|
The nickname ¡°10-million-dollar baby¡± does not do justice to what golf prodigy Michelle Wie is really bringing in. In the one year since she turned pro, Wie (17) has raked in near US$20 million despite a lackluster performance on the course. AP reported on Thursday that Wie¡¯s endorsements and appearance fees carried her over the 20 million mark: a sum that places her among the top 20 highest-earning athletes in the world. Tiger Woods was no. 1 with over $100 million, followed by Formula One champ Michael Schumacher of Germany, who made around $80 million.
Not even Korean MLB pitcher Park Chan-ho ($15 million), who has more than 100 wins to his credit, could top the young golf star. All Wie¡¯s prize money for her 12 LPGA events put together is a mere $3.5 million, but income is never based on merit alone.
On the LPGA Tour this year, Wie had six finishes in the top five but no win. She competed in five men¡¯s events, but it was only at the SK Telecom Open played here that she was able to make the cut: she bombed out at both the PGA and EPGA. At the Omega European Masters (EPGA) she came dead last. It is Wie¡¯s fame for being famous, then, that has brought the lion¡¯s share of endorsements and appearance fees.
In October 2005, when she turned pro, Wie inked a contract with Sony and Nike for $10 million. For showing up at the Casio World Open on the Japan Golf Tour, she picked up $1.5 million, and for $700,000 she agreed to set foot on Korean land. A two-year endorsement deal she signed with a domestic construction firm brought her $3 million.
Meanwhile, Wie switched agents on Thursday. Former agent Ross Berlin took a management position with the PGA, and Greg Nared, a manager from Nike who had been overseeing the Tiger Woods account, has taken over. This is the second shakeup in the Wie camp following the firing of caddie Greg Johnston after Wie¡¯s 27th place finish at the Women¡¯s British Open.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
