After years of competing in amateur golf tournaments, Wie turned professional on her sixteenth birthday in 2005. Despite having experienced an initial rocky start in her pro career, having been disqualified from the World Championships that year due to a rule violation, she eventually made her way back up in the subsequent competitions. At the age of 20, Wie won her the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour which began in Thailand and ended in Florida ーit would be her first LPGA victory. She would later go on to compete at the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, held in Pinehurst, North Carolina, where she would eventually emerge as the champion, having defeated fellow American golfer, Stacy Lewis. As the winner of the competition, Wie was awarded a prize of $720,000.

Known for being one of the youngest women golfers to have gone up against the other gender at various men’s tournaments, Wie has become one of the most well-known players of the sport. Since then, she has also earned herself a number of endorsements and sponsors including ones with big name companies, Nike and Kia Motors.

But what has the professional golfer been up to as of late? What tournaments have she competed in recently? What Happened to Michelle Wie? What has she been doing these last couple of years?

Michelle Wie’s Personal Life

Born on October 11, 1989 in Honolulu, Hawaii, Michelle Wie is the daughter of Byung Wook and Boーher South Korea Immigrant parents who had come to the U.S. during the 80’s. Her father used to work as a professor at the University of Hawaii teaching transport management while her mother used to be an amateur golf champion herself. As a South Korean born into the United States, Wie was of dual citizenship (South Korean and American) upon her birth; she later renounced her South Korean citizenship in 2013 to represent the United States in competition.

Growing up in the vibrant epicentre of Hawaii, Wie attended Punahou School, a private preparatory school located in Honolulu; she eventually graduated in June 2007. After graduating, it was announced that she would be enrolling in Stanford Universityーwhere her grandfather had been a visiting professor and also where both her uncle and aunt had graduated from in the past. Wie was eventually admitted into the University in 2007 however as a professional golfer, she found herself unable to play for the school’s golf team due to the NCAA rules which she had to abide by. For the first three years at the university, Wie would only attend classes during the fall and winter terms; she would take an extended leave during the rest of the school year in order to play golf professionally. Wie eventually graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 2012.

Michelle Wie’s Amateur Career

Having first began to play golf at the age of four, Wie’s skill in the sport was remarkable, even during her amateur days. In 1999, Wie participated in the USGA Amateur Championship as the youngest player in the history of the competition; she was ten. A few years afterwards in 2003, she would also become the youngest golfer in the history of the country to win the champion title at the Women’s Amateur Public Linksーone of the many championships held by the USGA. Wie’s record held for eight years, until it was surpassed by ten year old Allisen Corpuz, who had been five months younger than Wie had been at the time of her record setting, in 2011.

Continuing on with her impressive amateur streak, Wie competed at the PGA Sony Open Tour at the age of fourteen in 2004ーonce again, she was the youngest golfer to have participated in the competition. However while she had a promising start in the games with a low score of 68 during the second round, she sadly missed the cut by a single shot. Following the tour, she went on to participate in a number of amateur tournaments including the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship and the 2005 Sony Open in Hawaii. Wie eventually became the first female golfer to be qualified for the U.S. Amateur Public Linksーa men’s amateur golf tournament; although she would later lose during the quarterfinals to eventual winner, Clay Ogden.

Michelle Wie’s Professional Golf Career

A week prior to her sixteenth birthday in October 2005, Wie announced that she would be making the transition from amateur to professional golf. After turning pro, she consequently signed endorsement contracts with Sony and Nike which had a reported worth of over $10 million a year.

Her first event as a professional golfer was the LPGA Samsung World Championships in 2005; however her newly found professional career would prove to be difficult as she was soon disqualified from the game for a rule violation. The following year, Wie continued to compete, this time against several male players in a number of competitions including the 2006 PGA Sony Open Tourーhowever she had unfortunately missed the cut again by four strokes. That May, she went on to earn a medal at a local qualifications tournament for the Men’s U.S. Open but would ultimately fail to advance past the final round.

In 2007, Wie became plagued by injuries after breaking her left wrist in January; she soon began to develop issues in her right wrist as well. As a result, she did not make the cut for the Sony Open Tournament that year. While Wie was not able to participate in many golf competitions during the 2007 season, her wrists soon recovered well enough so that she was able to get back into the scene in 2008.

