Columnist Ron Kantowski: For now we must get our Wie fix on TV

Friday, July 15, 2005 | 10:08 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Las Vegas, we have a problem.

Actually, it's more like Wie have a problem.

Everybody agrees what a great thing it would be were 15-year-old female golf sensation Michelle Wie to play in the Michelin Championship at Las Vegas PGA tournament in the fall. But like Jean Van de Velde laying up on the 17th at Carnoustie, it's probably not going to happen.

For starters, she'll be in school in October. That's the primary stumbling block, as Wie's parents are adamant that their big-hitting daughter have a normal upbringing and do all the things that typical teenagers do.

At my school, that would have meant ditching class once in a while, but then I was one of those guys who didn't mind getting a C+ in biology.

"We had discussions (about Wie) a year ago," said Michelin Classic tournament director Charlie Baron. "It came back to the schooling issue."

But even if Wie was willing to take a page out of Ferris Bueller's book and take a couple of days off to play golf with the men in Las Vegas, there would be other hurdles in the way.

The biggest, Baron said, is that because the Michelin Classic is a pro-am event, it must abide by rules that state the field be comprised of 144 professionals. If Wie wanted to play here, she would have do so as an amateur, and to play as an amateur here, she would have to put up $10,000, just like the all the other amateurs.

If somebody put up the $10,000 for her, Baron said it would jeopardize Wie's amateur status.

The bottom line is that as an amateur, Wie isn't eligible for one of the eight exemptions into the Michelin Classic.

"That's the primary reason," Baron said. "If she would turn professional, or if she were somebody like Annika (Sorenstam), you could invite her."

As for the notion that Wie should just turn pro now and start amassing a fortune to go with her fame, well, there's a lot more to it.

Even if she would forsake college or forsake playing golf in college, it would behoove her to remain an amateur for a while. Her stated intention is to play in men's tournaments and the best way to do that, in many instances, is as an amateur.

That's why she is beating up on the boys at this week's U.S. Golf Association's Amateur Public Links Championship in Ohio. The Publinx champ receives an automatic bid to play in the Masters. Otherwise, if Wie plans on making the trip to Augusta National, she's going to have to buy a ticket and hope that that curmudgeon Hootie Johnson isn't manning the turnstile.

Naturally, if there was a way for Wie to play here, it would give the Michelin Classic a shot in the arm. A Jason Giambi-sized shot in the arm. With its far-from-desirable place on the PGA calendar and its far-from desirable format (the touring pros aren't particularly fond of playing with amateurs, unless they have a couple of Oscars on their mantel like the ones at Pebble Beach), the fields here sometimes lack marquee attractions.

It has been a while since Tiger Woods turned the TPC at Summerlin into Fairway Jam. He won his first PGA tournament here in 1996 and though he has made many happy returns to Southern Nevada, it's mostly to play blackjack, not golf.

These days, Wie is almost as big an attraction/curiosity. And in that, like a rapidly growing segment of our population, she hails from Honolulu, how many flowered shirts do you think she would bring out to the TPC? You wouldn't be able to wedge your way into the California Club's hospitality tent with a 9-iron.

When it comes to defending the quality of the Michelin Classic field, Baron is more resolute than Jim Bowie with the Mexican army knocking on the door at the Alamo. But he concedes that Wie's presence would invigorate the tournament formerly known as the LVI.

"Something like that would really help," he said. "When Michelle plays in the John Deere Classic (normally a minor men's PGA stop) look at all the stories you read. It's off the charts and great exposure for sponsors."

But unfortunately for local golf fans and star gazers, it appears the Michelin Man won't be going Wie, Wie, Wie all the way home.

"It would be great for the local golf community, great for Las Vegas," Baron said. "But I don't think it can happen."

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