There's a Reason Michelle Wie Continues to Get PGA Tour Sponsor's Exemptions

The public perception is that everybody hates Michelle Wie. Or, at the very least, her insistence on accepting PGA Tour sponsor's exemptions even though her play has yet to warrant them, which, apparently, is, off-putting for her male and female competitors.

The thing is, if Wie wasn't wildly popular (in a circus freak show sorta way, sure ... but still), tournaments would quit asking her to play. Waggle Room does a splendid job of explaining why, exactly, Wie gets PGA Tour invites and the rest of us don't.

* In the Monday First Tee clinic yesterday in Reno, the three tour professionals participating were ... two old guys, plus Wie (Jay Delsing and Steve Pate, to be exact). The tournament is putting Wie out front.

* On the PGATour.com tournament site on Monday, the main photo and headline were of Wie. Today, the main photo and headline have switched to Nick Flanagan, but three of the four sub-heads are about Wie.

* And according to a report in Sports Business Journal (subscription only), PGATour.com will devote more attention to Wie during tournament play (the first two rounds, at least) than the Web site has devoted to any individual player not named Tiger Woods:

(For the record, I'd much rather watch Wie hit high draws and low fades than either Jay Delsing or Steve Pate.)

I think Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer make legit points, but until they win custody rights away from B.J. Wie, I suspect we'll see more of this. At least until the public tires of Michelle, she's tossed on the Jennifer Capriati Memorial Scrap Heap, and we all get on with our lives.

Except, Wie, who will be left to wonder where it all went wrong (hello, daddy issues!).