More of Wie than I want to see...

I've been seeing more of Michelle Wie than I've wanted for years now. But of late, Wie has become more interesting, if more tragicomic. The latest woes of Wie involving her mysteriously stubborn wrist injuries and her sudden, seemingly self-preservationist withdrawal from the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika were especially enlightening.

Team Wie are cunning if not wise. They must have had a sense just about the time Wie made a 10 that serious damage to her mystique was happening right before their eyes. The specter of her shooting an 88 and losing the rest of her exemptions was simply the final straw that led them to protect the franchise.

Up and coming players really owe Wie a debt of gratitude. She has become the poster girl for how not to behave when the world sees you as a phenom. There has been so little that Team Wie has done right that any aspiring player has only to take the opposite course of Wie to stay on the right path. Witness the superb amateur record of Morgan Pressel and the quickly developed professional polish of Paula Creamer to see that there are many ways to grow into fame and success but that Wie has chose none of them.

Sitting at her press conference at the McDonald's LPGA she reminded me of no one more than O.J. Simpson. The denials and obfuscations have become her first and worst instinct. While Annika appeared cool and collected while she questioned Wie's withdrawal, and the sudden recovery needed to start preparing for McDonald's LPGA, Wie was sweating like Nixon, her eyes hidden under the pulled down brim of her hat.

It is so very hard to feel anything but disdain for Wie. She has enjoyed ao many advantages yet she behaves, and seems to think, so very badly. For all of the qualities of Tiger Woods that can rub a person the wrong way, no one can question his fortitude and devotion. He earned every accolade and has never acted as if he were entitled to them.

Wie clearly doesn't understand or seek those qualities. She wants to ride her image and talent rather than build upon them. Her own personal dreams like playing against the men as she puts it, seem to supersede an interest in golf's essential fairness. The fact that she would like to play in the Masters because she wants to denies the honor that comes with playing in the Masters because one has earned the invitation.

Tiger Woods broke down walls and changed the face of golf with his game, Wie just wants to find keys to the back door and resents people like Annika for noticing.