Golf: June 3, 2005

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It has become increasingly fashionable again, especially in the days since 18-year-old Paula Creamer won the LPGA's Sybase Classic, to bash Michelle Wie for regularly accepting sponsor's exemptions to play in LPGA and PGA Tour events. Wie, her critics insist, should be doing what Creamer -- and Tiger Woods before Creamer -- did. Which is to say she should be playing in more events against players her own age, the better to embed the habit of winning on a regular basis. Wie, according to her father, has taken the time to write a letter to the Associated Press, defending her modus operandi. "People always ask why I do what I do and why not just follow the conventional path," Wie wrote in her letter. "My answer is very simple. I always wanted to push myself to the limit. I started walking when I was nine months old and I started reading when I was just over one year old ... I always wanted to do things fast ... When I play in a pro event, whether it is a LPGA or PGA event, I feel privileged to play because I get to meet and get to know all the players. I guess another reason I am playing professional events is to gain as much experience as I can before I turn pro." -- The Golf Channel

Added Wie: "By the time I was allowed to play in AJGA tournaments at age 13, I already made in the top 10 at a LPGA major and won an adult USGA amateur tournament. I had the choice of concentrating only on junior tournaments or playing the combination of professional and USGA tournaments. I chose the latter. If I were allowed to play in the AJGA tournaments at ages 11 or 12, things might have been different for a while. But I think I would have come back to the same choice. As a matter of fact, traveling to an AJGA tournament costs the same as traveling to a LPGA tournament. If a Bentley and a Toyota cost the same, wouldn't anyone get a Bentley? I got a Bentley and do not regret my decision." -- The Golf Channel

Johnny Miller, NBC's lead golf analyst, on the big five going into Pinehurst. ? On Vijay Singh: "The best player in the world and I don't think it's even close. It seems like he's in contention every single week. He's almost where Tiger was in 1999-2001. I don't know how long it's going to last, but nobody's played that good in his 40s since Ben Hogan." ? On Tiger Woods: "Missing the cut at the Nelson, that can't be good for his ego. His driver is still sort of a work in progress. His iron play, [his swing] went from being too upright to too flat, like he was at Stanford. He can be a chameleon, so to speak. He's really gone to a lot of different levels of excellence. If he drove the ball well, he'd probably win 50 percent of the tournaments he plays." ? On Ernie Els: "He's a full notch behind Vijay. He's not even on the same rung. There's no major that rattles you like the U.S. Open. Last year's Open probably took a month to get over that. It's not like the Masters, where the conditions are generally the same. At the Open, they're probably already rattled going in." ? On Retief Goosen and Els: "I don't know what they fed those guys in South Africa, but they've barely got a pulse. That putting exhibition that Goosen put on when he won both Opens was off the charts. Most guys can make them at the Quad Cities, not the U.S. Open. Composure under pressure, a very rare commodity." ? On Phil Mickelson: "People get tired of the same guy winning, it doesn't matter who he is, it's 'Anybody win but him.' Phil right now seems to be equally as popular as Tiger. He's got a very polished exterior. He's got a really shiny paint job. He smiles and he acknowledges the gallery and tips his cap. He's coy and shy and says the right things. I call him ' Hollywood.' He's got the most groomed golf image we've ever seen. Smart move. Very orchestrated in everything he does and it's interesting. He has the willpower to project the identity he wants." -- Los Angeles Times

Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh have won this week's Jack Nicklaus Memorial Tournament five of the last eight years, continuing a tradition started by Nicklaus and Tom Watson and carried on by golfers such as Hale Irwin, Raymond Floyd, Curtis Strange and Greg Norman. The tournament's list of champions is as impressive as any -- even the majors' -- since Nicklaus ushered it into existence in 1976. Sixteen of the 22 players who have won the Memorial also have won a major championship. In all, Memorial champions have won 60 majors. -- Columbus Dispatch

Because of his size -- 5 feet 7 inches and 140 pounds -- Jeff Sluman is one of the first names mentioned in any discussion of players viewed as lagging behind in the era of power golf. His ball flight takes a lower trajectory than, say, Woods's. His ball does not sound the same way, either, coming off the clubface. Still, golf rewards the player who gets the ball in the hole the fastest, whatever the means. A couple of weeks ago, Sluman switched his putting style to a modified "Claw" grip, and it paid dividends on Muirfield Village's fast greens. -- New York Times

Davis Love III says he's feeling healthy for the first time in a year. "It's been a slower process than I wanted, but I'm feeling really good now," said Love, who has been bothered by a bulging disc in his neck. "I rested probably more than I should have rather than being aggressive," said Love, who tied for fourth at last week's St. Jude Classic in Memphis. "Now we're being real proactive, or aggressive . . . with the injury, trying to go around it rather than wait it out." Once in the top five in the world rankings, Love has dropped 18th. He hasn't won a tournament since the International, one of four titles he won in 2003. -- Cleveland Plain Dealer

Els has to hope change is good. He has changed planes, agents and the shafts in his irons the last few weeks. "I've been changing quite rapidly recently," he said, confirming he will soon sign with his fourth agent in as many years, Andrew "Chubby" Chandler of Wales-based International Sports Management. Els had been represented by International Management Group for the past year. "I'm not going to give you the reasons. It's just I felt like I needed a change, and that was that," he said. -- Columbus Dispatch

As Retief Goosen prepares to defend his U.S. Open title in two weeks, the question looms over the golfing landscape: What will the USGA do for an encore? Water the greens at Pinehurst No. 2 more liberally to appease Woods and Els, among last year's most vocal critics? Or let those greens bake in the sun and wind, creating an even more daunting challenge? The answer rests somewhere in between, no doubt, but the USGA justifiably wants to maintain its marquee event's reputation as the most difficult test in golf. The Masters is all about imposing length, (virtually) no rough and slick but manageable greens. The U.S. Open is all about accuracy, abundant rough and winning scores near even-par. -- San Francisco Chronicle

Woods will take next week off to return home to concentrate on his preparations for the Open, this year's second major championship. Woods won the Masters in April, his third victory of 2005. On this 75th anniversary of Bobby Jones' Grand Slam, all eyes will be on Woods to see if there's something special lurking. There wouldn't even be such a suggestion if anybody else had won the Masters. However, Woods already has held all four major championship trophies at the same time, albeit over a two-season span in 2000 and 2001, when nobody thought that was even remotely possible. Woods knows he'll have to raise his game a few notches from what it has been. "I feel more excited now because I've had some really positive things happen since Augusta, even though it didn't show at the Nelson," Woods said. "Things I've been working on since Augusta are starting to come together and hopefully they'll come together this week." -- Detroit News