Golf: Wie Crashes Through Great Divide

Welcome to the new world order. Eight months after Annika Sorenstam made a modest dent in the barrier that separates men's and women's professional golf, 14-year-old Michelle Wie tore it down with the forceful abandon of an out-of-control JCB.

In a performance that astonished everyone but its perpetrator, the American teenager came within one shot of making the cut at the PGA tour's Sony Open in Hawaii, beating - and no doubt embarrassing the hell out of - a host of top-flight professionals, among them Scott Hoch, a multiple winner on the US tour, and Adam Scott, the young Australian whom many predict will one day be good enough to challenge the golfing hegemony of Tiger Woods.

'I think I did pretty good. I struggled and I fought. I made a few good putts when I needed to. But I can't believe I didn't make the cut,' Wie said after shooting a second-round 68 at the Waialae Country Club. 'I thought I needed to make birdie on the last, which I did. When they told me it wasn't enough I was like "No, no, this isn't happening".'

Whatever disappointment the teenager felt was clearly short-lived. During her post-round press conference - a good natured, discursive affair that would have shamed many of the monosyllabic millionaires currently plying their trade on the US Tour - she wore a huge grin, not least when she discovered some of the illustrious names she had beaten over 36 holes.

That closing birdie took her to two under par for the day, four shots better than her first-round score of 72, and good enough for joint eightieth place in a field of 144. In all, 47 men finished behind Wie. Darren Clarke, who finished on the same 36-hole score as the teenager, described her performance as astonishing. 'I saw her hitting a couple of shots when I was out on the course. What she has done is utterly fantastic.'

Inevitably, comparisons will be made between Wie's performance and that of Sorenstam, who also missed the cut when she played in last May's Colonial tournament, albeit by a far wider margin than Wie.

At the present time the Swede is undoubtedly the better player; she is straighter off the tee and is a significantly better iron player. But Wie a possesses a classic swing, combining both the fearless commitment of Woods and the smooth rhythm of Els. At less than half Sorenstam's age, she already hits the ball farther and, on the evidence of the 13 single putts during Friday's round, is far better on the greens. It is only a matter of time before she proves herself the best woman player in the world.

Far more interesting, however, is the impact she could have on the men's game. Wie has often stated her desire to play alongside, and defeat, the best male players - a desire she restated after her heroics at Waialae.

Did she, like Sorenstam, fell that she didn't belong on the men's tour? Not a bit of it. 'I wouldn't say that I don't belong here; I do belong here; I belong on the LPGA tour; I belong on the PGA Tour. I think I belong on both.'

The question then becomes: will the authorities let her belong?

In America, that question has already been answered. The rules of the PGA Tour do not make any stipulation about the sex of those who participate in its events. Sorenstam and now Wie have both taken advantage of sponsor's invitations to measure themselves against the best - to the benefit of themselves, the sponsors and, most importantly, the game of golf itself.

Alas, enlightenment - not to mention straightforward commercial sense - has not made it over to the eastern side of the Atlantic, where the European Tour and the Royal & Ancient do not allow women to take part in their 'men only' events, with both organisations citing 'tradition' as one of the major reasons for maintaining the barrier between the sexes.

This is all the more galling as BJ Wie, Michelle Wie's father, told The Observer yesterday that he had investigated the possibility of his daughter entering the qualifying rounds of this year's Open Championship. 'It was very disappointing to discover the rules stated that the tournament was for men only,' he said.

One wonders what kind of tradition is being maintained by excluding the most exciting golfing talent since Tiger Woods from the world's greatest golf tournament and how the R&A will react when Wie, as she inevitably will in the years ahead, proves herself to be a major force on the men's US Tour?

We would then be faced with the R&A discriminating against one of the best players in the world because she is female - which might be business as usual for the chaps at the R&A but will do untold harm to the game that this enduringly myopic organisation is supposed to oversee.

But all of that is for the future. For now, it is time to celebrate golf's newest superstar, Michelle Wie. And the good news for British fans is that they will be able to see the young American perform later this summer if, as expected, she is selected to play for the American women's amateur team in the Curtis Cup at Formby, near Liverpool. Be there, or be square.