Michelle Wie's Injury Battles Strike Home

If you saw Michelle Wie weeping during her interview with GC on Thursday, you'll understand why I'm writing about her today. Too many people have viewed Michelle as little more than a golf sideshow, but this latest bout of injuries should make it clear to everyone how much she loves the game... and how frightened she is about her future in golf.



I'm going to link you to Randall Mell's piece over at golfchannel.com about Michelle's situation, simply because he handles it so well. But I'd like to point out two things that I think many of her critics have missed:

• Unlike Phil Mickelson's arthritis, Michelle's isn't treatable with medicine. She can no longer take cortisone treatments, the collagen seem to be having a limited effect, and the surgeries she's had don't seem to be helping much either.
• And second, no one who has any contact with her questions either her work ethic or her love for the game.

The fact that Michelle is beginning to wonder if it's only a matter of time before her arthritis ends her career is heartbreaking. Imagine if you were suddenly unable to do the thing you most love to do and there was nothing anyone could do to help you. I'm sure she hopes for some kind of miracle, some currently elusive treatment that will give her some options, not unlike the arthritis drug that helped Phil or the fusion surgery that's given Tiger a new lease on life.

But for now, that miracle hasn't made its presence known. And Thursday that burden became pretty obvious in her after-round interview -- which, as Lisa Cornwall noted, most pros probably wouldn't have bothered to give, no matter how concerned her fans were.

For the time being, all we can do is pray for Michelle Wie... and perhaps be a bit less critical of her. Too many people view social media as a license to be cruel. We could all use a bit more of the Golden Rule in our dealings with others -- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Regardless of how you feel about her, right now Michelle is more vulnerable and more "human" than anyone has ever seen her. Perhaps it's time the rest of us treated her better and did what we can to encourage her. It's the least we can do.