Talent Demands Its Rights

Michelle Wie has always been honest and clear about where the LPGA fits into her plans. Briefly, whenever she feels like it. From Wie Has No Problems Being a 'Freelancer' by Leonard Shapiro in the Washington Post:

Although she is not eligible for LPGA membership until she is 18, she could petition the commissioner for early admittance. But at the moment, she says she has no intention of doing so.

"I feel like a freelancer," she said. "It almost reminds me of a newspaper, where you have your staff writers and then you have your freelance writers. I'm like the freelance writer. I love this freelancing. I'm playing a lot of tours. I'm playing the Japanese Tour, the Asian Tour, the PGA and LPGA. It's awesome.

Partly because freelancer Wie gets paid a bit more than your standard newspaper freelancer.

Wie doesn't wake up every morning dreaming about Nancy Lopez or even--not most days--Babe Zaharias. The LPGA is something of an afterthought, with women's majors to be fit in between the PGA and whatever king's ransom is available elsewhere from appearance fees. Wie's talent is so outrageous--her 16-yeard-old swing is so terrifying to any sane golfer--that it's hard to think of a reason to throw artificial obstacles in her way, even though there's something grating about an athlete who through circumstance and skill is doubling the opportunities available to her in a way not possible for men. I'm gonna do what I wanna do says Wie, ah, the impudence of youth.

Wie is one of the biggest sports stories of our time. I'll watch her whenever she plays. I can't help wondering what awaits her on the LPGA, when the rain starts falling. Impudence can last forever. Youth and health, never.

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