Michelle Wie for president?
In a Golf.com exclusive, Wie talks about her breakthrough win and golf with Obama
I've been lucky enough to interview some big golf names, among them Nick Faldo, Arnold Palmer, Steve Williams, Greg Norman, Rocco Mediate, and, in his last interview before his 2006 death, Byron Nelson. Few, if any, have been more charming than Michelle Wie, 20, who I met with late last year.
I won't name names, but many top players absolutely ooze insincerity when they speak, as if they're reciting rehearsed lines. Spin! Dodge! Protect the brand! I didn't detect a hint of that with Wie. Nor did I notice a sliver of ego or arrogance. (And dear readers, I was looking for it, because, well, it makes good copy, like when Greg Norman told me last year—and I'm paraphrasing—Well, of COURSE I'd bomb it by Tiger if I was in my prime today! Like, duh.) Her ego-free vibe is impressive, considering that she's been famous since she was 13 and a gazillionaire since she was 16. Wie is what too few athletes are: funny, philosophical, authentic, and honest, as when she casually admitted that she doesn't remember much of 2007 and 2008, her two most troubled years in golf.
We had limited space for my interview with Wie in the March issue of Golf Magazine, so here are a few unpublished exchanges from my talk with the LPGA Tour's brightest rising star:
CB: When you think back to your first win in Mexico [at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational] in November, what jumps out at you?
MW: It was all so amazing. When I went back to school [Stanford University], I saw all my friends, who gave me the hugest hug. They made me a big poster with the trophy on it to congratulate me. And I had said, "I just want to have beer poured over me." You know how they come up to you [when you win an event] and spray beer or champagne all over you? I've always wanted that to happen. So all my friends were like, "We're pouring it all over you this weekend."
CB: Did they?
MW: They tried to. I ran away!
CB: Do they look at you differently now?
MW: Not at all. My friends don't know anything about golf. Actually [after I won] they said, "Oh, we Googled you for the first time." They had no idea. To them, I'm just Michelle.
CB: On Sunday in Mexico, your playing partner Cristie Kerr was as much cheerleader as she was competitor, right?
MW: Cristie and me are really close. There was one point where I made a putt, and she followed by making a putt [on the same hole], and she pointed at me, and I pointed at her! It was a really strong competition, but in a fun way. Then, walking down 18, I was leading. She looked at me and maybe she could see I was nervous. She gave me a little pep talk. She said, "You can do this," and gave me a little pat. That was really cool.
CB: Back in your teens, you used to say that when your mom and dad weren't around, you might take practice a little easy and not work as hard as you could. Are those days over?
MW: Yeah, I do it differently now. Practice could feel like work before. Now, I enjoy it more. When I go practice, I blast music from my car. Pull right up to the range, play my music, make it a lot more fun. I'll listen to top 40, country, island reggae. I have a different mindset now. I realize, OK, I may be good at what I'm doing, but if I don't have fun, then success isn't worth it.
CB: You've experienced the lowest lows and now the highest highs. What's your philosophy about success?
MW: This is my life. I can't come back into this lifetime and enjoy it after it happens. This is my one chance. You have to enjoy it in the moment. If this [golf] is what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna have fun doing it. That's how we practiced at the Solheim Cup, with all us girls on the putting green, blasting music, enjoying the experience, enjoying each other. Golf should be fun. So practice has become more laid back and chill. That's made a lot of difference for me on the course.
CB: Some random questions. Your dorm room's on fire. You can run in and save one object. What would it be?
MW: My computer. It has all my school work on it.
CB: You're a bookworm. What book has touched your heart?
MW: When I was young I read Roots [by Alex Haley]. That hit me hard, living in Hawaii, where it's so culturally diverse. Terrible things happen in the world. When I read about genocide, it hits me hard.
CB: You went to the same high school as President Obama, who loves golf. Would you like to tee it up with him?
MW: Oh, absolutely. In a minute. That would be a huge blast.
CB: Let's say you're president for a day—what's your first executive order?
MW: [Rubs hands together, laughs mock-evil laugh] Ahh, to have that much pow-ah. Hmmm. On my first day, I'd sign a new bill: "Michelle no longer has to pay taxes."
Read the rest of the Michelle Wie interview
(Photo: David Walberg/SI)
