Wie needs to get away for a while

It's clear golf's one-time prodigy isn't having much fun on the course these days

? At the risk of piling on, let’s hope we’ve seen the last of Michelle Wie for a while.

I don’t mean that in crass, cruel way. I’ve got a daughter who turned 20 only six days ago, so I’m no stranger to the heads and hearts of teenage girls. I just hope Wie leaves the McDonald’s LPGA Championship and disappears for a while for her own good.

As far as I can tell, Wie, who has been at the center of a celebrity storm since she was 13, has come out of it with a good head and a good heart, not to mention a ton of money from her ton of potential.

She’s also got a couple of parents who love her dearly and follow her literally every step of the way on the golf course. I know this because at tournaments, you’d couldn’t miss them if you wanted to.

To Michelle Wie, I say, and plenty of others say, go home to Hawaii for a while. Relax, have fun, enjoy your youth and rest and rehab that injured wrist until you don’t shake it after shots from out of the rough and until you don’t have to call in your massage therapist in the middle of a round.

To her parents, I say, give the girl a little space, let her breathe, let her grow, let her blossom. She used to smile and laugh and play like she was having a blast. She positively lit up a room.

Now, when she smiles at all, it seems forced, nervous. And when you watch her on the golf course, trailed by her ever-present entourage of parents, business manager, agent, media and various other hangers-on, Wie sometimes looks like a railroad engine struggling to pull the $19 million-a-year Money Train.

I tell you, the girl is not having fun these days and, if you ask me, it’s slowly dawning on her.

You didn’t get to see it Sunday because it didn’t quite make the Golf Channel. But about 11:30 a.m. – almost three hours before the leaders even teed off in the final round of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship – Wie sank a clutch eight-footer on the 18th hole to save bogey and finish at 79.

Good as that putt was, Wie still finished at 21-over par for the week, in 84th place, dead last by 10 shots among those who made the cut.

This from a player who finished tied for fifth here last year and finished alone in second the year before that.

When Sunday’s round was over, Wie immediately faced questions about the condition of her injured wrist. That’s understandable, because it bothered her so much during Saturday’s third round, there was some question about whether she would even play Sunday.

When somebody asked her if maybe she rushed things in returning to action, Wie said, “I think it was a good decision, but also maybe a couple of weeks too early.”

So, then, does that mean she’s going home to get totally healed once and for all? Don’t kid yourself.

“I’m going to New York for a couple of days and then I’m going down to Orlando, (Fla.),” the 17-year-old said. “Just work on it. It’ll be good to get a lot of rounds in.”