After a hiatus from the sport, Wie returned to the games for the Ladies German Open, which took place in May 2008. She eventually placed sixth in the competition, having been seven points behind the winner. Wie earned over $13,000 for her sixth place finish in the event. Shortly afterwards, she went on to compete at Wegmans LPGAーthe LPGA Tour professional women golf tournament; however she would place 24th alongside Jennifer Rosales and Mi Hyn Kim. In August, Wie also played at the Rich Harvest Farms Golf Event and was successful in leading the American team to victory.

Following years of playing professionally, Wie finally won her very first individual tournament in November 2009, at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational which took place in Mexico. She had beaten fellow golfers, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel and Jiyai Shin by two strokes in the game. Subsequently, Wie also went on to finish second at the Ladies European Tour later that year, three shots behind champion, In-Kyung Kim.

In 2010, Wie was successful in topping the competition at the CN Canadian Women’s Open, which was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Two weeks later, she would also finish second at the NW Arkansas Championship, having trailed behind winner, Yani Tseng by a single stroke. Throughout the next few years, she would accomplish a number of top 10 finishes throughout her career, including a number at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters Tournaments.

In April 2014, the professional golfer won a LPGA Tour event for the third time at the LPGA Lotte Championship. Although she was initially four strokes behind fellow American golfer, Angela Stanford, she eventually caught up to win the game by two strokes with a score of -14. Later that same year in June, Wie would win for a fourth time at the LPGA Tour events, at the U.S. Women’s Openーit would also be Wie’s first major championship win. Despite having been in a close head-to-head match up against Amy Yang for the lead, she later won the game having parried the final hole with a score of -2. For her accomplishments in golf, Wie was named as the inaugural winner of the Rolex Annika Major Award.

What’s Michelle Wie Doing Now in 2018- Recent Updates

While Wie was recognized as one of the country’s most accomplished professional golf players (considering her major win at the 2014 U.S. Women’s Opens) with millions of dollars in endorsements just a few years ago, arising health issues seemed to have prevented her from performing her best at recent games. Since bringing home the champion title at the Lotte Championship in 2014, Wie hasn’t succeeded in winning any tournaments or eventsーin fact,  she hasn’t achieved any noteworthy scores despite having taken part in numerous LPGA events the last couple of years. To put things into perspective, so far in the 2016 season, she has missed the cut four times and her best finish in a game was a T-25.

The reason behind her inconsistent golf playing? Her health. Since the initial problems with her wrists, Wie has been plagued by  a number of issues ranging from her back, ankles and hips. She also suffered a nasty upper respiratory infection and a case of strep throat earlier in 2015, which was successful in keeping her far away from the golf course. To make matters even more complicated, she also recently discovered her multitude of food allergies.

In a later interview regarding her recent struggles, Wie commented on her physique citing that she’s been feeling quite different physically now that “[she’s] getting old and not 13 anymore.” With the obvious signs of strain on her body, it’s no question why the professional golfer has turned her attention to her health. While she has no plans to retire as of yet, she’s made some definite changes in her play, including the development a golf swing that helps to put less physical stress on the body. What will the future hold for the professional golfer? Only time can tell.

If you’d like to stay up to date with Wie, you’ll be happy to know that you can find her on multiple social media platforms including Instagram (@themichellewie) and Twitter (@themichellewie). Or if you’d prefer, you can also visit her official Facebook page (@MichelleWie).

The post What Happened to Michelle Wie- News & Updates appeared first on Gazette Review.

10) Kobe Byrant – Total earnings: $49.5 million

Coming in at number ten is Kobe Byrant, professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Byrant entered 2016 with a total salary of $23.5 million. He received a further $26 million in endorsements bringing his total earnings to $49.5 million.

Kobe Byrant was born on August 23^rd, 1978 and entered into his professional basketball playing career directly from High School after being recognised as the top High School Basketball player in the country. Byrant has played with the Los Angeles Lakers for twenty seasons thus breaking the record for most seasons with the same team. Byrant announced that he would retire after the 2015-2016 season.

Over his twenty-year career, Byrant has been named as an All-Star a total of eighteen times. Byrant is a fifteen-time member of the All-NBA Team and a twelve-time member of the All-Defensive League.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Byrant however as in 2003 he was accused of sexual assault in Colarado. Although the case was dropped in 2004, it was a difficult period for Byrant with the rumours damaging his reputation. Endorsement contracts he had held with McDonalds and Nutella at the time were terminated by the respective companies.

