Wie Begins

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Doug Ferguson does a nice job setting the stage for Michelle Wie's debut.

He also included this:

B.J. Wie has said his daughter will not challenge the LPGA requirement that members be 18 years old. And while he says her focus will initially be on the LPGA Tour, the ultimate dream is to get her PGA Tour card.

Wie is trying to add 10 percent to her length, so the distance she carries her tee shot increases from 260 yards to 285 yards, which the father believes will allow her to compete against the men.

So does how she go about adding that length? Time in the gym, or time on the launch monitor working with the hot new Nike Sasquatch driver?

Wie's a Rich Pro Now

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That means I can poke fun, right? From AP:

Michelle Wie didn't have to wait until she tees off Thursday at the Samsung World Championship to realize she was playing as a pro.

"Just the other day I got my first tax form," she said Tuesday. "I was excited about that. It's not something you should be excited about, but it's pretty cool for me."

She also just got her first check minus the cut from William Morris. That probably wasn't as exciting.

The other sign Wie was now a pro was her bag, with the Sony logo and her name.

"I was so excited when I got my name on my bag," she said. "Usually when you're an amateur, you can't have your name on your bag."

No, just the names of corporations on your clothes, hat and glove. Oh I know, she just turned 16. I'll stop.

 

More On Wie

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Here's more on Michelle Wie's announcement, starting with Doug Ferguson's AP story, Chris Lewis at SI.com and Lawrence Donegan from Harding Park. Wie is still planning to go to Stanford. Tiger offered this on his Stanford experience:

"I think you [miss out] on several things by not going to college, the most obvious being educational," Woods said. "The things I learned at Stanford were just phenomenal, and the people I got the chance to talk to, like Condoleezza Rice, and all the guys in the business department - they influenced my life so dramatically."

Wie Turns Pro

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A story on Michelle Wie's press conference:

Michelle Wie, the teen golf phenom, announced today that she would turn professional at a press conference at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Wie, who will turn 16 on October 11, also pledged to donate $500,000 to the U.S. Golf Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.

"I am grateful to be in a position to be able to lend a hand to the victims of Hurricane Katrina," Wie continued. "Turning professional affords me the ability to give back to those in need. Watching other Americans suffer the indignities that this storm has caused really drove home my desire to reach out."

And besides charity, turning pro finally allows her to take the latest equipment that she was deprived of as an amateur:

Wie will tee off at the Samsung World Championship next week in Palm Desert, Calif. playing Nike Golf’s new Sasquatch driver and fairway woods, joining Justin Leonard and K.J. Choi as some of the first to put golf’s latest advancements in club technology into play. Her affinity toward Nike Golf’s equipment, including the new Nike One Platinum golf ball, extends to Nike’s innovative performance apparel and footwear, which she will wear exclusively on Tour.

 As she has been, for the last two years.