[ PGA TOUR ]
CRAIG KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
PGATour veteran Ernie Els gave Punahou freshman Michelle Wie some pointers during their practice round yesterday at Waialae Country Club.
The Big Wiesy meets
The Big Easy
If you're trying to find Michelle Wie in a men's PGA event, you could look for the ponytail.
Or you could look for the crowd.
It's 9 o'clock in the morning and Ernie Els is drenched in sweat. His shirt soaked. Michelle Wie looks cool. She's tall and slim. It's 9 o'clock in the morning on a Tuesday -- in a practice round -- and there are already more than 60 people in tow.
No, the Big Wiesy is no longer George Jefferson's wife. Now it's the name that has stuck to Hawaii's 14-year-old junior golf celebrity prodigy, Wie, thanks to the similarity of her swing to that of Els, the 2003 champion at the Sony Open in Hawaii. And with his perfect swing, Els is "the Big Easy." Thus, Wiesy.
When he watches her, Els can see the comparison. "Yeah," he says. "She's got beautiful rhythm. She's got it all. The rhythm is probably the most impressive thing of all."
And so Els is playing a practice round, yesterday, a warmup for tomorrow's opening round of the Sony Open. And he's paired with the one golfer in the field perhaps more famous than he.
"I had a really exciting morning," he would say. "Normally a practice round on tour is pretty boring stuff."
Normally.
Mom and Dad Wie followed behind, inside the ropes. Each was armed with a camera, one video, one still. Parents taking Little League pictures.
What was that line George used to describe Kramer?
Their whole life is a fantasy camp.
"I was saying to Ricci (Roberts), my caddie," Els would say, "when I was 14, you know, Michelle and I at 14, we were pretty different golfers. I think I was playing off about a 3 or 4 handicap. And Michelle is playing on tour."
Tomorrow, at 8:59 a.m. on Waialae's No. 10, she will be.
CRAIG KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
"If she keeps working, keeps doing the right things, there's no reason why she shouldn't be out here,"Els said of Wie.
So Wie, who is in the event thanks to a sponsor's exemption, is practicing. "You do the math," she says. "Since November, I've played (here) five times a week."
Yesterday, once more, with Els. Michelle, the Punahou freshman, misses a putt, sets up, tries it again, Ernie over her shoulder. This one drops. Els putts too, as soon as hers is safely on the way. All day, he is showing her things about short games and putts.
Michelle tries some chips. Then she does a TV interview. Ernie signs some autographs. Michelle grows an inch walking up the 18th fairway.
They tee off, and then do a joint TV spot together. They really seem to like each other. Els is one of her heroes ("I think his game is perfect ... his swing is perfect"). She is floating all day.
"His driving goes really far," she says. "But I outdrove him on one hole when he hit the tree."
Michelle signs too. Already, she's got a pro's autograph. It's beautifully illegible, sharp yet flowing, and she can jot it off in a split second. She's had a little practice at that, too, to be sure. She'll get more.
Is she ready for this? For tomorrow? Hard to tell. To this untrained eye, she looks great. She can swing with the best of them. But this is practice. And there are a million mulligans, countless practice putts. One or two interpretations of "winter rules" that would have even Judge Smails blushing. But this is practice.
Her playing partner estimated that Wie would have shot 2-under. That she would have tied him.
After yesterday's round, Els says everything anyone has ever said about Wie. And then he keeps going. He compares her to Tiger. Says she might play with the best of the men.
"As I said earlier, Michelle is 14," he says. "Give her another couple of years to get stronger. I mean, she can play on this tour.
"If she keeps working, keeps doing the right things, there's no reason why she shouldn't be out here."
As he talks, she nods, small ones. At last, as if she can take it no more, Michelle Wie smiles. Who wouldn't?
Her whole life is a fantasy camp.
Wie commits to LPGA tourney for second time
DUBLIN, Ohio >> Fourteen-year-old Michelle Wie has accepted a sponsor's exemption to play in the Wendy's Championship for Children, officials of the LPGA tournament announced yesterday.Wie is scheduled to play in this week's PGA Tour stop at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
This will be Wie's second appearance at the Wendy's, set for Aug. 19-22 at Tartan Fields Golf Club. In 2002 she was exempted into the Monday qualifier and her 1-under-par 71 was good enough to qualify for the tournament. She went on to miss the cut by one stroke.
Wie played in seven LPGA events last year, making the cut six times.
Associated Press
