Bucking tradition

PALM DESERT, Calif. -- By mid-morning, the radiant blue sky stretched endlessly above the Santa Rosa Mountains, and what passes for a morning chill here in the desert had dissipated.

Out on the practice range at Bighorn Golf Club, the birthday girl was celebrating not with ice cream and cake, but with a bucket of balls and a device called ''the swing setter." If she were enveloped by a frost of resentment, she hardly seemed concerned.

Michelle Wie merely launched one scintillating shot after another, a shower of white golf balls falling out of the sky against a background of brown rock that frames the towns in the Coachella Valley. Six days earlier, Wie had banked millions of dollars in endorsement money after her decision to join the pro ranks, but now, on her 16th birthday, she was focused only on suspected flaws in her swing. Let others offer their viewpoints; Wie has work to do.

''We know her golf career will be based on performance," said B.J. Wie, father to the phenom from Honolulu. ''She's got to perform on the course. There are high expectations from everyone -- from the media, from the fans. She understands that. She enjoys that. It's why she's unique."

Unique?

On that, there is little debate.

Six years after she first made a mark on the golf scene, Wie -- the 6-footer who consistently can rip it 300 yards -- will make her professional debut in the Samsung World Championship, an LPGA Tour event that begins tomorrow. The field is as select as it comes, just 19 players earning a chance to compete for $850,000. A 20th -- Wie -- got a special exemption, and therein exists an underlying theme to the saga.

To some, she is being handed opportunities to play, for no other reason than her enormous potential and praise from such notables as Ernie Els.

Nancy Lopez, one of the game's icons, was critical of Wie's career path. Instead of pursuing berths in PGA Tour and LPGA Tour events, Wie should have played more junior golf, Lopez said. LPGA Tour standout Cristie Kerr was vocal in her assessment of a special exemption Wie was given in the McDonald's LPGA Championship, a tournament that had always been for professionals.

''This is the kind of tournament you should earn your way into," Kerr said.

Even amateurs have gotten into the act. Morgan Pressel, the 17-year-old junior standout who more than likely will be playing on the LPGA Tour next year, told Fortune magazine, ''Now she's going to make something like $10 million? For what? For winning one tournament?"

The reference was to the money Nike and Sony are reportedly paying Wie, who is on the cover of this month's Fortune, and to the fact that her only national victory of significance was the 2003 US Public Links Championship. While there probably are others who share Pressel's resentment, they have remained quiet, but to them, Meg Mallon would suggest perspective.

''We had a players' meeting last week and all of us agreed that it was about time that more of our great players got treated that well," said the LPGA Tour veteran. ''Look at Annika [Sorenstam]; with all she's done, she still doesn't get the notice she deserves.

''Carolyn [Vesper] Bivens [the LPGA Tour's new commissioner] told us, 'You can all form whatever opinion you want for the moment, but this girl is going to be good for you,' " said Mallon. ''If I were Paula Creamer or Morgan Pressel, I'd be saying, 'Whew, she just increased my value. Bring her on,' because you always want to play and beat the best."

Jane Blalock, a former LPGA Tour standout, agrees: ''Instinctively, sure a few of the players [would hold some resentment], but gosh, you've got to look at the big picture and say, 'She's doing me a favor.' "

Said Kerr: ''When you have a talent like that, you are always going to have a little controversy around it. But overall I think she's been very good for us."

Tiger Woods, one of the world's most recognized athletes, felt similar resentment when he entered the men's pro ranks in August 1996, a huge contract from Nike making him wealthier than many PGA Tour members who had been plying their trade for years. He doesn't think Wie will be in the same position, and he points to the fact that the Samsung will be her 25th appearance in an LPGA Tour event.

''She's played in so many tournaments out there," said Woods. ''I didn't play. I played only in the majors and I qualified through the amateurs. I didn't do much. I didn't have the success at the Tour level that she has had and that's the difference."

Maybe, but maybe not; whereas Woods entered a climate in which most of the players had generous endorsement deals with the equipment industry, Wie does not. As she hit balls on the range, her black golf bag with ''Sony" emblazoned across it was prominent, especially because six other players were present and four of them had bags devoid of sponsors.

