"Are you a Phi Beta Kappa yet?"

Dan Jenkins, eat your heart out at this opening exchange for Michelle Wie at her pre-U.S. Women's Open presser...

MODERATOR: Welcome to the 2010 US Open Women's Open Championship, by the way. Our first guess this morning is Michelle Wie. I was thinking about it, and when Michelle won the LPGA tournament that she won earlier in the year, I was thinking I believe you were the only college student to ever win a tournament in the LPGA Tour.

That's another little feather in your cap. Just tell us a little bit. You won a tournament now. You're still in college. Are you a Phi Beta Kappa yet?

MICHELLE WIE: No sorority for me yet, but it's been fun.

Comments

[JPB]

That has to be a candidate for the line of the year! Sort of reminds me of Sandy Lyle's response years ago to someone asking him what he thought of Tiger Woods: "I haven't played that course yet."

[Lynn S.]

As Chick Hearn would say, "she's no Phi Beta Kappa."

[d.b.cooper]

Was there any laughter, stifled or otherwise, when she said it?

[ghost Golfer]

Del, Stanford students are normally all genius. Just ask them. :)

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

So she didn't know? Kind of like the medical student at the party earlier this year who had never heard of Frank Lloyd Wright, just a child of her generation. Pretty smart kid though, to remain a student in good standing at Stanford while playing on the LPGA Tour and winning. But having had some experience with the Harvard of the West, the other ghost is exactly right...and the administration still has designs on the golf course.

[Media driven]

Wasn't Condi Rice when she was at Stanford in favor of doing something destructive to the golf course? Seem to recall reading something about it, and former USGA president Sandy Tatum led the successful opposition.

[Geno]

Seriously, do they go to classes anymore?

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

Yeah I know, it's aCademia before some 'bored' wise ass picks me up on ths.(lol)

[greenlight]

A ctrl-F picks up 27 instances of "you know" and 6 "um" in this short transcript.

Um, you know...ugh.

[OWGR Fan]

@greenlight.....

Did you hear Bubba Watson being interviewed before the playoff in Hartford a few weeks back? More you knows that you could shake a stick at. Most athletes when interviewed use that phrase quite a bit. Male and Female.

[john]

Moderator wanted to use the line, so you're a student and a scholar.

Wasn't Stanford known for grade inflation recently? More than the general inflation everywhere.

[greenlight]

@OWGR
Kind of a sad state of affairs when your public speaking is best compared with a guy named Bubba....

[Lip Out]

This is ridiculous. You're making fun of a 20 year old because she didn't know what Phi Beta Kappa was? The person you should be making fun of is the arrogant ass moderator who made the reference.

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

"you know, you know, you know" also played a role in sinking the proto-candidacy of Caroline Kennedy to replace Hilary Clinton in the Senate. It is a curse that those in any kind of public life should be able to avoid. Know what I mean?

[Jesse James]

I guess I'm the dunce. I didn't know what Phi Beta Yabba Yabba Do was either. Is this supposed to be interesting?

[OWGR Fan]

@greenlight.... You missed the point. Good day.

[thusgone]

just because she's ignorant doesn't mean she's not intelligent.

[pdf]

Another instance of personal attacks. She's a good kid trying to do the right things and speaking in a manner that is in keeping with her age. What's so terrible about that? She didn't know what Phi Beta Kappa is. I bet there are a lot of Phi Beta Kappas that don't know what a 5 iron is. So what?

[GeoffreyC]

+1 Lip Out and pdf.

What's the big deal about knowing what Phi Beta Kappa stands for? She's a kid with an obvious talent and as stated seems to be smart enough to keep up with the classes at Stanford.

The golf course at Stanford is a true gem that I certainly hope will never be used for subsidized student and faculty housing. Keep up the fight to keep it Sandy Tatum.

[NRH]

Her father and her grandfather were both professors, she just finished her third year of classes at Stanford and does not know what Phi Beta Kappa is? Maybe she was telling the (her) truth in the white skirt ruling.

[Geoff]

Tough crowd. I think it's one of those harmless, humorous moments in sports. The moderator was just trying to get things going, thought it'd be fun and probably didn't expect that answer. Michelle is young and it's just one of those funny things. It's not a shot at her character.

Hey, one I was at a meeting and the chairman was named Robert and he kept going on and on about Roberts Rules of Order. Finally, being ignorant as I am, I barked out, why would you name these rules after yourself?

It happens, it's funny, nothing more, nothing less.

[OWGR Fan]

Geoff it is my understanding that Ms. Wie has a pretty good sense of humor. Not knowing the tone of the questioner I took her reply as a playful joking response.

[Del the Funk]

OWGR, I was having a similar thought....

....maybe the joke's on us?!? (or the haters anyway)

Nice bluff Michelle.

[gov. lepetomane]

We all say dumb stuff when we're young. (And some of us keep on saying dumb stuff as we get old.)
Maybe a gap in general knowledge has kept her from knowing what PBK is.
That said, I doubt if any of her questioners can play golf as well as her, and I doubt if any of her questioners were in as esteemed position as she when they were in thier 20s....
so she's got that goin' for her....

[gov. lepetomane]

...which is nice!

[Delete After Reading!]

Geoff ... you're not ignorant! You're just a little bit sensitive!

[Bruno]

Undoubtedly, the official word will come down that she was trying to make a joke. Anything to deflect the laughter generated by a Stanford student not knowing what Phi Beta Kappa is. Not knowing Phi Eta Sigma is one thing, but Phi Beta Kappa??? She's as smart as a rock.

[Bruno]

Michelle, don't bother applying to Mensa.

[Tighthead]

Doesn't everyone just obsess about their GPA? That is my recollection of my 7 years of higher education.

[Mark B]

Bruno, your argument is undercut by referring to athletes at Stanford as "students." That place could be the most-hypocritical university in the country when it comes to athletics, as witnessed by their creating a golf facility accessible only to the golf team.

Can we get John McKay's son to negotiate the university's sale to Red China?

[Del the Funk]

Mark B, Michelle Wie is not a "student athlete" at Stanford...she's just a run-of-the-mill student.

[Mark B]

DTF, in that case the problem has metastized!