Wie Misses Cut... Again.

Because, that is what happened. How is this a "respectable showing" as ESPN.com wants you to believe? Let's set forth some predicates here, so we can understand what is really going on with Michelle Wie's career.

1. She is a professional golfer.
2. The goal of any professional golfer is to make money at golf tournaments.
3. Failure to make money at a golf tournament for a professional golfer is simply a failure.

Good, now that we have laid that out... let's consider what happened with Wie this week. In the first round, she tossed up a hellacious 79. Ok, man or woman, a 79 is a horrible score for a professional golfer. Just terrible. On day 2, devoid of any real stress because it was going to be virtually impossible for her to make a cut, she shot a 68. This is somehow "respectable." How so?

The great thing about golf is that the bottom line tells you how well you do, aside from the endorsement money... but that is available in all sports. So, if you are A-Rod, and you bat .223 next year with 8 home runs, you will still earn your $20 million... but if you are Tiger Woods, and you shoot a series of 79-68 in PGA Tour events, you will likely earn $0 because you will never make a cut. My point? There is a "degree of success" in golf, but it also has a literal cutoff line. Make a cut, and move up the leaderboard, and you move through degrees of success. Miss a cut, and you failed. I don't care if you shoot 79-89 and miss the cut by 24 shots, or shoot 79-68 and miss by a few. A missed cut is a missed cut is a missed cut. It results in $0, and therefore is a failure .

The beautiful thing here is the inverse-sexism. Check out the leaderboard.

You will note that Wie's 2 day total of 147 was 4 shots too many... this is not even close to making the cut. Also note that Corey Pavin had rounds of 78-68, for 146. So, here is a former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, and winner of the United States Open with a score of 146, after a nice second round. Did he have a "respectable" showing? Of course not.

The reason why people want to say Wie's showing was "respectable" is because she is a girl. When she turns 18, I'll call her a woman, so lay off that for now. So, it is OK for a girl to go out, try to play with the men (or at least big boys), and fail? Doesn't this imply that she had no business playing in the tournament anyway? If she is not going to be held to the same scrutiny of the other players in the field, then she already has an unfair advantage... that is, there is really no downside. Miss the cut but play well for one day and it is "respectable." Somehow make the cut and it is great. Where is the downside for Wie?

It truly aggravates me that this girl plays in these men's events. Clearly, she does not have the game to compete, any more than I do. Why do I say that? Because you cannot look at one round and say "see, she has the game..." Golf tournaments are 72 holes (if you make the cut, which she never has in a men's professional competition). When I was playing my best golf, I don't doubt that I could have played on a resort course in Hawaii, with the pros, and turned in one 9 hole round out of the 4 in the first two days, and be under par. No doubt at all. Does that mean I showed that I "had the game?" Of course not. It is because there is so much more to playing in a golf tournament than the average Joe/Mary understands. It is about consistency, not one flashy round.

Until Michelle Wie can demonstrate (perhaps on her own Tour) that she has the ability to compete with the men, I think that she should not be allowed to compete with the men. The reason being, her existence in the tournament costs another worthy player a spot. It is that simple, and it is that unfair.