KEY POINTS:
If any optimists in the golfing world were under the impression that the story of Michelle Wie would be held up as a salutary lesson for all future bobby-socked wannabes and their ambitious parents to follow, then it seems they are sadly mistaken. For if events in Pattaya,
at the Honda LPGA Thailand yesterday, are anything to go by, the trend on the fairways looks like getting younger, not older.
Ariya Jutanukarn became the youngest golfer to qualify for and appear in a major international tour event - male or female - when beating Wie's mark by five months.
The tiny Thai cannot even claim to be a teenager; she is 11 years, 11 months and two days.
But the schoolgirl showed remarkable maturity to post a 75, to stand at three-over in this fully fledged American tour event that includes some of the biggest names in women's golf, including Annika Sorenstam and Laura Davies. Jutanukarn might be some 10 shots off the leader, Norway's Suzann Pettersen, but is far from embarrassing herself. In the field of 60 that is battling it out for a prize fund of more than £700,000 (NZ$2m), there are 19 professionals currently level or behind the junior amateur.
"There were a lot of people watching and there was a lot of pressure, but it was a chance for me to get experience, play with the top players and show people what I can do. I feel very excited. It's great to make history," said Ariya.
The parallels with Wie are obvious despite the Hawaiian having a reputed US$10m in annual sponsorships and Ariya bearing the logo of a local dried fish snacks company on her visor.
Her father, Somboon, certainly sounded like a man after B J Wie's heart, if not his business acumen, as he spoke enthusiastically of the professional future of his daughters.
"I have a couple of future top 10 players here and I'm really proud," he said.
The cynics will no doubt roll their eyes at his comments, particularly in the light of Wie's current plight.
Last week, her coach David Leadbetter joined the queue to criticise her advisers - i.e. her parents - following a season in which her reputation plummeted as she missed a whole series of cuts and assembled a catalogue of controversy.
"If she hadn't played those men's tournaments, then everybody would have considered 2006 her best season yet," said Leadbetter, referring to the end-of-season embarrassments she suffered last year.
"It was absolute madness for her to play them. That started the whole debacle. You feel like this is the Titanic."
The world-renowned swing guru also felt obliged to pass comment on Team Wie's plan to carry on playing alongside men next year, as well as compete in the women's game and continue her studies at Stanford University. "It's not even logical," said Leadbetter. "I'm scared for her future."
The LPGA Tour's rules state that its members must be 18 or over, although it allows "under-aged" golfers to compete in a maximum of eight events. With golf in America enjoying an explosion of interest in young females the chances of the authorities firming up their restrictions seems remote to inconceivable.
