Why does Michelle Wie get so much attention?

Question

nothing against her,,actually want her to win something.i don't know much about golf but it seems in golf news she gets alot of media coverage and want to know why..and just recently or yesterday i should say.a bout her card incident.i read a news article, refered to her as the "phenom" Michelle Wie. why is she refered to like that.please i don't want any answers as to why she doesn't deserve it. i just want to know what makes her the exception out of other woman or girls her age or even younger who have played better than her or have more winds than her. wouldn't it make more money and exposure by covering someone younger than her who plays better?

Answer 1

She played in a PGA Tour event at the age of 13, and missed the cut by one stroke (at the Hawaiian Open several years ago); she was playing on a sponsor exemption (her method of entry into pretty much anything).  This pushed her onto the spotlight, and got sponsors (Nike, Sony, etc.) to give her boatloads of cash, which begat media attention and the inevitable comparisons to Eldrick Woods, because, as a 13-year old girl, she was competitive on the men's PGA Tour.  She missed the cut at another men's event by a couple strokes due to a couple late bogeys, and by then, everyone thought she was The Next Big Thing.

The tournaments that gave her exemptions saw huge spikes in ticket sales, and the tv networks saw huge ratings increases (everyone wanting to see if she could make the cut).  She also came close to making it through qualifying for the US Open (the men's Open); again...with a lot of media attention.

More than anything, it was a sense early on that she may not even play the LPGA Tour, but rather try to compete on the PGA Tour against men.  To that, the comparisons by age to Woods were overwhelming (and probably unfair to both Woods and Wie).

Hope this answers your question.