Wie Starts Life as a Money Player

By Jerry Crowe

Oct. 13, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

PALM DESERT —

Only two days after celebrating her 16th birthday, her smiling image radiating from the cover of this month’s Fortune magazine, golf’s so-called female Tiger Woods launches her professional career today.

Michelle Wie -- she of the multimillion-dollar endorsement deals, Hollywood representation and dreams as vast as the desert -- heads a 20-player, invitation-only field in the Samsung World Championship at Bighorn Golf Club.

Annika Sorenstam may be a four-time winner of the event, but the world’s No. 1 women’s player is not the reason that “60 Minutes” and the Times of London, to name a few, have sent reporters to Palm Desert this week.

This is a coming-out party for Wie, the lanky Hawaiian who upon turning pro last week signed with the star-making William Morris Agency and became the world’s highest-paid female golfer thanks to endorsement deals with Nike and Sony that reportedly will pay her about $10 million a year.

Is she excited?

“Just the other day I got my first tax form,” Wie told reporters Tuesday, sitting for a news conference on her birthday, “so I was excited about that. It’s not something you should be excited about, but it’s pretty cool for me.”

Cool for tournament organizers was the timing of her debut.

“There were added benefits, certainly, when Michelle announced,” said tournament director Craig Umland, anticipating a 15% to 20% jump in attendance over last year, when Wie finished tied for 13th as an amateur. “So, we’re thrilled.”

If Sorenstam, the defending champion, was less than thrilled to be peppered with questions Wednesday about Wie, she didn’t let it show.

“I think it’s great we are getting more attention,” said the Swede, who turned 35 on Sunday and reportedly will make about $8 million in endorsements this year. “I think women’s golf deserves more attention. So if I couldn’t get the attention, I’m glad Michelle can get it. I’m just happy to be a part of it. I know what I have achieved. I know the records that I have set and nobody can take those away.

“You know, Michelle is very, very talented. I think she’s a great asset to our tour. She is a great asset to golf. I welcome her. I think it’s really cool.”

Wie, who will take her first shot as a pro at about noon today on a 6,462-yard layout on the Canyons course at Bighorn, has prepared for this day for years.

Or, as the Punahou High junior said at a Honolulu news conference last week, “From the first time I grabbed a golf club I knew I’d do it for the rest of my life. I loved it. Here it is 12 years later and I’m finally a pro. I’m so excited.”

Her dreams, however, extend beyond the LPGA Tour.

Able to drive the ball more than 300 yards, she wants to play on the PGA Tour. She hopes to become the first woman competitor at the Masters.

Her sponsors predict that she will transcend golf, a la Tiger.

But first things first.

“Let’s face it, now that she’s a professional none of her competitors are going to be welcoming her with open arms,” Bob Wood, director of Nike Golf, told the Honolulu Advertiser. “They are going to want to beat her brains out.

“I mean, this is competition.”

Wie, though, seems unfazed. She did acknowledge, however, feeling “kind of nervous and excited” about getting her driver’s license next week.

Of pressure from golf, she said, “I was practicing really hard playing for $5 incentives, you know; my dad would give me $5 if I make a birdie and stuff like that. But my stakes are going to be a lot higher right now, so I’m practicing really hard. I don’t really see it as pressure. I see it as incentive to practice harder.”

She said she is “a lot more mature” than she was a year ago, when her final two rounds of 67-70 at Bighorn were bettered only by Sorenstam’s 69-67.

Five times as an amateur she finished among the top five in majors, twice this year. She has missed out on more than $680,000 in tournament earnings this year, which would have placed her 13th on the money list.

In August, Ernie Els told her that her amateur days were done.

“I mean he is like, ‘Girl, you are just ready to turn pro already,’ ” Wie recalled, describing Els as her role model. “I was just like, ‘OK.’ ”

Because she is not yet 18, she is not an LPGA member and will continue to be limited to six sponsor’s exemptions a year, plus the U.S. Women’s Open and the Women’s British Open, which are not LPGA events.

She also will play PGA Tour events and foreign tournaments.

“It’s still going to be my goal ... to be able to compete in the PGA events and to one day play in the Masters,” she said. “But I have other goals. I think I’m going to focus on winning more tournaments. I think that’s going to be my major focus over the next couple of years. ... But I have a lot of different focuses.”

Such as picking up paychecks.

She can do that now.

And starting next week, she can drive herself to the bank too.

Southern California PGA members have helped raise more than $100,000 for the American Red Cross hurricane relief through special tournaments and donations in September and October.

Newport Beach Country Club and Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa each raised more than $30,000.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The field

The 20 players in the $850,000 Samsung World Championship and how they qualified:

* Michelle Wie is the tournament’s one sponsor invitation.

* Annika Sorenstam (first on the official money list, Kraft Nabisco, LPGA Championship), Jeong Jang (British Open) and Birdie Kim (U.S. Open) earned their way into the event by winning a major championship this year.

* Grace Park received an automatic invitation to the event for winning the Vare Trophy last year for having the lowest scoring average on tour after playing a minimum of 70 rounds in LPGA competition.

* Sophie Gustafson earned her way into the event as the No. 2 player from the Ladies European Tour’s Order of Merit on Sept. 18. Iben Tinning was No. 1 on the European tour but is unable to play because of her pregnancy.

* The remaining 14 spots were filled from the official money list after the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic on Sept. 18. The final spots went to Paula Creamer (second on the official money list), Cristie Kerr (third), Lorena Ochoa (fourth), Natalie Gulbis (sixth), Meena Lee (seventh), Candie Kung (eighth), Gloria Park (ninth), Marisa Baena (11th), Lorie Kane (12th), Wendy Ward (13th), Heather Bowie (14th), Pat Hurst (15th), Rosie Jones (16th) and Catriona Matthew (17th).

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

This week

LPGA TOUR

Samsung World Championship

* When: Today-Sunday.

* Where: Bighorn Golf Club, Canyons Course (6,462 yards, par 72); Palm Desert.

* Purse: $850,000. Winner’s share: $212,500.

* TV: Golf Channel (today, 2-4 p.m.; Friday, noon-2 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.) and Channel 4 (Saturday, 10-11 a.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.).

* 2005 winner: Annika Sorenstam.

* Next event: Oct. 28-30, CJ Nine Bridges Classic in South Korea.

PGA TOUR

Michelin Championship