Fallen star reduced to qualifying for women’s tour

Michelle Wie, now 19, has entered the LPGA Tour qualifying school for next year, after she failed to finish inside the top 80 money earners on the tour this season. She will play in the first quali event next week, at Mission Hills in California.

It’s quite a comedown for the prodigious 13-year-old who was predicted to become the female Tiger Woods - according to Nike’s script, at least.

But Wie has not won a tournament since 2003, and with the LPGA not willing to give her an exemption, she has “no other options” but to mix it with the other players who didn’t make the grade.