MICHELLE WIE CHANGES TACK:
NO MORE PLAYING IN MEN'S
EVENTS IN 2008

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By LEWINE MAIR
Michelle Wie, who has aroused much controversy through accepting invitations to play on men's tours, has said that she will not be playing in any men's events in 2008. The only exception may come at the end of the season with an appearance in Asia.
Wie, now 18, has explained her change of tack to her coach, David Leadbetter, during lessons at his Florida academy this week.
It was back in 2004, at the age of 14, that Wie caused a sensation as she had rounds of 72 and 68 to miss the cut by just a single shot in the men's Sony Open in Hawaii. That, though, was arguably her best performance in the men's arena.
By the end of last year, she had missed 11 men's cuts out of 12, with her only success coming on the Asian tour a couple of seasons ago.
This year was an almost total write-off for Wie after she injured her wrist in a fall. After six top-five finishes in majors between 2004 and 2006, she withdrew from the women's US Open and missed the cut in the Ricoh British Women's Open.
As far as Leadbetter is concerned, she should not have been playing at all. "Michelle kept thinking that the injury was about to get better, but it never did," he explained. "She's full of the joys of spring and is back to full health. For the first time in 12 months, she is swinging well and feeling no pain."
One problem is the fact that LPGA rules do not allow Wie, who chose not to join the association, to be given an invitation to the 2008 Kraft Nabisco Championship, which could pose problems when it comes to the British Women's Open at Sunningdale on July 31-Aug 3.
"We would try to accommodate any request but we cannot make any guarantees," noted Susan Simpson from the Ladies' Golf Union. "Usually we keep in step with the other tours and, if the LPGA are knocking her back, it would look odd if we let her play."
But Simpson added that the LGU had always seen the upside of having Wie in the field, not least because of the enhanced publicity she brings to the women's game.
The Kraft Nabisco, the first women's major of the season, is off Wie's schedule for the first time in six years, even though she finished only one shot off the lead in 2006.
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