Joey's Golf Bag

ESPN reports Michelle Wie turns pro in Million dollar baby. A quote:

HONOLULU — Michelle Wie, the Hawaii teen who has been competing against golf’s best players since she was in the seventh grade, turned professional Wednesday.

“I’m finally happy to say I’m a pro starting today,” Wie said, wearing a pink Nike shirt and high heels that made her look even taller than 6 feet. “The first time I grabbed a golf club, I knew I’d do it for the rest of my life. Some 12 years later, I’m finally turning pro, and I’m so excited.”

The splashy announcement was hardly a surprise. It had been reported for weeks that Wie would go pro by her 16th birthday next week.

She has signed endorsement deals with Nike and Sony said to be worth $10 million a year, and her first act as a professional was to give some of it back.

Wie pledged $500,000 to the U.S. Golf Hurricane Relief Fund, set up by the major golf organizations.

This morning I went to practice at GBGC. The weather was overcast with a 1 club breeze into my face. Since the red flag was at perfect distance for a 9-iron, I started with that club, hitting a variety of pushes and pulls. Distance was a little short due to the incoming wind.

I then went to the driver. I started with a mix of slices and hooks, but soon was hitting the majority of balls straight down the fairway with a mix of slight draws or fades. I hit even better with the 3-metal, nearly every ball was in the fairway with a draw, straight or fade.

Things went south as soon as I got out the 19-hybrid. Every ball sliced, badly. I worked for a while to correct it, finally hitting a few straight, but everytime I thought I had it straightened out, the slice would reappear. I let my fustration get to me a little, I’m afraid. I decided to hit some hard wedge shots, but was hitting nearly every shot fat by at least 2 inches. I gave that up in frustration, and returned to the driver to work out my anger.

Fortunately, that worked. Out of a dozen balls, maybe two wouldn’t have been in the fairway. I followed it up with some very straigth 3-metal shots, though some were a bit fat.

I started putting practice with 20 ft putts to get the speed down. After a few drills, my speed was pretty good. I picked a hole with a lot of break and started the 6/12/18 ft drill. Three drills had me 3 under par for the drill. Next, I ran 2 drills at 9/18/27 ft. The first drill was nicely done, as I holed the 27 ft putt (including 3 ft of break). Unfortunately, I gave all of those shots back, three putting twice on the next 9/18/27 ft drill, and also three putting once on the 3-balls from 35 ft drill.

A very mixed practice session. At the very least, I’m pleased with my progress with the woods, but disappointed that I let my frustration get to me on the hybrids and wedges.

This morning I visited the GBGC to practice. The skies were mostly cloudy, the wind was in my face with a 1-2 club breeze. I started with 7-irons, hitting half swings with mixed results. As I’ve been out of town on business since Sunday, I was a little rusty this morning. After a few shots, I started hitting some decent balls, some fades, some draws.

I got out the driver and quickly started hitting them down the middle of the imagined fairway. Out of a dozen swings, only two were outside the fairway. I even managed a draw or two to go along with a five straight ones. I managed only one slice, so I was very pleased. I also had respectable distance for me, about 180-200 yd carries into the wind.

Next up was the 3-wood, and continued to hit mostly straight balls. I did have one ugly fat shot, but even that one was right down the middle. Carry was about 170 yds.

The three hybrids followed. The 23-hybrid was a mix of fades, draws and straight shots, with a slice or two thrown in the mix. The 19-hybrid was very mixed, some slices and hooks, to go with a bunch of fades. Only with the 27-hybrid did I manage any straight shots of note, but there were also a lot of fades and even a slice.

I moved on to the middle irons. The six iron hooked constantly, but after a few shots managed some straight shots and a push or two. The seven iron was a disaster, hooks and slices. Moving up to the 8-, 9- and 10-irons produced a mix of pushes and straight balls. Distance was shorter than usual due to the strong wind and my high ball flight.

Putting was next. I started out with the 6, 12, and 18 foot drill, but as I hadn’t putted for nearly a week, I went back and hit a few from 20 ft to get my speed and rhythm back. After that, I ran the 6/12/18 ft drill three times, with two birdies and a three putt. Next, I ran the 9/18/27 ft drill twice, with two more birdies and two three putts. I finished up with three balls from 35 ft, and finished up 1 under par for the simulated 18-holes. Ironically, all of the birdies were from the middle distance, none from the shorter distances. As I used a harder set of holes with more break than usual, I was pretty happy with the putting. I still need work on short putts with significant break to get rid of the three putts.

A pretty good practice session today, considering a long layoff due to travel.