In her prime, Annika Sorenstam had few if any equals on the LPGA. As it turns out, at one point she expected Michelle Wie to become her biggest challenger.
‘Yes, I thought so,’ Sorenstam explained Thursday on Morning Drive when asked if she once thought Wie would become her biggest threat. ‘It was just a matter of time. I thought after a little experience, she would do this.’
A rising star in the game since the age of 10, Wie was once the youngest player to ever qualify for an LPGA event and won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at age 13. Sorenstam described being impressed with Wie’s skill set at an early age.
‘When she joined the Tour...she was hitting it a long way and she was hitting it high,’ she recalled. ‘She had a short game that nobody else had on the women’s side.’
Now 23 and a recent graduate from Stanford, Wie has struggled this year on the LPGA, recording only one top-10 finish in 21 starts while falling to 52nd in the Rolex Rankings.
‘I think we’re all surprised that she really hasn’t done much more,’ Sorenstam noted. ‘I think it’s too bad. She’s still very young, hopefully she can still do it, but her future was so promising.’