now angry, said essentially, "You play my tournament, you play by my rules."

If not for another bit of controversy in which the LPGA again showed it was no longer willing to give Wie preferential treatment, she could have avoided going to Q school. Wie's plan was to earn a 2009 tour card by finishing in the top 80 on the '08 money list. But she had made little money with the first four of her six sponsor's exemptions and needed a high finish at the State Farm Classic in July. That seemed likely after rounds of 67, 65 and 67, but on Saturday she was disqualified for not signing her card before leaving the scoring area on Friday.

"If I would have signed that card, I really wouldn't have been here anyway," Wie said at LPGA International after Q school. "Things happen for a reason, and I have learned my lesson."

Wie was impressive at Q school, swinging nearly as well as she did before she hurt her wrists. "After the injury, she didn't have the strength to hold on through impact," explained her instructor, David Leadbetter. The wrist would release too early, resulting in a low hook or high slice. She also displayed greater maturity in her course management and seems to have learned to dial it down with the driver, not hitting every shot full bore.

She finished at 12-under-par 348, six strokes behind winner Stacy Lewis, at the 90-hole Q school. If there was reason for concern, it was the final-round 74 during which she missed the first five greens and bogeyed the first three holes. "Just a little bit of the jitters after being away from the final group on Sunday for so long," Leadbetter said. Others would say she still has to learn how to close out a tournament.