Reports are that Wie started feeling sick almost from the beginning of the round.  She played slowly and was a distraction to her playing partners, especially Jeff Grove, and may have cost him a chance at advancing as he missed the cut line by one stroke.  The real question is why did she withdraw?  Was it a heat related illness or did she use that as an excuse to exit off the stage because she was never going to make the cut.  Like so many adults who want a day off from the office, Michelle Wie called in sick, or at least that is my take on the subject.

A lot of pressure rests on this teen to succeed and yet my contention is she will never succeed under these circumstances.  She is playing against the men and her goal is just to make the cut.  That is how her success is measured.  When making the cut is your goal, you will never win.  When Wie plays against the women, she thinks she can win and she has come close.  Golf is such a mental game that if your psyche is not in synch you will never win.  Wie is playing to lose when she plays with the men and the media is playing right into it. 

As for why she withdrew, I contend she “faked” an illness to escape the pressures of telling the world she missed another cut against the second tier class of PGA golfers.  The best men golfers in the world are not even in this tournament.  They are over in Loch Lomond warming up for the British Open next week.  That does not mean that the competition is not tough, because as the commercials state, “These guys are good!”  Wie is finding out just how good!

Wie is in top shape for a 16 year old female and golfs on a regular basis.  The temperature that day was 88, which is close to the year round temperature in her home state of Hawaii.  Golfers also know about keeping themselves hydrated throughout a round and Wie is no exception.  Her playing partners said they gave her plenty of water.  Heatstroke is a serious condition where the internal core temperature is above 106 degrees.  Medical staff treating Wie just called it “heat-related illness”, not heatstroke.  She only went to the hospital because Illinois law required it.  She was never in danger.  She withdrew because she did not want to finish the round when she was 8 strokes over par and completely out of contention from making the cut line, no where close to winning the tournament.  The tournament medical staff said they did not treat any players for heat related illnesses only spectators. 

Is it possible that she withdrew because she did not want to face reporters once again after losing to Annika last week?  She has become adept at facing them and saying things like, “I played really well out there.  I hope to win soon, but overall I am happy with my game.”  Really, you are happy losing week after week?  Once again, let me state what is so obvious to me and not to others, “Michelle Wie will never win on the men’s tour and will be lucky to win on the women’s tour if she continues to pursue golf in this manner.  I will elaborate later on this weekend, but I have already posted on this back in December. 

Wie was successful in diverting the attention away from her missing the cut to her illness.  No one is talking about the fact that she was 8 over par at the time of her departure.  She was even par for the day until she played number 9 and took a double-bogey.  All of the headlines on the sports pages are saying Wie withdrew due to illness.  They make it sound as if she had continued to play that she would have made the cut and maybe gone on to win. (Wie Bows Out Early, Illness Forces Wie to Withdraw:  These are two that I found.  Sorry guys, illness aside in 9 more holes Wie was gone anyway.)  They do not come right out and say this, but their headlines are so misleading.

Things are not going to get easier for the teen, only harder.  Wie is growing up quickly and learning to call in sick just like so many adults do.  The only problem with that is if you keep doing it, you might just lose your job.  Sponsors are not going to want to keep paying her millions for losing, unless they are her clothing sponsors, but that is a topic for my next post. 

SoCalSportsFan