Time for Wie to really sparkle...
AND NOT JUST WITH HER OUTFITS
Heaven knows what american Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster will think when she sees Michelle Wie’s shoes.
In an effort to show they mean business after losing the last two editions to europe, and the one in 2013 by a street, Inkster has banned the face paint that has adorned american cheeks in recent matches — not so much warrior, as wally chic — and any nail decoration.
‘I don’t see a lot of grown women with face paint on,’ said Inkster, dismissively. ‘I want to get back to playing golf.’
What will she make of Wie’s eye-diverting shoes therefore, which are set to become the most extraordinary golf footwear worn in team competition?
Looking more like basketball trainers than conventional golf shoes, the high-top boots are adorned with the colours of the american flag, and complete with the stars and stripes at the rear. So much for getting back to playing golf.
There was a time, of course, when golf was the only thing people talked about when the conversation turned to Wie, owing to her amazing talent. These days, alas, it is more about the fashion than what she does on the fairways. It all seems such a waste.
Think back to her Solheim debut in 2009, for example. With the sides all square after the first two days, the Swede Helen alfredsson, in the third match out against Wie, stuck her second shot on the par-five second to six feet. How about that for putting a debutant in her place? Or so she must have thought.
Wie’s response? Her five iron finished still closer to the hole. She won that match one up and america took the Cup. Is it just a coincidence that as Wie has struggled to keep her eye on the ball, so the americans have not won a Solheim Cup since? now it is 18-yearold new Zealander Lydia Ko who is living the dream in terms of winning trophies.
The sage english coach David Leadbetter, who teaches both, offers plenty of clues why, telling
Sportsmail: ‘They are both incredible talents but completely different as people. I’ve worked with Michelle since she was 13 and she is trying to find the balance between golf and the other interests she has. With Lydia, it’s all business. She will have an annika Sorenstam-type career, where she wins countless majors and who knows how many tournaments.’
What type of career will Wie have? Once upon a time you would have made a similar prediction, but now? This summer she has been dogged by injury and so the Solheim Cup, which starts tomorrow, comes as a chance to remind the world of the talent within.
Is this the weekend where she puts her best foot forward once more — or trips over her own dazzling shoelaces?