48 hours: Wie still long way from matching men

Enough. Michelle Wie is now 0 from 5 in her attempts to make a cut on the PGA tour.

She is 16, she has yet to win on the LPGA tour and that is where she should play her golf for the next little while.

There is a fascination watching her play against the men - she is a "phenom" as the Americans would say - her age, skill and glamour are a sporting cocktail which is difficult to ignore.

She has been irresistible for the sponsors who have flooded her with invitations to see if she can be the first woman since Babe Zaharias, 60 years ago, to qualify for weekend play on the men's tour.

Wie has a fair amount of game, though she struggled with the heat and the course in the John Deere Classic over the weekend and was carted off in an ambulance with a stomach complaint halfway through her second round.

She is box-office, she is a special player, but she is in danger of becoming more of a sideshow on the PGA tour.

Her appearances on the PGA circuit have created rancour among men and women professionals. Some LPGA members resent all the recognition given to Wie, while there are PGA players who cannot condone her appearances in place of journeymen or rising youngsters.

The PGA is for blokes, you have your own tour, they tell Wie.

Tell that to the thousands who lined the course the other day to see if Wie could cut it with the men, or TV viewers who tuned in to see what was so special about this young lady.

I watched her hammer the ball out of sight down the fairways and into hazards, her swing that of a naturally gifted athlete. Wie was battling a bit and her companions were showing her little warmth.

She is risking ostracism on both tours.

Wie argues that playing golf against men makes her a better player but there are others who say collecting tournament exemptions is a soft option. Her 0 from 5 record sheet underpins that argument.

It would be magnificent if Wie was a regular on the PGA tour, although I suspect physiology will count against her competing, consistently, against the leading males.

The best modern female golfer, Annika Sorenstam, has apparently come to that conclusion after several shots at the PGA.

Wie generated interest in the latest tournament, one which had to make do without any of the big names who are preparing for the British Open. Without Wie there would have been far less interest in the John Deere Classic.

The lanky teenager is tipped to become the best female golfer on the planet. Wie is great for golf, the media interest in her mid-year attempt to qualify for the US Open was massive; she changes minor tournaments into major events.

I like her challenging the men but I want her to do it without the novelty element. I know she is in a hurry and that she is a prodigiously talented sportswoman, but I want her to add some more game to her armoury before she has another attempt.

I want her to frighten the men next time. I want her to qualify.

Some women never want to play in male tournaments but Wie has that ambition. She wants to challenge the very best.

But Wie needs to learn to win and to add even more steel to her game and that avenue for now, is the LPGA tour. Once she gets those victories, sponsors' invitations will seem even more legitimate and less daunting for this champion-in-waiting.

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