‘60 Minutes’ plans
interview with
Wie in JuneThe golf phenom will appear
on the news magazine show
The news magazine show "60 Minutes" will interview Michelle Wie this June, her father confirmed yesterday via e-mail. "It is true," B.J. Wie wrote yesterday afternoon when asked if CBS was traveling here this summer. "They are coming to Hawaii on June 23."
Michelle Wie recently finished in a tie for 38th at the 26th annual Hawaii Pearl Open. She placed second among 52 amateurs in the field of 192 golfers. Wie also found out last week that she is one of eight amateurs selected for the 72nd Curtis Cup. At 14, she is the youngest amateur ever picked for this prestigious event.
"Good things are happening for Michelle right now," B.J. Wie said last Friday after the opening round of the Hawaii Pearl Open. "It was a dream of ours for her to play in the Curtis Cup."
Michelle Wie added, "It sort of feels like the Olympics."
Being interviewed by "60 Minutes" is a major moment as well. While the Punahou ninth-grader has been interviewed by nearly every major sports organization, this is another step toward the main stream.
She is traveling to San Diego this weekend to work with golf guru David Ledbetter to prepare for her upcoming events on the LPGA Tour. Despite large galleries whereever she goes, Wie still faces an uphill battle to rival Annika Sorenstam. At least that's how LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw saw it in an interview with the Associated Press yesterday.
"She hasn't won 48 times, she's not in the LPGA Hall of Fame and she hasn't won six Vare trophies," Votaw said. "She hasn't had a career Grand Slam, she hasn't been Player of the Year multiple times in a 10-year period. But, if she continues to develop as a person and a player, she has a vast amount of potential to match those accomplishments."
Wie and 33-year-old Sorenstam will compete in the same field for the third time when the Safeway International takes place next month at Superstition Mountain, a new venue east of downtown. Sorenstam shot an LPGA-record 59 on her way to the 2001 Phoenix title at Moon Valley Country Club.
The first time they met, Wie nearly upstaged the Swedish star by making the cut and reaching the final threesome at last year's Kraft Nabisco. But she faded with a 76, and Patricia Meunier-Lebouc outdueled Sorenstam to win the major.
Six months later, Wie tied for 28th in Portland while Sorenstam won.
Votaw, who made his comments during the Phoenix tournament kickoff, said he was not knocking Wie and acknowledged she is good for the game.
"Certainly having more people at our events is one of the things that our five-year business plan is geared around," he said.
Judy Rankin, introduced as the Wie of the 1960s for feats like winning the 1959 Missouri Amateur at 14 and finishing as the low amateur in the U.S. Women's Open the next year, attended the kickoff to accept the Linda Vollstedt Award for service and leadership in women's sports.
Rankin learned from playing alongside men, but never entertained a thought about competing against them and never tried to play from men's tournament tees. But she said Wie's power has her attention.
"There are these very few people who come along every era or period of time that are not just standouts but are so exceptional that everybody wants to get a glimpse," said Rankin, a 26-time winner who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000. "Certainly Tiger (Woods) was that way, although everybody thought when Tiger was 14 that this was a long, strong, savvy, smart kid who didn't quite have the game under control.
"(Wie) seems to be in a little different place at a little different age."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
