-
Lots
of
teenage
girls
dream
of
becoming
rich
and
famous.
But
it's
not
a
fantasy
for
Michelle
Wie.
Just
before
her
16th
birthday
last
fall,
she
became
the
highest-paid
woman golfer in
history simply by turning professional and lending
her name to
commercial
endorsements
that
will
pay
her
between
$$10
million
and
$$12
million
a
year,
most of which will go into a trust fund
until she becomes an adult.
Wie has been a celebrity since she was
13, when people began predicting she would
become
the
Tiger
Woods
of
wom
en’s
golf.
But,
as
correspondent
Steve
Kroft
reports,
that has never been enough for Wie. She
wants to become the first woman ever to
successfully compete with men in a
professional sport. She has tried a couple of
times on the PGA Tour without
embarrassing herself.
As
you
will
see,
she
has
changed
a
lot
since
we
first
talked
to
her
way
back
in
2004,
when she was
14.
At the time,
Wie told Kroft her ultimate goal was to play in
the Masters.
It
was
a
neat
dream
for
a
14-year-old
kid.
Nothing
has
happened
in
the
last
two
years
to change Wie's mind or shake her
confidence.
She
is stronger now, more mature and glamorous. She
has already demonstrated that
she can
play herself into the middle of the pack against
the best men on the PGA
Tour and has
come within a shot of winning her first two starts
on the LPGA Tour
this year as a part-
time professional.
The day before 60 Minutes interviewed
her at the Fields Open in Honolulu, she shot
a final round of 66, coming from six
strokes off the lead to just miss a
playoff.
much I won. I was like 'Oh
my God.'
Wie
says she won around $$72,000.
Asked whether she gets to
keep that money, Wie said she didn't know.
that. We're still working it
out. But, you know, I'm definitely gonna go
shopping
today,
Half of her life is spent in the adult
world, competing with men and women twice
her age for paychecks they may need to
make expenses and dealing with the media,
sponsors and marketing executives. The
rest of the time she is a junior at Punahou
High School in Honolulu, where she is
an A student and claims to lead the life of
a typical 16-year-old.
I
have
a
math
test
tomorrow
that
I
haven't
studied
for
at
all.
Which
I'm
kind
of worried
for,
What about
boys?
Kroft says.
I
don't
know,
I
mean,
that's
what
everyone
else
says,
she
replies,
laughing.
She has already been on the
David Letterman Show, graced countless magazines
and
played
golf
with
former
President
Clinton,
who,
she
claims,
can
be
rather
vague
when
recording his score.
Continued
To help manage all of this,
her parents have surrounded her with the best
people
all that money can buy. Besides
her caddy, Greg Johnston, and renowned golf coach
David Leadbetter, her retinue includes
agents, a sports psychologist, physical
trainer and image
consultant.
Two
years ago, it was just Wie and her parents. Now
she has an entourage.
members
of
the
team.
It
feels
nice
to
have,
you
know,
people
that
you
can
trust
around
you.
Most
of
the
shots
are
still
being
called
by
her
parents,
.
and
Bo,
with
recommendations from the William Morris
Agency, which was hired by the Wie family
to
manage
the
business
aspects
of
her
career
and
line
up
endorsements
from
sponsors
who were already
standing in line.
They
include
a
ubiquitous
sporting
goods
and
apparel
company,
a
Japanese
electronics
giant
and
a
Swiss
watch
manufacturer?
--who
collectively
contribute
an
eight-figure
sum to the Michelle Wie trust
fund.
William
Morris
president
David
Wirtschafter
says
Michelle
is,
and
will
remain,
their
only
golf
client
in
a
talent
stable
mostly
filled
with
Hollywood
actors,
directors
and writers. He sees her as someone who
can easily make the jump from sports to
entertainment.
Asked
if
he
thinks
there
is
a
difference
anymore
between
sports
and
entertainment,
Wirtschafter
says:
don't
think
so.
We
think
that
sports
is
a
subset
of
entertainment.
And
we
feel
that
so
many
people
are
interested
in
her
because
almost
every
demographic
is
anxious
to
watch
her
play
and
anxious
to
see
what
she
does
next,
that
she
will
be
one
of
the
few
athletes
who
essentially
transcends
sports
and
becomes
somebody that people
pay attention to in popular culture.
Why are so many people
interested in her?
think
that
men
are
fascinated
by
the
way
that
she
plays
golf,
says
Wirtschafter.
plays golf in a
style that is much more
like
men. It's a power golf style. She
hits
the
ball
a
long,
long
way.
I
think
women
find
her
attractive,
particularly
young
women, because she,
again, is playing against boys. And, yet, when
she's off the
course, she's very much
like them.
Wirtschafter
acknowledges
that
Wie
has
also
become
very
attractive
and
that
it
makes
a
huge
difference.
she
exudes
femininity,
she
exudes
youth
and,
on
the
other
hand,
just
has
a
skill
level
that's
off
the
charts.
And
I
think
that's
a
very,
very
rare combination.
asks.