Michelle Wie said she did not read a recent interview in which Annika Sorenstam made comments critical of the former child prodigy, but she accepted an apology from Sorenstam for the remarks.
Annika Sorenstam’s comments about Michelle Wie were not misquotes, says writer
Stephen Dunn
“She actually reached out to me last night, said a couple of things got misquoted,” Wie told reporters Thursday after scoring an even-par 72 in her first round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship. “I thought that was really nice of her to reach out to me. She apologized for what she said, and that’s that.”
In a lengthy Q-and-A with Golf Magazine’s Alan Bastable that appeared on Wednesday, Sorenstam said that playing in men’s tournaments stunted Wie’s career and that the then-13-year-old who, at the 2003 Kraft Nabisco, became the youngest player to make an LPGA cut, never lived up to her potential.
“What I see now is that the talent that we all thought would be there is not there,” Sorenstam told Bastable, who took to Twitter to refute claims that he in any way misquoted the World Golf Hall of Famer and 10-time major champion.
In response to queries I’ve had re: my interview with Annika Sorenstam...yes, it was recorded, and, no, she was not misquoted.
— Alan Bastable (@alan_bastable) April 5, 2013
Sorenstam has in the past expressed disappointment in Wie’s abilities and commitment to the game. Wie, who has missed cuts in three of five events this season, has regularly defended her decision to finish Stanford before becoming a full-time golf professional.
She did so again in a personal message to Sorenstam.
“Like I tried to explain to Annika last night in my text messages, it’s a personal decision that I’m going to make,” Wie said about putting college first. “I didn’t plan for any of this to happen, it just kind of happened, and I’m just really enjoying it, and it’s just going to college is one of my best experiences of my life.
“I didn’t really plan anything, it just happened, and I’m going with the flow and trying not to have any regrets,” Wie added, “because I think even if you do make mistakes you still learn from it, and I’m having a lot of fun.”
Wie, who played to a draw with playing partner and this season’s teen phenom, 15-year-old Lydia Ko, will enter the second round of the season’s first major four shots back of 18-hole co-leaders Na Yeon Choi, Suzann Pettersen, and Jodi Ewart Shadoff.
