By Will Thurman
PALO ALTO, Calif. – After four and a half years of on-and-off enrollment, Michelle Wie followed through on a lifelong goal, graduating from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications. Wie took part in the "Wacky Walk," a Stanford tradition in which the graduating students open the day by running into the stadium with signs and costumes, dancing all the way to their commencement seats. Now, with school in the rearview and a degree in hand, the recent grad will have to get back to work if she wants the same kind of success on the golf course.
Wie has been in the spotlight since 2003 when she became the youngest golfer to ever make an LPGA cut. The budding star carded a third-round 66 to qualify for the final group of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which is one of four majors on the LPGA Tour. Wie was immediately declared a phenom and was recognized as golf's next superstar.
Since then Wie has failed to fulfill her destiny as the "chosen one," putting up unimpressive numbers in an up-and-down career. She has notched only two professional wins, one in 2009 at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, and one at the 2010 CN Canadian Women's Open. Though Wie has managed to secure four top-3 finishes in LPGA majors, she only has one top-10 major finish since 2007. As a result, the buzz that once surrounded the teenage prodigy has rapidly faded and she has to be left wondering what happened.
While Wie has made drastic improvements in terms of maturity after some inappropriate on-course outbursts early in her career, her golf game continues to struggle. Wie seems to have lost the spark that lit her fire, and it's showing. In her last eight tournament appearances, Wie has failed to make the cut six times, and finished tied for 33rd and tied for 68th in the two she did qualify for. Clearly, those are not the kind of results people envisioned when the Big Wiesy busted onto the scene as a 13-year old celebrity.
The next few months of Wie's still young career will prove vital in determining the outlook of her future. Now that she has graduated and is free to focus solely on golf, she may have the chance to ascend to the top of the LPGA Tour. Such a resurgence seems unlikely, however, as many critics still question Wie's dedication to the sport of golf and her determination to become the best in the game.
But if Wie's wacky professional golf career is indeed on its last leg, the 22-year old will still have plenty going for her. After all, she is a degree-bearing graduate of Leland Stanford Junior University, and that alone is a feat worth celebrating.
