Mutual Aid

"I really earned it," said Wie. "I legitimately went through Q school, went through the first stage, went through the second stage, and I really got it. It feels good to get that card. It's like high school graduation, I guess."

Father B.J. keeping a close watch on her. Photo: Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Certainly, the LPGA is hoping for a Wie victory sooner rather than later. They also had to be happy when she said about her 2009 playing schedule, which likely will start in February at the SBS Open in Hawaii, "I want to play a lot."

Although Wie, who will attend Stanford until late March and then skip the spring quarter, has an LPGA card, she still has other aspirations that may conflict with the LPGA down the road. "I still definitely want to pursue that," she said about playing against the men. "I have always wanted to do it, ever since I have played golf, so I want to do it. It's as simple as that."

For now, Wie has the LPGA and the LPGA has Wie—and the timing could not be better for either. The tour gives Wie the platform on which she can justify the millions she is paid by Nike, Sony and Omega. Wie gives the tour the star power that will attract attention in a difficult economic climate.

For now, at least, the teen and the tour are hearing the same music. Let the dance begin, and enjoy it while it lasts.

Birdie Run Secures Top Spot For Lewis

Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

While the world was watching Michelle Wie get her tour card with a T-7 finish at LPGA Q school, Stacy Lewis (right) was making a statement of her own: If Wie wants to be rookie of the year in 2009, she will have to get past Lewis first. The 23-year-old Texan closed with a 69 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., dusting Wie by five strokes in a final-round pairing, to win Q school at 18-under 342, three strokes better than Amy Yang. Wie finished six back at 348.

"I felt confident coming here, so it wasn't like I was scared or anything to come," Lewis said when asked about the challenge of playing with Wie and facing the pressure of the 90-hole Q-school ordeal. Lewis put the tournament away when she ran off three birdies in a row beginning on No. 7—all from inside eight feet—and then closed like a champ with birdies on the final two holes of the day.

"I hit it close a few times," said Lewis, who also won the 2007 NCAA title at LPGA International. "Then the last one was just icing," she said about the 25-foot snake on No. 18.

Yang, 19, won the 2006 ANZ Ladies Masters, a Ladies European Tour event in Australia, at the age of 16 years and nine months, making her the youngest-ever LET winner. The South Korean also won an LET event in Germany this year.

Anna Grzebien, 23, who was the 2005 NCAA individual champion while at Duke, was third at 346. Her Sunday 65 was the best round of the day by three strokes.

Twenty fully exempt cards were at stake and exactly that number finished at four-under 356 or better, avoiding a playoff for the final spot. No. 21 through 40 of the 70 players who made the 72-hole cut and played on Sunday earned non-exempt status for next year.