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Golf: Wie should set realistic goals, Donald
2007-01-10
Michelle Wie would be better served playing competitive golf against LPGA players, rather than finishing close to the bottom in men's tournaments, says PGA veteran Luke Donald. "I think it's good for any player to get some confidence by competing and winning events," said European Ryder Cup star Donald as Wie gets set to take on the top men's players in the world at this week's Sony Open. "Maybe this isn't the correct place to do that. No matter who you are, I don't think you should just strive to make a cut. "If you enter an event, you should be striving to win it. If her aim, or anyone else's aim, is just to make the cut, I don't think they're here for the right reasons." A number of the PGA players think Wie is doing herself more harm than good by continuing to compete against the men, no matter how she performs at the Sony Open in Hawaii starting Thursday. One tour veteran went so far as to say Wie is being mishandled by marketing flaks who don't have her best interests in mind. "This is nothing more than a marketing exercise," said one prominent player, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "I think she's being badly advised. I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that she ends up like Jennifer Capriati (the former teenage tennis star who burnt out early amid legal and personal troubles). "Whatever path you take in life, you try to build by succeeding at one level and then moving up to the next. You don't try to climb Everest without tackling some smaller peaks first. She's not even at base camp." Wie, 17, finished near last in her final three men's appearances last year in Europe, the United States and Japan. She admits she was badly out of form at the time, but claims to be playing much better after two weeks of intense work recently with coach David Leadbetter in Florida. "The last couple of tournaments, I didn't play to my full potential," she said. "I was a little tired, and it showed (but) I've been working really hard on my game, trying to get more consistent and I think (my form) is getting better and better. "Before I went to (Leadbetter) I wasn't comfortable with my swing. It was time for a tyre change (because) I did have a flat tyre." And she hit back at the suggestion that playing against the men was a marketing exercise. "I guess being the only girl on the baseball team when I was four years old was also a marketing plan," she said. "When I was four or five years old I was playing basketball with the boys during lunch break. It's very natural to me. I just enjoy it. "Obviously some people take it as a marketing plan to make more money, blah blah, but they don't realize that's just what I want to do. You can't really trade happiness for anything." Wie's right wrist was bandaged Tuesday, a result of an injury she incurred hitting a ball of a cart path last October. She says specialists are not sure what the problem is, diagnosing it variously as ligament strain, tendon strain and a pinched nerve. "It hurts a little bit, but not enough to stop me from playing," she said. On other issues, Wie said she was disappointed not to win an LPGA event last year, but proud to have contended down the stretch in three of four majors. And she expressed determination to graduate from Stanford University, where she will begin in the fall, whether that took "four years, six years, eight years or a hundred years." This will be Wie's fourth consecutive appearance at Waialae Country Club, where 143 other players will also be in action. David Toms is defending champion, while 2005 champion Vijay Singh, who won the Mercedes-Benz Championship on Sunday, is perhaps the man to beat. Other world top 20 players in action are Jim Furyk, Geoff Ogilvy, Donald, Trevor Immelman and Davis Love.
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