With the terrorist attack yesterday in London and all, potentially the most remarkable sports story of the year is flying under the radar screen today.
Question: What do the following PGA Tour golfers have in common:
Billy Andrade
Aaron Baddeley
Jeff Maggert
Scott Simpson
Steve Stricker
Kevin Stadler
Skip Kendall
Woody Austin
Robert Gamez
Harrison Frazer
David Duval
Lucas Glover
David Gossett
Answer: They all trail 15 year old Michelle Wie after the first round of the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic taking place this weekend in Silvis, Illinois.
Now that state of affairs will certainly generate more than a few barbs among the men in the tournament locker room this morning.
After posting a one under par 70 in her opening round (the leaderboard is here), Ms. Wie (nicknamed “the Big Wiesy”) is one stroke off the projected score for making the tournament “cut” — i.e., the reduction of the players in the tournament for the two weekend rounds to the 70 players with the best total scores after the first two rounds. If she makes the cut, then Ms. Wie would be the first female player in 60 years — since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in the 1945 Tucson Open — to make the cut in a PGA Tour event.
Ms. Wie is 6 foot tall, possesses a flawless one plane swing, and hits the ball far enough to compete against men on the PGA Tour. She is the real deal, and it’s only a matter of time until she makes the cut in a PGA Tour event. Today may just be the day.
Update: After getting to five under par for the tournament during her round on Friday, the Big Wiesy faltered on the back nine and shot an even par 71, leaving her at one under par for the tournament and two shots off making the cut. Still, quite a remarkable performance by the 15 year old Ms. Wie, who beat a third of the field in the event.