Michelle Wie hit a shot out of the bunker yesterday during a practice round for the Curtis Cup near Liverpool, England.
Wie is big draw
for English golf fansThe Curtis Cup opens tomorrow
at Formby Golf Club in Liverpool
LIVERPOOL, England >> She is the star attraction and perhaps the key to unraveling the U.S. Curtis Cup team.
At least that's what Great Britain and Ireland captain Ada O'Sullivan wants you to believe about 14-year-old Michelle Wie's participation in the 33rd Curtis Cup.
The two-day match-play championship opens tomorrow morning at the Formby Golf Club in Merseyside with the foursomes teeing off at 8 a.m. English time. (England is 11 hours ahead of Hawaii.) Six singles matches start at 1 p.m.
Wie is expected to lure record crowds to the biennial contest. Between 8,000 and 9,000 people a day will be trying to catch a glimpse of the golf phenom's lengthy drives and amazing all-around game in beautiful, breezy, balmy conditions on a course located in the northwest of England.
Wie's involvement is largely the reason that the Curtis Cup is not lost in a soccer-crazy country on the brink of beginning the European championship on Sunday against France.
The Punahou School student is expected to have the largest gallery, and O'Sullivan presumes the attention will be a factor in the United States' ability to compete as a team.
"Obviously, she's very, very good," O'Sullivan said. "We've already heard several comments that some of the Americans are not very happy that all the attention is going to Michelle Wie. She's definitely taking attention from other members of the team."
U.S. captain Martha Kirouac expressed that concern last week at Curtis Cup practice in Georgia. But Kirouac left American soil confident that Wie had been accepted by her talented teammates. She dismissed any notion of dissension yesterday.
"There's no bad (in having Wie here). There's only good," said Kirouac, a member of two Curtis Cup teams in 1970 and '72. "That's a tribute to Michelle herself and these other seven players. They've made sure there's no bad. They've welcomed her and embraced her, and she has returned that in similar fashion.
"That practice session we had at Sea Island (Ga.) was crucial. ... We left there as a team. It's not something we had to continue working on over here."
The atmosphere at Curtis Cup camp contributed to the togetherness of a mostly teenage team. The 6-foot-1 Wie is one of five teens, along with 17-year-olds Paula Creamer and Jane Park, and 19-year-olds Brittany Lang and Erica Blasberg. California senior Sarah Huarte is the team elder at 22. The U.S. team's average age is slightly over 18, and no one has had previous Cup experience.
Kirouac is compensating for that by pairing previous Cup participants to current team members to talk about their experiences. (Wie has been partnered with Martha Lang, a member of the 1992 team and a captain of the 1996 squad.) Kirouac hopes the connection will help, but the U.S. captain knows lack of Cup experience should not affect the team, which has clearly got game.
"On the golf course, you forget very quickly that they're as young as they are," Kirouac said. "They don't demonstrate that on the golf course. The sense of personal responsibility, for as young as they are, is really impressive."
Added Creamer: "The golf ball doesn't say how old you are. We're all one team out there, and it's been a great week so far. This is one of the hugest things I've ever done, to make the Curtis Cup team. It's such an honor to be here and represent your country."
Wie echoes a similar sentiment. In a packed summer schedule, which includes the Evian Masters in France next month and defending her U.S. Women's Public Links title, Wie counts the Curtis Cup as another goal to check off on her long list of ambitions.
"Since I was 10, that was my main goal (to play in the Curtis Cup)," Wie said. "I wanted to play in it so bad. I wanted to play for my country. I'm really excited. It's so great to be playing for my country, and ... I feel very proud of myself for making it this far, and hopefully we know the course well enough. We're playing good, so hopefully we'll see what comes out."
It's not certain where Wie will play among the three foursomes and six singles matches. Kirouac has not set the lineup, which will be announced later today. The 6,369-yard course does not necessarily savor lengthy drives. Both teams considered course management critical to capturing the Cup.
"Both teams are strong; both teams have very disciplined players," Kirouac said. "We've worked hard to come into Saturday as best prepared as we can be.
"I've been more intent on helping our players learn the golf course and be ready to go," she said. "I fully expect this to be competitive on both sides. And come Sunday evening, the best team will take that Cup home. I expect it to be a tight match."
