In a move that has been a long time coming, but was mentioned in my National Post column on Thursday, David Leadbetter has confirmed that Michelle Wie is going to stick with playing against other women and will likely even join the LPGA Tour next year. Joining the tour would have been difficult if she continued to pursue PGA Tour events, as the LPGA would not have likely given her a free pass from their tournaments. playing PGA Tour.
“She hasn’t got any PGA Tour events planned at the moment,” coach David Leadbetter said of Wie. “She’s going to commit herself to the LPGA and play a number of events, and next year she’ll probably take up membership.”
This is a positive move for Wie and for women’s golf. One just has to wonder why her camp of advisers took this long to come to a sensible decision. The rumor for some time has been that Wie’s multi-million dollar endorsement deals required her to play men’s events where she’d garner significant exposure for their brands.
But Leadbetter says she’ll dominate on the LPGA Tour. I’ll take one win to start….
“She just needs to get her confidence going and just go play,” Leadbetter said. “Now is the time to establish herself. My feelings are that if she plays week in and week out on the LPGA, she would win eight or nine times a year. She has the potential to be that good, so why not, if you want to fulfill your potential.”
