Michelle Wie won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. It was her first LPGA victory. It is obviously meaningful for a first year player on the LPGA tour. Although Michelle Wie has been part of professional golf for years, this is her first official year on the tour. And people forget that she is only twenty years old.
The victory is meaningful beyond personal achievement. The LPGA is looking for and needing stars:
“… The LPGA is having trouble signing domestic sponsors, yet Wie is internationally known, a marketable commodity. Americans had gone six months without winning an LPGA event, and Wie attracts fans like Phil Mickelson. If she can win a couple of times every year and pick off a few majors — Wie had finished third or better in all four Grand Slam events by the time she was 16 — her win in Mexico might be the best thing that’s happened to golf since Eldrick T. Woods mumbled hello, world. With Pressel and budding rival Paula Creamer all in their early 20s, the LPGA might be salvageable after all.”
link: Wie arrives in nick of time for women’s golf — and herself
additional link: Wie’s first LPGA win a coming-of-age moment?
There are two other important factors that may have resulted from Michelle Wie participating in Solheim Cup competition. She seems to be enjoying golf and many of her fellow competitors on the LPGA tour are cheering for her. She is well liked and has peer support. And that has been a long time coming.
Catherine Forsythe
[Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images]
