"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

May 18, 2004

May Wood
[Photo courtesy of Vanderbilt sports information department]

Look out LPGA Tour, here comes May Wood.

Just don’t look for her any time soon. Despite rampant rumors to the contrary after the Vanderbilt star was recently declared academically ineligible for this week’s NCAA Championships, Wood’s arrival on the play-for-pay circuit isn’t imminent. She doesn’t have multi-million dollar endorsement deals from Titleist, Mercedes Benz and Rolex lined up. She hasn’t even heard from the first agent.

Make no mistake. All that and more will happen for Wood—one day. For now, Wood, bitterly disappointed over a little known—apparently even little known at Vanderbilt—SEC rule that stripped her of postseason eligibility, has retreated to Florida, where she will put in long days working with her teacher and mentor, Phil Ritson.

Despite earning co-player-of-the-year honors in the SEC, despite a recent proclamation in Sports Illustrated that she was the only player on the horizon capable of giving teen phenom Michelle Wie a run, and despite those eye-popping pictures in the June Golf Digest, Wood hasn’t let her success and notoriety get to her head. She doesn’t even think she’s ready for the tour.

"Right now, I have no intentions of turning pro," Wood said. "My game’s not ready. All I know is that I’m taking a year to learn more about my golf game. What happens in that year, well, I don’t know what will happen."

Wood plans on taking things slowly—barring anything unforeseen. She’s received a sponsor’s exemption to next week’s LPGA Corning Classic. Perhaps if she were to win that tournament, it might accelerate her timetable. But for now, Wood is gearing up for a summer’s worth of national amateur tournaments, including the North and South, which she won two years ago, the Western Amateur and the U.S. Amateur.

That has always been the plan, even after Christmas break, when Wood first approached her family about the idea of taking a year off from school so she could focus on her game. Why? Despite winning a tournament, finishing second at the NCAA regionals two weeks ago and leading the talented Commodores in scoring average, Wood had grown increasingly frustrated with her game.

"I played solid this year," Wood said. "But my scores weren’t that great. It was frustrating shooting 75s and 76s, when I knew I was so much better than that."

Wood admits to staring out the window of her Vanderbilt classrooms on sunny days, wishing she were on a golf course. But who can blame her? She decided to follow her dream of playing on the LPGA Tour when she was 14 years old.

"This might sound bad," Wood said. "But people go to college to learn about what it is they want to do. The year I’m taking off is like a medical student [in residence] learning how to perform surgery."

Wood wants to perform surgery of a different kind. She’d love to slice a few more strokes over her spring season average of just under 72 per round. And she knows how to do it.

"I’d like to get to the point where my bad round is a 72, and I’m shooting in the 60s," Wood said. "I can go low. I can shoot a 66. But to do that, I’m going to have to work on my short game. My summer will be spent working on shots from 100 yards and in."

Though Wood had pondered a life filled only with golf, she had no intention of leaving her teammates in a lurch. Vanderbilt had won the SEC championships and NCAA Central Regional championships in succession, and, ranked No. 3 in the latest polls, seemed capable of contending for the school’s first national championship. When she learned last week that she wouldn’t be eligible for the NCAAs, Wood was crushed.

"Devastated," she said. "So disappointed. I would give anything to be playing in the nationals right now."

Wood said her teammates were stunned at the news.

"There was some drama when I told them," Wood said. "But we’re all great friends. They just want what’s best for me."

What’s best for Wood right now is golf, and lots of it. Who can blame her if school lost its appeal? It happens all the time to collegiate football and basketball players. Wood isn’t some sort of golfing mercenary, taking her game to the highest bidder. She’s just that rare player who can actually ponder leaving school after two years and taking a serious shot at the pros.

Don’t forget that Tiger Woods left Stanford after his sophomore season in 1996. He’s done all right for himself since.

Ritson calls Wood the female Tiger Woods. Some believe that honor should go to Wie, who astounded the world of golf earlier this year by nearly making the cut in a PGA Tour event, missing by a single shot.

It’s not hard to envision the future battles between the two players. Both are tall, hit the ball obscene distances off the tee and are intelligent. Does the LPGA have room for two Tigers?

If Wood has anything to say about it, the answer to that question is yes. She’s making a determined effort under the watchful eye of Ritson while also maintaining a rigorous physical conditioning program that includes weight training and running.

When Wood does turn pro, she plans on being ready. And again, unless she blows away the Corning Classic field, her pro debut isn’t likely to happen this season.

"We haven’t gotten any phone calls [from agents or equipment companies]," Wood said. "I haven’t made any phone calls. I’m just lying low right now. It feels good to be compared to Michelle Wie. She’s accomplished so much. But hopefully, one day, they’ll be comparing her to me."

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