Sidelines Kalani Simpson

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Here Wie go again

IT happened again. Or rather, it didn't happen again. Last weekend, at the U.S. Women's Open, Michelle Wie played about as well as any woman in the world. She finished tied for third, which, in case you are not familiar with golf's major championships, is excellent. An achievement.

And again, you could have written the ending on the Wednesday before the tournament began.

Yogi said it: "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

Wait. Sorry. This one: "It's deja vu all over again."

That's what it felt like. It was a rerun. A Wie-run. We've seen this before.

Same story. This time, she finished just two strokes back. Close, but not quite. Again. The world still waits for Wie's first win.

(Can't you feel the TV announcers' angst? I'm starting to worry for a couple of them, if she doesn't break through soon.)

The leaders leave it open for her. She leaves it open for them. It's like a race in which Wie is running the same speed, just one step back.

We have Dave Reardon on the mainland covering Wie, and his story yesterday assured us that she "is far from frustrated."

That's good. She's young. She's still fresh on this earth. That is the privilege of youth. Anytime you can ignore stress, do it, I say.

Me, I'm frustrated. Every time I watch the LPGA on a Sunday, lately, it seems all I see is the same story, again and again. Putts that roll past the hole, or that ease up just short. (As Yogi said, "Eighty percent of putts that fall short don't go in.") Everyone leaving it open for one another. Everyone running the same speed. The speed of a putt rolling past the hole.

I'm frustrated. I'd like to tune in on Sunday and see someone seize it, slam the door shut. Michelle. Anybody.

Of course, it isn't that easy. Golf is a game that grabs you and won't let go, not the other way around. And anyone who's right there on a Sunday, in case you're not familiar with golf's major championships, is excellent.

Yes, she'll win, eventually. It will happen, if she's up there within a stroke often enough. If for no other reason than it seems sometimes the winner is winning because no one else will. Eventually, all she'll have to do is walk through that open door.

But so far, on Sundays, watching the same show every week, we wonder if this current LPGA crop knows how to do that.

As Yogi said, "If you don't know where you're going, you might wind up someplace else."