ASSOCIATED PRESS Michelle Wie lined up a putt during yesterday's Pro-Am event at the John Deere Classic. See sports story, Page B1.

Wie means windfall
for tour’s host cities

The Quad Cities say they are
scoring a rare economic boost

SILVIS, Ill. » Michelle Wie says she can wait to cash in. Although she has "earned" more than $300,000 in LPGA events this season, she is not planning on forcing the issue by trying to become a pro golfer any time soon.

The Punahou junior just wants to test her game against the boys. The big boys.

She has all the money she needs for now.

"Right now, I'm very happy with my monthly allowance," Wie said with a laugh during Tuesday's news conference at the John Deere Classic, her first mainland PGA Tour event.

Wie, a 15-year-old amateur who teed off in the first round with Nick Watney and Scott Gutschewski, will not make a penny for herself this week, but she could bring in millions for the Quad Cities area of Moline and Rock Island, Ill., and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa.

The area's premier annual sports event needed a boost, as many of the PGA Tour's big names bypass it to prepare for the following week's British Open.

"We are a metropolitan area of 500,000 people. We don't have Major League Baseball, hockey, football or basketball. This is our Super Bowl," tournament director Clair Peterson said. "This is the big leagues."

It certainly is financially important to the Quad Cities. The John Deere Classic has an estimated economic impact on the area of around $25 million per year, according to Joe Taylor, president and CEO of the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Michelle Wie greeted Shigeki Maruyama before playing in yesterday's Pro-Am event at the John Deere Classic. Tournament play in the men's PGA Tour event begins today.

Wie's presence in the tournament could boost that "several million dollars," Taylor said, especially if she plays well enough in the first two rounds and advances to Saturday and Sunday.

"It translates into more visitors in hotel rooms, more visitors eating in restaurants, more visitors in rental cars," Taylor said. "As we move toward the weekend, it will be even more, especially if Michelle makes the cut. We have to come up with a name for it, the Michelle Factor or the Michelle Impact."

The area had a 73 percent hotel room occupancy rate Tuesday night, which Taylor said is higher than usual for a night early in the week of the tournament.

Tournament officials said they have already sold 10,000 more tickets than last year, which is also a huge boost to local charities. Nearly 100 media credentials were issued, also a record number, and that translates into exposure for the Quad Cities.

People are curious about Wie for many reasons, foremost among them that she is a 15-year-old girl who will compete with some of the best male golfers in the world. Peterson said the fact that British Open officials said they would welcome Wie if she won the exempt spot awarded at the JDC helped spike interest, too. The exemption goes to the tournament's highest finisher who is not already qualified for the British Open.

"What Michelle is doing creates coverage and interest far beyond Iowa and Illinois," Taylor said. "On ESPN there was a debate about whether she should be playing here or not. Well, whatever side of the debate you're on, it doesn't matter. It's still two minutes on ESPN we wouldn't have had if not for Michelle."

Tour player Zach Johnson, who also serves on the board of the JDC, said there is a bigger picture Wie's detractors are missing.

"She's taking supposedly a sponsor exemption away from the Quad City Amateur champion, who quite frankly isn't going to do much here," said Johnson, who predicted Tuesday that Wie could contend for the tournament championship. "That being said, she's great. She's going to draw in some fans. ... I think it's a win-win situation on both the Wie side and the tournament side, through and through. It's going to help the charities a ton, ticket sales. They can say they're doing it for ticket sales; people don't realize that ticket sales go to charity. That's part of what our tour is all about."

Taylor and tournament director Clair Peterson also said there should not be any controversy about Wie's presence.

"She's not just a celebrity; she's a highly skilled golfer," Taylor said.

The tournament has always had an exempt entry at its disposal for "a player that would add interest who couldn't get in otherwise," Peterson said.

"Adding Michelle fulfilled that definition," he said. "This is historic stuff."