Kelli Kuehne knows that sort of discrepancy can foster a chilly resentment. Having won back-to-back US Women's Amateurs, plus a British Women's Amateur, Kuehne was a hot commodity in the mid 1990s -- so hot, in fact, that Nike cut off equipment deals with Juli Inkster and dozens of other LPGA Tour players to dump a bundle of money on the Texan.

''Women are very competitive, in case you haven't noticed," said Kuehne. ''Once I started to play well, it wasn't an issue anymore."

To Wie, Kuehne would offer simple advice: ''Just let your clubs do the talking."

For Wie, the matter is hardly one that she's losing sleep over.

''I know that there are going to be some people against me," she said. ''There are people who have different opinions about me. I'm really thankful for my sponsors trusting me and giving me lots of opportunities."

The Woods effect
Team Wie was in place: Michelle with the clubs; her parents, B.J. and Bo, working the video camera; David Leadbetter, the swing guru, moving this way and that; and Greg Johnston, the veteran caddie, watching it all. For years, Johnston caddied for Inkster, but he has chosen to work for a player who is at the start of her career, not in the twilight.

Johnston is counting on Wie being financially rewarding for his career.

''Heck, I wish she had come along 10 years ago so I would have benefited," said Mallon. ''Look at the Solheim Cup. It was a great event and we poured our hearts out, but we didn't get one mention on 'SportsCenter.' Michelle's announcement got noticed. I'm hoping that Michelle Wie will give me a good pension like Tiger Woods gave the men a good pension."

It is a matter of record that the PGA Tour played for $70.7 million in purses in 1996, the year Woods turned pro. By 2000, that number was $164.35 million, and it has grown to a whopping $252,350,400 in 2005. Now, no one is saying that Woods is solely responsible, but surely he's been the driving force. The question is: Will Wie have that same sort of effect on the LPGA Tour, whose 34 tournaments accounted for $45.1 million in 2005?

''That's beyond her control," said B.J. Since Michelle first qualified to play in an LPGA Tour event, in 2002 at the age of 12, B.J. and Bo have been guiding their daughter's career. He bristles at many of the negative things that have been written or said.

''There have been a lot of critics," said B.J. ''A lot of self-appointed guardians of Michelle. No one cares about her future like we do."

He insists that Michelle will finish high school on time, in the spring of 2007. Michelle has said she wants to go to college. B.J. reiterated what he's said before, that he won't petition the LPGA Tour for a waiver of its minimum age of 18 for membership.

''I respect their policy as it's written, with good reason. It's a good rule," said B.J. Which invited the next question: So why is 16 acceptable to turn pro?

''She's a special child," he said. ''She's different."

No argument there, because most 16-year-olds don't have bank accounts worth an estimated $10 million, but regarding the money, B.J. Wie said it was important to know that a trust fund had been established. He said Michelle can't touch the money until she reaches a certain age, though he wouldn't say what that age was.

Performance time
When it came time to select representation, B.J. and Bo considered heralded ones inside the golf world before opting for the William Morris Agency, a giant, yes, but one more closely associated with Hollywood personalities. That led to speculation that Wie was being groomed to sell jewelry, hats, and clothing, and others contend that she will be pushed in Asia because of her ethnicity (her parents are of Korean descent). Throw in her comments about still wanting to compete on the PGA Tour, and some wonder whether she is dreaming dreams beyond her reach, which would hardly benefit the LPGA Tour.

Blalock said Wie would ''wear out her welcome" if she continues to play in men's events and miss the cut; she's convinced the youngster's future is on the LPGA Tour.

''She's been elevated to a new status and there's a lot of pressure on her," said Blalock. ''She's got an incredible swing, hits the ball a ton, has a good personality, is gracious, has a beautiful smile. It's a pretty good package, but now she's got to perform."

Everyone on Team Wie knows that, which is why the star of the show did not take part in the celebration that surprised her after her press conference. The management at Bighorn wheeled out a huge birthday cake, with 16 candles. She laughed, then blew out the candles, but wouldn't divulge whether she had made a wish. Perhaps because her wish has already come true.

''It's my dream job," said the part-time golfer, full-time student, and millionaire 16-year-old. ''I love this."

So far, what's not to love?