Although such allegations would have been permanently damaging for many athletes, this did not see the end of endorsements offered to Byrant and as the figures above suggest he has most certainly earned his place on the top 10 paid athletes in the world.

9) Tiger Woods – Total earnings: $50.6 million

At number nine we have golf superstar Tiger Woods who has enjoyed one of the most successful careers of all time in the golfing world. Woods has been one of the highest paid athletes in the world for a number of years. Woods entered 2016 with a total salary of just $0.6 million but received an additional $50 million in endorsements bringing his total earnings to $50.6 million.

Born on December 30^th, 1975, Woods turned professional at the age of 20 following an impressive amateur golfing career. Within his first year as a professional golfer, Woods had won the Masters in 1997, one of the four majors and probably the most respected golf tournament in the world. Woods had reached the world number one spot by June 1997, an incredibly impressive feat just a year after turning professional.

During the 2000’s Woods was a dominant force in the golfing world and he spent many periods during that time as World Number One. However, late in 2009, scandal hit Woods when he started experiencing marital difficulties. Following his separation from then wife Elin, many women came forward revealing Woods’ indiscretions. Woods’ bad luck streak was not to last and he ascended to the number one spot once again in March 2013 where he remained for over a year. Since then however, Woods has been plagued with back injuries and has undergone surgery. It is unknown if Woods will return to play again but one is for sure – he will remain a legendary name in the golfing world.

8) Phil Mickelson – Total earnings: $50.2 million

Staying with golf, at number eight is Phil Mickelson. Entering into 2016 Phil’s total salary was $2.8 million with a further $48 million earned in endorsements giving him total earnings of $50.2 million.

Born on June 16^th, 1970, Mickelson has enjoyed a highly successful career in the golfing world.  Mickelson acquired the nickname ‘Lefty’ for his left-handed swing which is unusual as he is other-wise right-handed.

Mickelson has won three of the four professional major tournaments – only one of sixteen golfers to ever achieve this feat. The US Open is the only major that Mickelson has not been successful in winning, however he has come close finishing as a runner-up no more than six times!

Over the course of his golfing career to date, Mickelson has spent over 700 weeks in the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings and has reached world number two several times. With Mickelson’s golf career still going strong, his hopes of winning the US Open and adding to his already impressive earnings.

7) Kevin Durant – Total earnings: $54.1 million

Kevin Durant is a professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA. Durant had a salary of $19.1 million in the past year as well as endorsements of $35 million. This gives him a total earning of an impressive $54.1 million.

Twenty-seven-year-old Durant played one year of college basketball, winning numerous awards throughout that year. He was then selected by the Seattle SuperSonics however he relocated to Oklahoma City after his rookie season where he still plays today.

In 2014, Durant signed a ten-year deal with Nike. The deal is estimated to worth approximately $300 million.

Durant has been referred to as a “scoring prodigy” but is also well known for his kind and approachable demeanour off the court especially where his fans are concerned.

Durant has turned his hand to other fields too with him starring in his first movie in 2012 – Thunderstruck.

6) LeBron James – Total earnings: $64.8 million

Staying with basketball, coming in at number six on the list is LeBron James. LeBron James is an American professional basketball player with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. James finished 2015 with a salary of $20.8 million as well as receiving a further $44 million in endorsements. That brought his total earnings to a very nice $64.8 million.

James who was born on December 30^th 1984, started off playing high school basketball in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. James created quite the impression on the court with the national media promoting him as a “future NBA superstar”.

James started off playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 and stayed there until 2010 when he left to join Miami Heat. The move was highly publicised by the media at the time. After playing four seasons with Miami Heat – two of which he won back to back championships – James made the decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers whom he still plays with now.

Similar to Durant, James had a number of high-paying endorsement deals. He too turned his hand to acting and starred in his first movie – Trainwreck – in 2015.

5) Roger Federer – Total earnings: $67 million

Ranked at number five on the list is tennis superstar Roger Federer. With a salary of $9 million as well as an additional $58 million in endorsements which totals $67 million in the last year alone, Federer is the only tennis professional tennis player to appear on the top ten list.

Federer is a professional Tennis player from Switzerland who was born on August 8^th 1981. Federer turned professional in 1998 and since 2002 has always been ranked in the top ten world players. Currently, Federer is ranked at world number three by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Federer, who is considered one of the best tennis players of all time holds many records including holding the world number one ranking for 302 weeks – 237 of those weeks were consecutive.

