Michelle Wie: Not Your Average Teen

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 women'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.

"I think it'd be pretty neat walking down the Masters fairways," she said.

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.

"You won your first check yesterday," Kroft says.

"Uh-huh," Wie says. "It was, it was really cool. I mean, I was like looking at how 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.

"I'm trying to negotiate with my dad how much I can spend of that, and stuff like that. We're still working it out. But, you know, I'm definitely gonna go shopping today," she says, laughing.

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.

"Well, I have a math test tomorrow that I haven't studied for at all. Which I'm kind of worried for," she says, laughing.

What about boys?

"Not yet," she says.

"And the boys, I'm sure, at your high school are probably a little intimidated," Kroft says.

"Well, I don't know, I mean, that's what everyone else says," she replies, laughing. "But I don't really care. I'm way too busy as it is."

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.

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.

"Entourage. That's funny," says Wie. "But, you know, I'm very glad for all the new members of the team. It feels nice to have, you know, people that you can trust around you."

"And making decisions for you," Kroft says.

"Yeah. I mean it's awesome," Wie says.

Most of the shots are still being called by her parents, B.J. 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: "We 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?

"I think that men are fascinated by the way that she plays golf," says Wirtschafter. "She 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. "Because 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."

"So if she was 5-2 and weighed 160 pounds, there wouldn't be this interest?" Kroft asks.

"I don't think there'd be this level of interest. But if she was 5-2 and weighed 160 pounds and could play golf as she plays golf, she'd still be a great golfer," says Wirtschafter.

Much of the interest in Michelle is in Asia. She is of Korean descent, already speaks Japanese and is now taking a stab at Mandarin. When she arrived at an airport in Japan last year before playing in a tournament there, she was styled and greeted like a major movie star, although she tries to pretend otherwise.

Wie says she doesn't feel the level of celebrity she has already achieved. Referring to her movie star-like reception in Japan, Wie says, "Oh, I just figure that they were there at the airport because they had a plane to catch."

Wie admits juggling high school life while playing on the LPGA Tour is hectic but says that's the way she likes it.

"I mean, I like being busy. When I have nothing to do, I'm just like, 'Find me something to do.' I'm just, like, walking around my house trying to find something, actually cleaning up my room," she says, laughing. "Which I never do."

Asked if her parents still rule her life, Wie says: "Well, basically, in the household. I mean they're the head of the household. So I guess I have to listen. But I'm still stubborn. I won't give in easily, that's the thing."

That stubbornness has helped propel her to stardom. She passed up junior events and amateur tournaments that she could win for the chance to lose and learn from the best professionals. She also ignored people like John Hawkins, a senior writer at "Golf World" and "Golf Digest," who advised her to stay away from the men's tour and go play with the girls.

"Michelle's an iconoclast. She is somebody who dares to separate herself from her so-called peers," says Hawkins.

Hawkins says it's a huge part of Wie's appeal.

"She is unlike anybody else," he says. "Who has the guts — can't refer to any other part of the anatomy here — who has the guts to play against men when they're 16? I have a tremendous amount of respect for the satchel it takes to go out there and tee it up with the big boys. You gotta turn your TV on and watch that, don't you? I mean, you got to."

And people watched. "People came out. It was all over the newspapers the next day. It's news. It's news when she tries," says Hawkins.

No one is happier with the prospect than the TV networks and tournament sponsors. When Michelle plays against men or women, television ratings and ticket sales go up an average of 50 percent. But Hawkins points out that Michelle hasn't won anything since she was 13, and if she is going to justify her eight-figure endorsement deals over any length of time, she needs to win some tournaments.

"I think a lot of that money is predicated on her not only competing against men, Steve, but beating the women. She is a special talent. She is a transcendent figure," says Hawkins. "She's got it all. But you still gotta have W's in your pocket. I mean, that's the deal."

Does Michelle feel the pressure to start winning tournaments?

"Well, I mean, I've heard a lot of people say that, but you know, I, hopefully, a lot of my fans will recognize that I'm still a full-time student," she says. "I still have a lot of other things that I have to do. And, hopefully, they'll be patient with me because I believe that I can do it."

Last weekend at the Kraft Nabisco Tournament, she just missed another opportunity to win a major championship on the women's tour. After making a birdie on the 16th hole, all she had to do to make the playoff was get it down in two from the edge of the 18th green. But her chip shot went 10 feet past the hole and she just missed the putt coming back.

"I think, when you're 16, you still come across situations that you've never encountered before," says Hawkins. "You still feel emotions that you've never felt. Your heart beats a little harder. You're not used to feeling the crunch of pressure. I think she's still learning."

But if you ask Michelle what has been her most stressful experience this year, she'll likely give you the 16-year-old answer — which was taking and barely passing her driver's test.

"I got 15 points wrong. So I made it on the number," she explains.

While she just made the cut, she says she was really nervous and didn't know what to expect.

"More than a PGA event?" Kroft asks.

"Yeah, I think so. It was different, though," she replies.

Michelle says she would rate her driving skills as OK. "But I kind of panic sometimes. It's not very good. I have to get better on that."

When her parents finally allow her to have her own car, she'll not only get exactly what she wants, some company will gladly pay her to drive it. But to her friends at Punahou High, she is just another junior.

"She lives her life just like us. We all go to the movies. We all go shopping," says Michelle's friend Raquel.

And Meghan, another friend, says even when Michelle is halfway around the world, they text message each other a lot. "I just upped my minutes by the way," she says, laughing.

Wie is not one of those prodigies who has been robbed of her childhood; in some ways she is still holding on to it — the final stages, anyway, and enjoying every minute of it. At 16, the days and weeks still last a long time for her. An endless summer competing against some of the best golfers in the world still feels a long way off. Anything beyond that is hard for her to grasp.

"I always fantasize with me being on my own, traveling by myself, you know, being independent," she says. "But then the reality sinks in that I never booked a hotel room by myself. I've never bought a plane ticket. I barely know how to do laundry. I can't cook. I can't even, I almost cannot microwave stuff. I mean it's pathetic. So basically the reality sets in and I can't do that."

"That's why you have William Morris," Kroft remarks.

"Yeah," she replies.

"Isn't it?" Kroft asks.

"No, that's a good point, that's a really good point. I haven't thought about that before. I mean, I guess I just have to learn how to do laundry," she says.

Asked whether she wants to get married and have kids, Michelle Wie said, laughing: "Yeah, most definitely. That's way down the road. I mean, I'm 16 right now. Might be illegal right now."
Produced By Kay Lim