Maginnes: Don't give up on Wie yet

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Do you remember your freshman year in college, how overwhelming it all was? People buzzing around from class to class and study group to study group, all whirling their way into a certain future that only the exuberance of youth can imagine. For many the future is waiting; plans have been made and the task at hand is merely an end to a means. For others, the next four years are a time of discovery that will bring lessons learned and friendships formed that will last a lifetime.

John Maginnes

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What if you are one of the most recognizable faces in sports, though? What if you were included in "TIME 100: People Who Shape Our World" list before you registered for classes last fall? This is the world that Michelle Wie has created for herself -- or, should I say, that has been created for her over the past several years.

It is often unsavory to talk about players who are not playing in a particular golf tournament. When Tiger skipped The Barclays and Phil bypassed the BMW Championship late last summer, eyebrows and voices were raised but in the end, their absence was an afterthought. Perhaps this week the story will be much the same for the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Wie's absence this week is more than a simple scheduling decision, though -- it is an admission of sorts. Perhaps it is an admission of too much too soon. More likely it speaks of too little too late.

We all watched admiringly back in 2004 when the 14-year-old Michelle shot 72-68 at Waialae Country Club and missed the cut at the Sony Open by a single stroke. Her credentials leading to that historic week, or potentially historic week, were impressive. A year earlier, barely into her teens, she became the youngest person to ever win a USGA-sanctioned event for adults when she captured the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links.

As the world stood up and took notice, Michelle drove herself into the golf consciousness with a dazzling smile, dangling earrings and booming drives. It was a story that was too good to be true. A 4.0 student who wanted to go to college, play against the men and rewrite all the records. Turns out, maybe it was too good to be true -- at least, part of it.

The graceful Wie has failed to fulfill much of the prophecy. Her professional quest has been spotted with successes. Over the past three years, she has amassed six top-five finishes in major championships for women. Perhaps the standard that we hold her to is a bit high, though. For a teenager to have that much success prior to her high school graduation shows tremendous promise.

We didn't create the standard, though. Her agent, her parents and Michelle herself set the bar. Quite frankly, they set the bar too high. Her accomplishments to this point in the game are more than admirable, but they fall futilely short of professed expectations. Her accomplishments as a student are well beyond the norm, yet they have become an afterthought. And while her celebrity and image have taken a few hits over the last year or two, she is still one of the most popular women in sports.

A year ago I wrote a tongue-in-cheek letter to Michelle giving her career advice. I didn't mail it, I posted it right here. I doubt she ever saw it. The gist was that she should play with the women and if the credentials and the success warranted another stab at the men in the future, then more power to her. I offered my two cents' worth because at the time I thought that she was getting nothing but bad advice. The only voice of reason seemed to be David Leadbetter, her long-time instructor, whose opinions on the state of her game appear to have gone largely ignored by the rest of the Wie camp.

I am officially taking the next half decade off from giving advice to teenage girls. Unlike many, I am not yet willing to give up on Michelle. One of the things that you learn in college is to take care of your own messes. For many of us, college was a fresh opportunity and a clean slate. Of course, it will be impossible to wipe the slate completely clean for Michelle -- and I am not sure that we should. Unlike many of the students that she shares the Stanford campus with, her career is well under way and she has been very well compensated for it.

That career has taken its fair share of knocks and will likely absorb even greater ones in the future. But the golf world can wait while Michelle handles more important matters. And perhaps those of us who so vigorously chronicled her past failings will once again embrace her when things get back on track. Even if she never soars to the heights that we once thought possible, she has the ability to make an indelible mark on the game and young women.

Besides, one thing that we like more than a success story is a comeback story. And the opportunities are still there -- and will remain there -- for Michelle. That is one of the many beauties of youth. It has been said that "childhood is what you spend the rest of your life trying to overcome." However, there is another quote that may be more prophetic for Michelle.

It is never too late to have a happy childhood.

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