Federer who has a contract with Nike for the past ten years finds himself on this list with the help of endorsements from other huge brands such as Rolex, Lindt, Mercedes-Benz, Gillette and Moët & Chandon.

4) Lionel Messi  – Total earnings: $73.8 million

In the battle of world’s richest athlete, Lionel Messi finds himself ranked at number four. With an impressive salary of $51.8 million as well as endorsements to the value of $22 million, Messi entered 2016 with total earnings of a massive $73.8 million.

Lionel Messi is a professional footballer from Argentina. He plays as a forward for his club FC Barcelona as well as for his home country, Argentina. He had established himself as one of the world’s greatest players by age 20 and his talent and success has continued to grow throughout the years.  Messi is considered by most to be one of the greatest footballers of all time. That title is well deserved as Messi has set some impressive records over the past few years. He is the only player in the history of football to have won the prestigious FIFA World Player of the Year award or the FIFA Ballon d’Or a total of five times. What makes this feat even more impressive is that four of those times were consecutive.

Lionel Messi has been compared many times over the years to long-time rival Christiano Ronaldo. Whatever about on the playing field, Messi has fallen short of beating Ronaldo on this list.

3) Christiano Ronaldo – Total earnings: $79.6 million

Coming in at number three is Christiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo is a Portuguese, professional footballer. He plays as a forward for his club Real Madrid in Spain as well as being the current captain of his national team, Portugal. Ronaldo entered 2016 with a salary of $52.6 million. Along with endorsements of $27 million, Ronaldo had total earnings of $79.6 million.

Like Messi, Ronaldo has often been touted as the world’s best footballer with some going as far to say he is one of the best footballers of all time. By the time Ronaldo had reached just 22 years of age, he had been nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year or the Ballon d’Or. He won that award for the first time the following year – 2008 – and had won it twice since in 2013 and 2014.

Ronaldo has turned his hand to other fields too with him opening his own fashion store, co-designing his own range of socks and underwear and he’s even planning to launch his own fragrance. With all this going for him, it comes as no great surprise that Ronaldo features so high on this list.

2) Manny Pacquiao – Total earnings: $160 million

Manny Pacquiao is professional boxer from the Philippines. He is the only eight-division worlds champion the boxing world has ever seen and in the 2000’s, he was named as fighter of the decade. These accolades have helped push Pacquiao to number two on our list. Over the last year, Pacquiao has had a total salary of a whopping $148 million as well as a further $12 million in endorsements. That totals to a massive $160 million making it no surprise that Pacquiao features so highly on this list.

Pacquiao has been named as the best Asian fighter of all time and with good reason. Pacquiao is the longest reigning fighter to feature on the top ten list of pound-for-pound fighters.

In 2015, Pacquiao met with long-time rival, Floyd Mayweather in the ring in what was being described as the “Fight of the Century”. The fight did not live up to the public’s expectations however it was a big earner for both fighters so it comes as no big surprise that they feature in the number two and number spots of this list.

1) Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Total earnings: $300 million

The number one spot is filled with the ever controversial Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather is a now retired professional boxer from the US. Last year he fought Manny Pacquiao after long negotiations. Although deemed a disappointing fight by fans, Mayweather dominated and won. Mayweather had a total salary of $285 million along with a further $15 million in endorsements, meaning his total earnings reached an incredible $300 million.

Mayweather has had a long and successful career and is considered to be one of the greatest boxers of his time. Mayweather has never been defeated since he turned professional, a phenomenon in itself.

Mayweather has faced controversy with him serving a jail term for domestic abuse but that did not affect the revenue he has earned. Earning his spot at the top of the list, they don’t call him Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather for nothing!

The post Wealthiest Athletes in 2018 – See Who Makes The Most Money appeared first on Gazette Review.

Tiger Woods’ Early Life

Tiger Woods was born on December 30th in Cypress, California to Earl and Kultida Woods. His mother was originally from Thailand. His parents met while Earl, whose ancestry is a blend of black, white and native American, was on a tour of duty in 1968. Tiger has referred to his own ethnic identity as “Cablinasion”, a portmanteau made from all of his racial backgrounds.

