Michelle Wie

The Sure Thing: The Making and Unmaking of Golf Phenom Michelle Wie
$25.00
On page 241 of his 244 page book, author Eric Adelson tells readers that, "The root cause of her decline, the force that contributed to all the factors that brought her down, was greed." What's strange about this conclusion is that it's the first and only time the word 'greed' is used, and that unless "wanting it all" as quickly as possible as an athlete and parent is defined as greed, there is nothing in his account of Michelle Wie's life to support what we commonly think of as greed. On the contrary, one might apply the term to an author who first interviewed Wie for ESPN magazine at the age of 10 and now has followed that up several years later with his own book. Preying on the young for corporate and individual profit? (It makes one wonder who is more dangerous to society, child sexual predators or journalistic ones.)

The story here is basically of a precociously talented young girl with a modern egalitarian viewpoint, and typical pushy middle class parents, in this case with a Korean twist. Instead of sending Michelle to her room, in her case junior tournaments where she would learn the rules of the game and how to win, her parents encouraged, managed and justified the most self-destructive aspects of her teenage impatience and immaturity. And all aided and abetted by a rapacious press out to make big profits, playing on a society overly taken with child prodigies.

Through this process during her most important formative years, Michelle Wie's growth as a golfer and individual were stunted. That's not easy to overcome. Will her relatively belated recognition and correction of what happened be enough for her to fulfill her potential? We'll see. I wish her the best.

Michelle Wie: The Making of a Champion
$11.99
I brought this paperback to the beach, and what an interesting read! I learned so much more about Michelle Wie, plus several things about the game of golf itself that I hadn't known, despite playing for 35 years. Smartly written and informative. Would highly recommend.

So Was Wie Liebe
$39.99

2009 U.S. Solheim Cup Team autographed embroidered flag (Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Michelle Wie)
$300.00
2009 Solheim Cup EMBROIDERED golf pin flag autographed by the entire winning 12 member U.S. team: Nicole Castrale, Paula Creamer, Angela Stanford, Natalie Gulbis, Juli Inkster, Cristie Kerr, Christina Kim, Brittany Lang, Brittany Lincicome, Kristy McPherson (she inadvertently signed this flag TWICE), Morgan Pressel and Michelle Wie. ONLY ONE AVAILABLE FOR SALE.