Michelle Wie - Lovely in Lavender

Golf photographer Patrick Micheletti captures the spirit of golf better than anyone out there. His evocative lens lets us feel the warmth of the sun on an afternoon fairway or the jubilance of an unlikely putt made late in a grueling round.

Check Patrick's daily photoblog for shots that'll surely surprise and delight you. Right now his focus is on the 2007 Evian Masters and hence this charming photo of Michelle Wie, looking... lovely in lavender. (Oh, BTW, lavender is my new favorite color).

Michelle looks relaxed and happy here, very girl-next-door. You get the impression she really likes where she is, and one can almost imagine her saying, "Yeah, I'm gonna be a freshman at Stanford in September but for now I'm just having fun playing some golf in the French Alps."

Over the past couple of months many golf writers have painted a grim portrait of the 17 year old. Some even speculating that she was on the verge of a Lindsey/Britney meltdown. Personally, I never bought that stuff. Was she over hyped by journalists and bloggers hungry for stories about pretty girls, big hitters, teen sensations and Tiger successors? I guess that's fair to say. But despite what she's gone through in the past year, despite the fact that some are saying her career is over... damaged beyond repair, I get the impression that for Michelle Wie, it's all just beginning.