Columnist Adam Candee: Wie writes her own report card

Adam Candee

Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005 | 9:22 a.m.

Adam Candee covers golf for the Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at candee@lasvegassun.com.

Outside the box?

No, Michelle Wie is operating so much farther out of the typical constraints of sports protocol that it's more like out of this world.

Golf's favorite wunderkind - with that status becoming more tenuous with each day she ages beyond her 15 years - is expected to turn professional sometime next week, according to a Golf World report. And not a moment too soon either.

Wie enjoyed a successful year playing events on both the LPGA and PGA circuits, finishing as high as second in the McDonald's LPGA Championship - a major on that tour. Yet somehow, even if only slightly, you could hear the buzz around her quieting just a bit.

Applying the muzzle, it says here, were fellow teen sensations Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel, all of 18 and 17 years old, respectively. Creamer won twice in her rookie year and led the U.S. Solheim Cup team - seriously, she led them - to a victory earlier this month. The All-American blonde girl with the killer game turned the golf world (at least the portion that will pay attention to the women's game) on its ear.

Pressel seriously contended to win the U.S. Women's Open for 71 holes and is likely to join the LPGA tour next season. She does not have the name recognition of Creamer, but her game might not be far off before long.

All of a sudden, the dance floor at the prom felt a little crowded.

Consider the sage words of a certain dashing Sun golf writer from nine months ago:

"While there is still a strong argument to be made that Wie needs to strike while her irons are hot to take full advantage of her opportunities, it's hard to have anything but admiration for her goals and her steady approach to a limitless future that must be hard to constantly keep at arm's length."

Turning pro while shunning full-time status on the LPGA circuit allows Wie to accomplish both of those ends.

Those goals included college, the Masters and generally charting her own new course. What's amazing about what Wie might do is that she really could have her cake, eat it too and even save some frosting to smear in the face of convention.

If Wie, as reported, does not apply for early entry to the LPGA and just takes whatever exemptions are offered to her, the only two things she will lose are her NCAA eligibility (gee golly gosh darn) and her easiest ways into the Masters (through the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links).

Somehow, the reported potential earnings of nearly $10 million in combined endorsement and golf revenue in her first year as a pro might soothe those mild concerns. And the craziest part is that maybe she will still go to Stanford, as her father, B.J., continues to say she will.

The way she is going, Wie could simply attend school and keep playing pro events when it suits her. Admittedly, that's not the most likely course of events, but she is the one female athlete in the world who could probably pull it off.

You could make a serious case that once her teenage years are through, so too will be the national curiosity with Wie. That's exactly why the Wies are getting their cash right now. The irons are hot, too hot to ignore. Striking now revealed itself as the only viable option.

I've had enough already with the criticism that Wie isn't learning how to win by dominating competition at her own level. To suggest that she should limit herself to the confines of the old model when everything she does surpasses its framework is short-sighted and ludicrous. Yes, even Tiger did it, but what is becoming apparent is that Wie's goals aren't simply sports goals.

She chases this idea of transcending traditional achievement. It's as though she operates on a grading system in which only she knows the criteria for high marks. For as long as she dominates most of her LPGA competition and hangs with the men, for as long as her good looks and mirthful personality continue to grow her endorsement potential, Wie can write her own report card.