Free Pizza

Still, this week it is a more humble Wie - now also a student at Stanford University - who is attempting to secure her playing rights on the LPGA Tour. All talk of playing one day alongside the men, and even at the Masters, have finally gone by the wayside. She is getting down to the serious business of qualifying for the women's tour and is having to earn the right from scratch. She would have been satisfied with a first round of 69 that put her in a share of sixth place, but knows she cannot afford any slips along the way.

One thing, however, is certain. In these tough economic times, the ladies' tour can only benefit from a player of Wie's class. If she rediscovers her natural game, which is beautiful to watch when she is on song, then she will give hope to those Americans looking for challengers to the Korean onslaught. The game in the States needs her now as much as it ever did.

The shot of the year

My favourite golfing moment of 2008 came one Sunday in July when I had the good fortune to be standing just yards away from Padraig Harrington as he hit his astonishing five-wood approach shot into the treacherous 17th green at Royal Birkdale that effectively sealed his second Open Championship in succession.

It was a shot fraught with danger and one that, had it gone wrong, could have cost him the claret jug. But such was the Irishman's confidence that he never had any doubts that he could pull it off. And pull it off he did, the ball flying 220 yards through the air before landing and rolling to within three feet of the pin for an eagle that put him out of reach. At the time, he led Ian Poulter, who had already finished, by two shots, and Greg Norman, his playing partner, by three.

Little wonder, then, that Harrington has just picked up an award for the European Tour's shot of the year. This would take some beating in any year you could care to mention and he is rightfully proud.

“I was anxious that Greg could make eagle going down there, and if I laid up and I made par, all of a sudden it was very close. I wasn't so much worried about the guy that was two holes ahead of me and finished (Poulter). I was worried if I laid up and made par, I was giving Greg a great chance to get within one shot of me, and one shot is not comfortable in any shape or form going down the 18th.

“So I wanted to take it on although there was obviously trouble on the right and left. A low shot, I felt, was always going to be an advantage. So I used the down slope in my favour and the ball came out nice and low. Once I hit it, it was perfect. It's one of the few times I think I've ever heard my caddie say good shot to me before the ball is finished. Normally he waits until the ball has actually stopped before he says anything.

“It was a real bonus to finish three feet away. I would have been quite happy with it on the green and take my chances with two putts. Once it was three feet away I made sure I holed it. You can’t have enough of a lead going down the 18th in a major.

All I can say is, Thanks for the memory, Padraig.

Trump turnaround

Could the credit crunch put paid to Donald Trump's controversial £1 billion golf resort development in the north-east of Scotland? Things are not looking as rosy as they did just a few months ago, with reports that the billionaire property developer is in financial difficulty and has had to put on hold other developments from as far afield as Chicago and Dubai. Word is that the project will go ahead, but the more you think about it, the less likely it seems that he will find a demand for the huge number of properties that will need to be sold on the site to make the whole thing viable.

Further signs of financial turmoil? Loch Lomond (the golf club, not the loch itself): for sale at $150 million.

Hero of the week

Actually, this week there are two of them, Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson, for an outstanding final round of 63 in the foursomes that sealed victory at the Omega World Cup, at Mission Hills, in China. At the start of the day, the pair were four strokes behind Spain and Australia, but came through to win by three.