Michelle Wie Almost Wins LPGA Evian Masters . . . But That's OK

Michelle Wie came close again but finished one stroke short of first place at the Evian Masters LPGA tournament in Evian, France today.

Some have been describing her as a “disappointment” or as "a marketing story, nothing more."

It is true that she has not yet won a professional golf tournament but, then again, she is not even old enough to be a member of the LPGA! If it were not for the waivers and special invitations she would not even be able to play in any of these tournaments at all!

Just for the sake of comparison I have taken the three major Women’s golf tournaments that have been played so far this summer: The LPGA Open Championship, The U.S. Women’s Open and The Evian Masters.

By adding up the ten best cumulative scores along with the prize money (est.) I find the following:

Player	Cumulative Score	Cumulative Prize Money
# 1. Michelle Wie	841	$ 568,833
# 2. Se Ri Pak	842	$ 517,000
# 3. AnnikaSorenstam	846	$ 670,174
# 4. Karrie Webb	851	$ 631,645
# 5. Pat Hurst	852	$ 445,794
# 6. Lorena Ochoa	854	$ 209,014
# 7. Mi Hyun Kim	855	$ 286,491
# 8. Julie Inkster (tie	860	$ 158,048
# 8. Young Kim (tie)	860	$ 143,427
#10. Paula Creamer	863	$ 150,124

As you can see, Michelle Wie has the lowest combined score and is #3 in total prize money won in these three tournaments.

All in all I would say that Michelle is the “real deal.” So far she has only been able to play in tournaments that have not interfered with her school schedule. She is still only 16 years old. When she plays she is equal to the best women golfers in the world . . . and she has done it the old fashioned way . . . she’s earned it!

Hats off to Michelle Wie . . . and congratulations to Karrie Webb who came in first today.