Despite Criticism, Wie Vies for U.S. Open

May 25, 2006 — -- May the best man win -- except if it's a woman.

That's the case for Michelle Wie, the 16-year-old female golfer who enters her final U.S. Open qualifier on June 5, at the Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J.

The U.S. Open, a traditionally male competition, has never before seen a woman reach the final qualifying rounds. The average age of golfers in the Open ranges from the late 20s to the early 30s. So the fact that Wie is female and roughly half the age of the other competitors might make her presence doubly threatening to them.

As time draws closer to the competition, some golfers have expressed their discomfort with the anticipated media throng that will likely follow Wie along the 36-hole golf course and have suggested they would prefer to avoid the distraction.

"She is a very well-known golfer and will attract a lot of media attention," said Jay Mottola, executive director of the Metropolitan Golf Association, an organization of more than 500 golf clubs in the New York metropolitan area, including Canoe Brook. "Normally, we would have eight to 12 members of the media. Now we expect double or triple this year, if not more."

Canoe Brook golfers may want to avoid the crowd because it could disrupt their concentration during the game. Nelson Silverio, a spokesman for the PGA Tour, said that media visibility was not a valid argument for golfers being upset about Wie drawing fans and media to the Canoe Brook qualifier.

"If you make it to the U.S. Open, you will have very large crowds anyway," Silverio said. "So if you are worried about the crowd during Canoe Brook, you can expect three or four times that amount at the U.S. Open."

There has been plenty of controversy about Wie having been granted exemptions to be allowed to play in PGA Tour events, but the teenager earned her starting time at Canoe Brook based on her past performances. She took the lead over 40 male golfers by shooting a par-72 in the previous round of qualifications in her native state of Hawaii.