---

The big business of
outfitting Wie

GOOD. Now all of us niele people know.

It's right there, on LPGA.com:

"As an amateur golfer she is allowed to accept free equipment and apparel but is not allowed to be paid by sponsors."

Whew! I was worried there for a while. I was thinking maybe Michelle Wie was attending Punahou in golf outfits every day, having spent all her school clothes money on all those Nike and adidas duds we see on TV.

(Seriously.)

Yes, forget golf. Sure, it looks like she's peaking. Like Wie just might get her first big win this weekend. She could even be the one to stand between Annika and history. But let's get to the important stuff -- fashion.

No wonder Wie is in no hurry to turn pro. Can you imagine the thrill? This is like that line out of the Bill Murray movie "Stripes": "Pretty sweet -- free clothing! Chicks in New York pay top dollar for this stuff."

All those hot colors and cool looks?

Free!

Who knew you could keep your amateur status intact while sponsors legally deluge you with clothes and clubs?

But I can't be the only person exhaling a sigh of relief.

What! You think I'm the only one who keeps track of "who" Michelle Wie is wearing?

No, I'm not the only Melissa Rivers out there.

I know this for sure because there's a chart -- put together by Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Daily -- that kept track what brand of hat, top and shoes she wore in the Sony Open and her first four LPGA events this year.

(Seriously.)

It even had an asterisk for round one of the SBS open where it said "apparel could not be determined."

Oh, it sounds silly, but this is big business, or it will be soon.

Don't think these companies aren't already competing for the big contract.

So I not only watch Wie, but her parents, too. Mom tends to stick with a single brand of apparel. Dad mixes it up a little. He usually goes half-half, alternating between the stripes and the swoosh. He tends to wear one brand of socks, another of shoes, a shirt from one company, a visor from another.

I don't know if it's typical male fashion sense -- despite my wife's best efforts, I have an innate fear of "over-matching" myself -- or a declaration of neutrality.

This reminds me of late-night host Conan O'Brien joking that he can mention a certain candy bar on the air and there will be boxes of it in his office.

So I can end this Michelle Wie column in only one way:

Papa John's. Papa John's. Papa John's.