Follow The Leader

Wie Takes Spotlight Away From Other Top Junior Players

By David Shefter, USGA

 

Fairfield, Conn. – The 2003 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship arguably has one of its strongest fields in the event’s 55-year history.

 

Seven competitors participated in the recently completed Women’s Open at Pumpkin Ridge. Several more have qualified for the upcoming U.S. Women’s Amateur at Philadelphia Country Club.

 

But judging by those attending the championship at Brooklawn Country Club,

only one golfer appears to be generating a significant gallery – 13-year-old phenom Michelle Wie. In the world of golf – especially the women’s game – she

is the buzz. It’s similar to when Tiger Woods competed at the U.S. Amateur in the mid-1990s. He was the main attraction and the other golfers played under his immense shadow.

 

So while Wie wows fans with her raw power and skills, the other top girls in the field have almost become forgotten entities. Never mind that the defending champion, 16-year-old In-Bee Park, is back to retain her crown. Or that Paula Creamer, one of the seven Women’s Open participants, tied Wie’s first-round score of 69.

 

The spotlight is clearly on Wie, who in June became the youngest champion of

a non-junior USGA event when she captured the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links in Palm Coast, Fla. She also survived the 36-hole cut in two women’s professional majors – the Nabisco Championships where she played in the final pairing on Sunday and the Women’s Open.

 

While several competitors have said the newfound publicity for Wie has been great in generating interest for the Girls’ Junior, they also believe the public is missing out on other talent.

 

“There are many other junior golfers who are just as good, if not better (than Wie),” said Creamer, who beat Wie at a Women’s Open sectional qualifier earlier this year. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s a great player and a great person, but there are other juniors.”

 

Besides Creamer and Park, there’s Naree Song, who was the low amateur at the 2000 Women’s Open at The Merit Club; Brittany Lang, who is headed to Duke University in the fall; Morgan Pressel, who has advanced to at least the third round of the Girls’ Junior in each of her two previous appearances, including a semifinal showing in 2001; and fellow 13-year-old phenoms Mina Harigae,

Sydney Burlison and Stephanie Kono.

 

Catalina Marin, Song and Valerie Tan represented Colombia, Thailand and Malaysia, respectively, at last year’s Women’s World Amateur Team Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

 

On Monday, Wie had at least 200 spectators following her around, but on Tuesday, Creamer drew only about 35, despite sharing the first-round lead with Wie.

 

“There’s great golf in every group,” said Amanda Blumenherst, who competed in the Junior Solheim Cup last year. “Some of these junior players are just awesome. It’s a shame that some of the spectators aren’t following some of

their groups also.”

 

Pressel, in fact, enjoyed similar hype two years ago when she qualified for the Women’s Open at the age of 12 (she turned 13 just prior to the event). At Women’s Open sectional qualifying this year, she earned the final spot in a playoff, not long after Wie birdied the same hole for the second-to-last spot. The media chased after Wie, while Pressel walked unceremoniously back to the clubhouse with her family.

 

On Tuesday, both Creamer, who finished stroke-play qualifying at even-par 142, and Blumenherst (73-74 – 147) said they would love to play Wie in the match-play portion of the championship. Then again, with this stellar field, the fans attending the championship ought to be treated to some exciting competition.

 

“I play against the best juniors week in and week out,” said Creamer, “and (Wie) is just another junior player. My goal coming in (was to be the top seed), but we’ll see what happens come Saturday.”

 

Strikes, Spares and Golf

One of the unique features of Brooklawn’s clubhouse is an eight-lane bowling alley in the bowels of the building. Members even have a regular league as well as a club championship.

 

At least one player in the field this week has ventured down to the alley. Stephanie Kono of Hawaii wrote a note on the bulletin board that “ Stephanie Kono was here 7/22/03,” and she scripted her name on the back of one of the scoring sheets.

 

No word yet if anyone decided to roll a few frames during one of the weather-related suspensions.

 

David Shefter is a USGA staff writer. He can be reached at dshefter@usga.org.