won the first LPGA event of her career on Sunday, fulfilling the
promise of a decade with a 3-under par 69 to win the Lorena Ochoa
Invitational by two strokes over Paula Creamer.
Wie finished off the victory in
style, hitting a greenside bunker shot to 6 inches on the 18th hole and
then tapping in for a birdie.
The 20-year-old Wie raised both arms
in the air — her putter in her right hand — and then put her hand over
her mouth. After pulling the ball out of the hole, she turned to the
gallery, looked to the sky and let out a large sigh of relief.
Morgan Pressel (67), Jiyai Shin (71)
and Cristie Kerr (72) were three back. Wie finished a 13-under 275
after starting the day at the Guadalajara Country Club tied for the
lead with Kerr at 10 under.
Wie first qualified for a USGA event
at age 10 and played an LPGA event when she was 12. She joined the LPGA
this season and has begun to show the sizzling game that has made her
arguably the biggest attraction in women’s golf.
Wie had a few shaky moments but she
was steadier down the stretch as her rivals faltered. In the past, it’s
often been the Hawaiian who has stumbled.
She had chances to pull away on the
front nine, but couldn’t quite do it and finished with a 2-under 34 —
12 under for the tournament. She went to 13 under with a birdie on 11,
giving her a one-shot lead over Creamer and Kerr. Wie bogeyed the next
hole when her escape shot from under a cluster of trees squarely hit a
trunk, the ball rebounding into the fairway behind her.
But she made par through 17.
The LPGA, battered by economic problems and the forced resignation of its commissioner this summer, needs this as much as Wie.
“Literally, when Michelle Wie is
atop the leaderboard it’s like night and day and that’s star power,”
LPGA spokesman David Higdon said the day before Wie’s win. “That’s all
it is. This is somebody people want to follow. You see it in her
presence, the way she walks around. The way people talk to her.”
Wie began competing against men on
smaller circuits when she was 13. She was criticized at the time for
not playing against her own age group, her own gender and for turning
pro in 2005 before finishing high school. She ignored the criticism
and, at 16, she was poised to become the first woman to qualify for the
men’s U.S. Open before her putter failed her.
Shortly after that she began to lose
confidence and the biggest attraction in women’s golf went into a long,
painful slump that was made worst by a wrist injury that ruined her
2007 season.
She has slowly worked her way back,
earning her LPGA card for this season, gaining credibility with players
and emerging as a star on this year’s Solheim Cup, going undefeated in
four matches.
When she is on her game, it flies
with soaring drives and better and better touch on the greens. Wie has
finished second twice this season, and has two other third-place
finishes on the LPGA Tour.