Wieminiscent

As was fully expected, teen chokesation Michelle Wie had a late collapse Friday at the Reno-Tahoe Open to miss the cut by about ten strokes. On Thursday, she shot a one over 73, within ones stroke of the projected cut of even par. She looked like the Wie of old, when she was in her prime at the tender age of 12.

But then the Wie that we've all come to know and love showed up. Promising through the front nine, a quintuple bogey  9 on the eighth hole sent her spiraling to a score of 80. SIDE NOTE: If shooting an 8 on a hole is called a snowman, what's a 9? A paraplegic snowman?

Her showing in the Reno Tahoe Open is classic Michelle Wie. Not because she failed to make the cut again, but because you could see the physical tools on display, while the mental ones get left in the clubhouse. As I said earlier this week, Wie's decision to hop around tours and play with competitors she isn't on par with is seriously hurting her mental game. Even in a weak field by PGA standards, she was seriously out of her league. Parker McLachlin, who sounds like he should be both partners at a law-firm, shot a course record tying 62 to take a 14 under clubhouse lead into the weekend.

This brings up a point of contention that until I now, never really occurred to me. What if she does make the cut at the Reno-Tahoe Open? Obviously not this years of course, but what about the '09 version? Or the Lincoln Financial FDR Open, or the Bob Jones Jimmy Dean Sausage Links Invitational or any other less-than tournament? Would it be an asterisk worthy accomplishment? Does barely beating Jason Dufner(a real player, I swear) truly put her in line with Babe Z. SIDE NOTE 2: Why hasn't Jimmy Dean Sausage Links actually sponsored a tournament, it seems like this would be a natural fit.

Right now, we're all too distracted watching the circus that is the Michelle Wie choke machine to seriously ask this question. But as long as the circus keeps on getting better, people are still going to buy tickets, so expect the sponsor exemptions to keep coming in, where the merit of this debate will continue to grow.