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LPGA rankings creating a stir
Wie is No. 2, and a lot of players don't like it
By Joe Logan
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Friday, March 10, 2006
Whoever thought they were doing Michelle Wie a favor by coming up with a world-rankings formula that put her at No. 3 thought wrong.
Since the new Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings were unveiled a week ago, the teen phenom has been on the defensive.
Why? Because despite having played in only 15 LPGA events, and despite not having actually won anything, Wie was leapfrogged over such established players as Cristie Kerr (fifth), Juli Inkster (10th), Grace Park (11th), Karrie Webb (13th) and Meg Mallon (44th).
In last week's ranking, by virtue of her third-place finish at the Fields Open, Wie passed Paula Creamer to become No. 2.
What the rankings have succeeded in doing is add to the resentment many of Wie's peers feel because of her fat, $10 million endorsement package — and put a big target on her back.
"The debating, the head-scratching and, for more than a few players, the fuming has just begun," Dottie Pepper, a 17-time LPGA winner turned Golf Channel analyst, wrote in her weekly column in Sports Illustrated, "The Pepper Mill."
Pepper makes the case — she is not alone — that rankings use a formula that is transparent, or at least suspicious, in its attempt to push the hot-ticket Wie to the top. To wit: Only 15 appearances in LPGA events, which is what Wie had, were needed for inclusion.
At the Field Open, when questioned about the reaction of some players over her ranking, the 16-year-old Wie was understandably on the defensive. "It's not like I put myself in the No. 3 position," she said. "All I did was play golf."
It was against that backdrop that the LPGA and McDonald's LPGA Championship issued a joint statement saying they had revised the criteria for exemptions into the upcoming major, set for June 8-11 at Bulle Rock Golf Club in Havre de Grace, Md.
Beginning this year, players finishing in the top 10 from the previous year's McDonald's are eligible.
Wie finished second.
There is no question who is No. 1 in the LPGA. And Annika Sorenstam encourages all parties to give the rankings a chance.
"It's a good starting point," Sorenstam said. "Will it have to be tweaked? Absolutely. They have to work out the kinks and hope it will be an accurate measurement of who is the best player in the world."
Sorenstam, who skipped the two LPGA events in Hawaii, makes her LPGA debut this week at the MasterCard Classic in Mexico, an event she won a year ago.
"Last year I played probably as good as I can," Sorenstam said. "I had a great off-season, got some rest and have had a lot of practice for the last two weeks. I'm ready to go."
LPGA rankings creating a stir
Wie is No. 2, and a lot of players don't like it
By Joe Logan
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Friday, March 10, 2006
Whoever thought they were doing Michelle Wie a favor by coming up with a world-rankings formula that put her at No. 3 thought wrong.
Since the new Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings were unveiled a week ago, the teen phenom has been on the defensive.
Why? Because despite having played in only 15 LPGA events, and despite not having actually won anything, Wie was leapfrogged over such established players as Cristie Kerr (fifth), Juli Inkster (10th), Grace Park (11th), Karrie Webb (13th) and Meg Mallon (44th).
In last week's ranking, by virtue of her third-place finish at the Fields Open, Wie passed Paula Creamer to become No. 2.
What the rankings have succeeded in doing is add to the resentment many of Wie's peers feel because of her fat, $10 million endorsement package — and put a big target on her back.
"The debating, the head-scratching and, for more than a few players, the fuming has just begun," Dottie Pepper, a 17-time LPGA winner turned Golf Channel analyst, wrote in her weekly column in Sports Illustrated, "The Pepper Mill."
Pepper makes the case — she is not alone — that rankings use a formula that is transparent, or at least suspicious, in its attempt to push the hot-ticket Wie to the top. To wit: Only 15 appearances in LPGA events, which is what Wie had, were needed for inclusion.
At the Field Open, when questioned about the reaction of some players over her ranking, the 16-year-old Wie was understandably on the defensive. "It's not like I put myself in the No. 3 position," she said. "All I did was play golf."
It was against that backdrop that the LPGA and McDonald's LPGA Championship issued a joint statement saying they had revised the criteria for exemptions into the upcoming major, set for June 8-11 at Bulle Rock Golf Club in Havre de Grace, Md.
Beginning this year, players finishing in the top 10 from the previous year's McDonald's are eligible.
Wie finished second.
There is no question who is No. 1 in the LPGA. And Annika Sorenstam encourages all parties to give the rankings a chance.
"It's a good starting point," Sorenstam said. "Will it have to be tweaked? Absolutely. They have to work out the kinks and hope it will be an accurate measurement of who is the best player in the world."
Sorenstam, who skipped the two LPGA events in Hawaii, makes her LPGA debut this week at the MasterCard Classic in Mexico, an event she won a year ago.
"Last year I played probably as good as I can," Sorenstam said. "I had a great off-season, got some rest and have had a lot of practice for the last two weeks. I'm ready to go."
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