Michelle Wie Needs to Shut It Down

OAKMONT, Pa.--It's U.S. Open week, but before we move on to picking the winner, let's talk about the biggest loser last week at the LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock.

That would be 17-year-old Michelle Wie, who shot 83 on Saturday and 79 on Sunday and ended in last place in the remaining field of 84 golfers, ten shots behind the next to last finisher and 35 shots behind the champion, Suzann Pettersen of Norway.

Why was Wie even on the property last week, or the week before when she touched off a firestorm of criticism for withdrawing from the Ginn Tribute in Charleston, S.C., with an injured wrist when she was 14 over for 16 holes?

Why is Wie even thinking about playing in the U.S. Women's Open in two weeks, when it is so obvious she's playing hurt and maybe even risking further injury by trying to play sooner rather than later?

Is there pressure from her parents, her sponsors, the networks, the tournament organizers? I suspect that's part of it. Her coach, David Leadbetter, admitted that she was a Ferrari at Bulle Rock that couldn't get out of second gear and that it might have been better for her to not play.

Still, he said, it was her competitive nature that was driving her, that she hated staying at home and wanted to get back into the crucible of big-time golf as soon as possible.

Wie often said much of the same at her news conferences last week. She kept describing herself as a "work in progress" and pleaded with her fans to be patient with her as she tries to come back from the first significant injury of her young career.

But here's the bottom line.

Wie is 17. A year ago, when she was healthy, she had three top five finishes in majors and was contending for a championship in every one of them. With those same skills, it's safe to assume that she'll be contending for major titles for years to come. Between now and her 40th birthday there will be 90 women's majors contested. Would it hurt so badly if she missed the next two and could only play 88?

Why not simply shut it down for the summer? Go to rehab, pitch and putt, work on aerobic conditioning and add a little weight training, but give those ailing wrists some time off before trying to hit drivers 300 yards or risk further injury by having to flail out of the rough as she did so many times this past week in the LPGA.

Why not go shopping for the clothes she'll need for her freshman year at Stanford? Look for sheets and pillowcases for the dorm room, maybe a new sound system that will blow her suitemates away. Be a normal, college freshman about to embark on the journey of her life at a fabulous school Tiger Woods has often said provided him the greatest two years of his own lifetime.

Wie admitted last week that if the LPGA had not been a major championship, she probably would not have played at Bulle Rock. Why she believes another two weeks will make that much of a difference in the women's Open at a very difficult Pine Needles is difficult to fathom, quite frankly.