Wies Parents at the Center of Controversy

The Monday resignation of Greg Nared, Michelle Wies agent, can not be seen as anything but a setback to the Wie camp.

The story broke Monday morning and by the time I reached Nared by phone around lunch time he was already packing his bags in Los Angeles and getting ready to return to Oregon where he lived when working for Nike and Tiger Woods.

Nared is widely respected and trusted inside the golf industry. And he did not want to elaborate on the resignation statement he had released earlier in the day to the Associated Press.

But he did say he wanted nothing but the best for Wie. Shes a wonderful kid, he said. Nared also said he probably will not return to Nike. Rather, he said, he expects to start his own business.

Meanwhile, a source close to the Wie situation told me Nareds problem was the same one that prompted’exactly one year ago’the resignation of Ross Berlin, her previous agent. Everybody in the business knows the deal, the source said. Its just very hard for her parents to accept advice.

Apparently its also very hard for Bo and B.J. Wie to be apart from their daughter. And this has not gone unnoticed at Stanford, where Michelle has just begun her first year. Most normal freshmen dont have total helicopter parents like Bo and B.J., one school official told me. Her parents follow her around so closely you could throw a little (pup) tent over the three of them.

Stanford Golf Course officials already are requiring Wie to pay the student rate of $25 every time she plays the course there. Plus, they are charging her parents a cart fee to ride along and follow their daughter.

Calls from GOLF CHANNEL to B.J. Wie have not been returned.

Jesse Derris, of Sunshine, Sachs & Associates, released a statement on behalf of Michelle Wie and her team at the William Morris Agency concerning Nareds resignation:

While we are sorry that Greg will no longer be handling the road management of Michelle, we wish to thank him for his work and wish him the best going forward. The core group of agents handling Michelles business relationships remains intact, as it has from day one of her professional career.

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