The Loop

Another reason to root for Wie

December 07, 2009

The LPGA certainly would benefit from Michelle Wie in a starring role, but the fact that she remains at Stanford and apparently is dedicated to her education ought to enhance her appeal. Wie, 20 and a Stanford sophomore, is in Dubai to play in the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, an event on the Ladies European Tour, and in the run-up to the first round on Thursday has had a test in her statistics class with which to concern herself.

Via Twitter, she has written:

On Saturday: "studying in dubai for my finals=not very exciting...i want to explore dubai but im stuck in my room studying for finals."

On Sunday: "stats exam tomoro night!!! need to cram in last minute studying!! yikes......"

On Monday: "gonna take a quick nap before i have to take the stats exam at midnight! hope i wake uppp!! stressssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!"

Later on Monday: "ok. its midnight. lets get em."

We're assuming she's taking the test via the Internet. It's interesting that she seems determined to pursue golf at its highest level while at the same continues to pursue academics at its highest level.

When Tiger Woods left Stanford after his sophomore year, he vowed that eventually he would complete his education and get a degree. He has yet to do so. Here's hoping that Wie stays in school and earns her degree and sets a tone for the importance of an education.

Another high-profile player at a prestigious university recently has done so. Amanda Blumenherst, whose resume points to LPGA stardom (and has so for some time), elected to stay at Duke until she graduated last spring. Blumenherst on Monday was the medalist at the LPGA Qualifying tournament.

-- John Strege