Humbled Wie earns her shot at US Open

Onetime prodigy Michelle Wie hasn't won any tournaments lately - but she hasn't lost her popularity among young autograph-seeking golf fans, either. (Jim Mone/Associated Press)

EDINA, Minn. - She has come back, which sure beats going back, as far as Michelle Wie is concerned.

"We'll just skip last year, that would be safe to say," said the onetime child phenom, who at the tender age of 18 could hardly be considered to be rejuvenating a career.

Veterans rejuvenate careers, not college freshmen. It's more accurate to say that Wie is trying to put her golf career back on track, and one of the first steps was to go through a sectional qualifying for the 63d US Women's Open, which gets under way tomorrow at Interlachen Country Club.

"I think going through that qualifying humbled me a lot as a player," said Wie.

When she required a mere 137 strokes to play 36 holes at Woodmont CC in Rockville, Md., three weeks ago, Wie punched a ticket into her sixth US Women's Open, but for the first time since 2003, the critics were silent. She had earned it, unlike so many of those tournaments as a 14-, 15-, 16-, or 17-year-old when exemptions rolled her way.

The only thing is, the questions persist - and for good reason. From a 2006 season in which the 16-year-old finished top 10 in three LPGA Tour majors and cashed checks in all eight starts to the tune of $730,921, Wie crashed and would have fallen from view had her star power not sent the media chasing after her.

Her 2007 résumé included appearances in only three of the four majors, with a withdrawal, a missed cut, and an 84th-place finish. In all, she played in eight tournaments, cashed just three checks for $23,024, and spent the season being sketchy about a wrist injury. She denied she had one. Then she said she did.

"Last year is all very fuzzy with details about my wrist," said Wie.

But on two fronts she is adamant. One, "I was in no condition to play and I don't know what I was thinking." And two, "Everybody told me not to play."

Having attended Stanford for a freshman year that was "everything that I expected - and a lot more," Wie has given her wrist plenty of time to rest, and her performances have markedly improved. In four tournaments, she has made three cuts, including a T-24 at the Wegmans LPGA in Rochester, N.Y., last week. But most of all, there was that qualifier a few weeks ago.

"It's been a long time since I had to qualify for something," said Wie, "and it made me want it even more."