He grew up in Orange County, California and was introduced to golf  before he turned two. He took to the sport like a duck to water, and was even featured on “The Mike Douglas Show” in 1978 to putt against Bob Hope. By the time he was three he had already shot a forty eight over nine holes at the Cypress Navy course, and by five was appearing in Golf Digest and “That’s Incredible” on ABC. Tiger Woods would first break eighty strokes at age eight, and under seventy by the time he was twelve. His father, Earl, has stated that Tiger first beat him in a serious game at age eleven, and Tiger would never lose another game against him again.

His first major tournament came in 1989 when he was just thirteen years old. The Big I paired each qualifying young golfer with an established pro, Tiger was paired with John Daly, who beat the young Tiger Woods by a single stroke. Two years later Woods became the youngest winner of the U.S. Junior Amateur, holding the record until 2010, where it was beaten by Jim Liu. He was named SoCal Am player of the year in 1990 and 1991. He won the U.S. Junior Amateur championship again in 1992, becoming the first multiple winner of the tournament, and as of the following years win, the only three time winner of the competition.

He was the youngest winner of the TPC at Sawgrass in Florida until 2008, when the title became Danny Lee’s. He was also a member of the 1994 American Eisenhower Trophy World Amateur team and the 1995 Walker Cup Team. They won the former, but lost the latter. Tiger Woods graduated from high school in 1994, having been voted the most likely to succeed. He was offered numerous golf scholarships at several prestigious institutions and ultimately went with Stanford University.

Tiger Woods’ Professional Career

Tiger woods had a very successful collegiate career. While studying economics at Stanford University Woods won most of the tournaments he played in. His time at university was cut short though. After only two years of study Tiger left Stanford to turn pro in August of 1996. He immediately signed sponsorship deals with Nike and Titleist, becoming one of golf’s highest payed athletes almost over-night. In 1997  he won his first major tournament, The Masters, becoming the youngest ever winner of the event. Two months later he was the number 1 ranked golfer in the world, setting a record for fastest ascent.

While all eyes were on the young golf prodigy after his astounding 1997 Masters victory, his performance throughout 1998 failed to meet expectations. He won only one PGA tour event, causing critics to write him off. He shrugged off the naysayers and in 1999 he had eight season wins, something that had not been done since 1974. His 2000 win streak of six had not been done since Ben Hogan in 1948. 2000 would arguably be the best of Woods’ career, though he had plenty of wins left in him. It wasn’t until 2009 that he really began to falter.

The full 2009 season was actually one of Tiger’s most consistent of his career. He didn’t win much, but his play was solid. It was the revelation of marital infidelity that came to light at the tail end of 2009 that really knocked him for six, and prompted him to remove himself from the professional scene. In 2004 Woods married Swedish model Elin Nordegren. In November of 2009 the news broke that Tiger was having an affair with Rachel Uchitel, a nightclub manager from New York. She denied the claim, but Tiger later released a press statement confirming that he had been having an affair.

Over the days and weeks that followed his admission he lost several sponsorship deals, with the total estimated losses valued at $22 million. He announced at the end of 2009 that he would not be competing for a while, but returned in April 2010 for the Masters. The 2010 season was terrible for Tiger. He finished the tournament in fourth place, which would be his best performance of the year. For some reason he was still ranked #2 in the world at the end of 2010.

What is Tiger Woods Doing Now In 2018?

Since 2010 we have seen a steady improvement in Tiger Woods’ performance all the way up to 2013, when injury began afflicting him more regularly. An elbow injury caused a poor showing in the 2013 U.S. Open, and a back injury the following year put him out of Honda Classic the following year.

Back injuries seem to be a theme in Tiger’s recent showings, with an apparently unrelated issue forcing him to drop out of the Farmer’s Insurance Open last February. He also played poorly in both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship, missing the cut for the majors and finishing near bottom of the table in both. He was replaced as the face of EA’s popular PGA Tour series of video games last year as well, with Belfast’s own Rory McIlroy taking up the mantle.

After receiving a second microdiscectomy surgery on his back, it is unknown when Tiger Woods will be returning to the circuit. He was last seen practicing in late February, but has confirmed that he will not be back on from of The Masters in April. He has stated to the press that he is feeling a lot better, and is able to chip and putt, but his drive is not yet back at a level he is happy with. It may well be next year that we see him back on the course.

2017 has seen a major return to form for the great golfer. Perhaps now past his demons, Tiger has stepped up his 2017 appearances. His performance on the course has been cited as great, though we have yet to see much televised. Interestingly he has 5-1 odds on winning a major this year, the best odds we’ve seen for him in a long time. An interesting time to be a Tiger Woods fan.

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