WIE'S CRITICS ARE WAY OFF COURSE.

Byline: JILL PAINTER GOLF

Michelle Wie will play in the U.S. Women's Open at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island this week, but unfortunately, not everyone is happy about it.

There are grumblings on the LPGA Tour that because Wie is playing in men's events around the world, she's diminishing the quality of the women's tournaments she decides to play in.

It's ludicrous thinking.

Wie is an absolute marvel to watch, whether she's playing an international event, men's event or women's event. She brings fans. She brings excitement.

Most of all, she brings publicity to the sport. The LPGA can use it.

The LPGA's star, Annika Sorenstam, is a great person and golfer, but people aren't standing in eight-person deep galleries to watch her. She's just not that emotional on the course. I like Karrie Webb and all and think she's a great talent, too. But she doesn't have that X-factor -- as American Idol's Simon Cowell would say -- that Wie possesses.

Remember when former LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw encouraged female golfers to wear fun, fashionable, sexy attire a few years ago to increase the popularity of the sport? The LPGA Tour was losing sponsors and tour dates and was in danger of not generating enough TV ratings, fans and money.

Wie doesn't need a short skirt to attract attention. Her mesmerizing shots off the tee are incredible. She's a skinny teenager with dangly earrings. She pouts just like any 16-year-old when she misses putts. And she's considered by some to be the next Tiger Woods.

Some LPGA players think she needs to either join the tour or go through qualifiers to play in this tournament. But Wie is an amazing ambassador for the LPGA Tour.

The LPGA should welcome her when she plays. Anything else is petty.

``I agree. Wie's success is the LPGA's success,'' John. F. Murray, a renowned sports psychologist, said in an e-mail. ``I think people grasp that. But the fear of Wie is probably real on the LPGA Tour. And there are always people who are threatened by change and find every reason in the world to cling to tradition.''

When Wie played in a men's U.S. Open qualifier recently at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., workers stopped letting folks in at the gate because the course couldn't handle that many spectators. Like at a hot nightclub, fans could only enter when someone left.

And people want Wie to stay away?

Some of the men on the PGA Tour don't want her out there either, although the complaints are starting to die down. If not for a horrendous day of putting, Wie could have qualified for the men's U.S. Open. She can play with anyone.

``If we took a poll, I would guess that most people find it quite interesting and exciting and there's a percentage that find it absolutely horrendous,'' Murray said. ``Imagine what would happen if she were to win one of those men's events. It might cause a revolution. You can bet your bottom dollar that everyone in the country would be watching that final round with Michelle Wie in the lead by two strokes.''

It would be great for the game of golf.

Wie has yet to win on the LPGA Tour, but she could change that at the U.S. Women's Open. It's not the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, but it is a major, and Wie wants to win.

She doesn't feel a burden to singlehandedly improve ratings for the tour. But she can certainly help, and her peers should embrace that.

``No, I don't think it is my responsibility,'' Wie said at the LPGA Championship. ``It's what I want to do. My goal is to win an LPGA tournament. And to be able to win, you actually have to play in some tournaments.''

Having a ball -- without one

AGOURA HILLS - Rich Greenwood is teaching a new method on how to improve the golf swing without a golf ball.

Greenwood, a former standout on UCLA's national championship golf team in 1988, is using the new Accelerized Golf method at his Tour Golf facility in Agoura Hills. A video system analyzes the swing, and if any part of it is incorrect, the ball drops off the tee below the mat, even in mid-swing.

``How do we get golfers to stop and focus on fixing the problem?'' Greenwood asked. ``The only way to do it is to take the ball away. Most people don't realize how they set up. Their setup can cause a bunch of different problems. If you set up incorrectly, the whole swing is off.''

And that's what Greenwood is set to change.

The ball drops immediately during the incorrect part of the swing. That way, the golfer knows exactly what he or she is doing wrong.

Greenwood is standing by to show them how to fix the problem area.

He sets up HotLines, reference lines customized to each golfer's swing. They determine where each golfer should stand, the range of the backswing and everything else. If the golfers' swings enters zones they shouldn't, either the ball drops or light indicators are used.

Six cameras installed in the ceiling and around the golfer in each bay are used to capture every angle of the swing. The system doesn't come cheap; each one is about $35,000.

Greenwood has three bays at his shop. He said after placing an ad during the U.S. Open, he got several new customers. Golfers can come in to practice on their own with this method.

Greenwood said one golfer practices with the system every day.

A few months ago, Greenwood moved his business to a bigger lot. He opened the store with the new system, and his business nearly tripled, he said.

``Because we're indoors, we needed something to set us apart from everyone else,'' Greenwood said. ``This kind of feedback lets someone know exactly what they're doing wrong. You can't get this kind of feedback at the driving range. ... I wish I had this when I was playing for a living that I had something like this.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1) Michelle Wie will tee it up Thursday at the U.S. Women's Open in Newport, R.I.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

(2) Rich Greenwood, left, works with Angel Fierro on his swing at Tour Golf in Agoura. The store uses a new teaching method called Accelerized Golf.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

(2) Etc.