October 7, 2005

Michelle Wie goes pro at age 15

Just before her 16th birthday, Hawaiian golfer Michelle Wie declares herself a pro and signs about $10 million in endorsement contracts. Back on Feb. 13, 2003, I wrote:

In the long run, some woman will someday do modestly well against the top men. But it will probably be a woman who had grown up competing against men, and who has a much more formidable frame than Sorenstam. Interestingly, this man-beater of the future may well be of Asian descent. Asian-Americans frequently win girls' junior tournaments in the West. A much higher percentage of Asian than white or black teenage girls play golf, perhaps because they don't find it as terminally uncool as their peers do.

Right now, the most promising female golfer of the future is 5' 11" Michelle Wie, a 13-year-old Korean-American long-hitter from Hawaii. Lacking adequate female competition in her home state, Wie regularly tees it up against adult male club pros. Last weekend she was the only female and the youngest contestant in a field of 192 in a Hawaiian tournament with an $80,000 purse. She finished a remarkable 43rd.

As I later predicted, Sorenstam went on to miss the cut by 4 strokes in a male PGA tournament in 2003.. In 2004, Wie, at age 14, missed the cut in the PGA tour's Sony Hawaiian Open by only 1 stroke.


My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

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