The Forecaddie watched Michelle Wie’s Golf Channel studio debut figuring she’d gone through months of training and preparation. She spoke fluidly but never redundantly, appeared comfortable and offered engaging insights without ever forcing her views in the name of getting attention.
Turns out, the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champion’s role analyzing the Solheim Cup alongside Golf Central veterans Cara Banks and Paige Mackenzie came together at the last minute. The Man Out Front hears it all started with Golf Channel’s player relations head, Courtney Holt. When Wie announced she was shutting down for the remainder of 2019 to rest her injured wrist, Holt informed the five-time Solheim Cup participant that there was a place for her in TV.
Wie subsequently got married in August to Jonnie West, but Golf Channel’s team, headed by Executive Producer Molly Solomon, heard little on the Wie-on-TV front until just a week before the Solheim. A plan came together quickly to fly her to Orlando for the post-game shows. The Forecaddie’s sources inside headquarters say the 29-year-old jumped right in with ideas and stories during extensive production meetings that some ex-players have been known to sleep through.
On screen, Wie sounded like a veteran of the medium. She delivered cogent thoughts as if she’d been in television for years. Yes, TMOF is well aware Wie got a degree from Stanford and has been doing television interviews since she was barely a teenager. Still, it’s a different task to sit under bright lights and deliver criticisms, as she did with artful precision Sunday in dissecting captain Juli Inkster’s decision to middle-load her lineup.
During Saturday’s coverage, Wie explained the personality test players take to determine their place in team pods. It was just the kind of insight fans love and often do not get from the clubby world of pro golf where current and ex-players act like they are cast-offs of the Skull and Bones society.
The Forecaddie hears Wie is intent on giving her golf game a go when the right wrist heals, but failing a full recovery or regaining her competitive spirit, she has a future in broadcasting if she so desires.
