SOLHEIM CUP: MICHELLE WIE, the girl wonder who has yet to win a professional tournament, was last night named as one of America's two wild cards for the Solheim Cup.
The 19-year-old, who first shot to stardom when she played on the men’s US Tour at 14 and missed the halfway cut by only one shot, was given the news after finishing 11th in the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham.
Captain Beth Daniel announced Wie and 49-year-old Juli Inkster, a seven-time major winner and seven-time cup player, as her two picks for the match at Rich Harvest Farms, Illinois, on August 21-23.
European captain Alison Nicholas, meanwhile, had three wild cards to hand out and gave them to 22-year-old Swede Anna Nordqvist, who won her first major in June, Becky Brewerton from Wales and Scot Janice Moodie.
Wie signed contracts worth millions of dollars on turning professional at 16, but then suffered a wrist injury and a dramatic loss of form.
This season, however, she has had a runners-up finish and two third places and came 16th in the cup table. That was despite the fact that she did not become eligible for points until this season and the race had been going for over a year.
The Americans lead the series 7-3, have won the last two matches – and have yet to be beaten at home. They will start strong odds-on favourites again.
Wie said: “I’m so honoured and so thrilled. It was one of my big goals and I am so excited to be representing my country.
“I will do my best not to let Beth down.”
Nicholas had the tougher task of the two captains. Nordqvist was pretty obvious, but Moodie and Brewerton were both preferred to 2004 British Open champion Karen Stupples even though all three missed the cut at Lytham.
Stupples’ one previous appearance was 2005 and she lost both her games, whereas Moodie, as she delighted in saying at the press conference said: “I’ve been on two and I’ve won two.”
That was in 2000 and 2003, while Brewerton made her debut in the last match.
“I’m completely relieved,” she commented. “I went home to get away from it all and when Ally (Nicholas) told me I shouted some expletives down the phone.”
