Eric Risberg / AP file

B.J. Wie has taken the wrong approach in trying to force-feed his daughter Michelle into big events before she's ready, Mike Celizic writes.

I do know that B.J. used to talk about how much money it was costing him when she was 14 and 15 and jetting around the world to play in tournaments she really had no business entering. It was $50,000 one year and he was looking at $100,000 two years ago. Of course, he could have just cut back on the schedule and let her develop her game. Instead, he went the pro route.

Everybody talks about 300-yard drives, but as others have pointed out before me, the most important distance in the game is six inches — the distance between your ears. And there’s nothing that messes with your head in golf like failure. That’s how the yips take root. It also happens in other sports. In baseball, it’s Knoblauch’s Syndrome — the inability to throw the ball to another player. And once these things take root, they’re hard — sometimes impossible — to exterminate.

Wie is in real danger of seeing that happen. And if she can’t score and contend, she’s worthless. I know she has $20 million in the bank, but I don’t see that as the ultimate goal.

Talent like she has is a rare gift. The wise person nurtures a talent like that and doesn’t do anything to jeopardize it. The foolish person rushes out and cashes in right now, forgetting that what looks like big money is just a drop in the bucket compared to her long-term earning potential.

Parents have an obligation to their children to help them develop their talents. They’re free to cash in on them when they turn 18, but that should never be a parent’s goal. B.J. Wie should have recognized that Michelle is his daughter, not his retirement fund.

She said she hopes to be back next week to play the McDonald’s LPGA Championship. She also says she’s going to play in another men’s event, the John Deere Classic.

She’s a pro, so the LPGA tournament is appropriate, even though she really should be gearing up for the U.S. Women’s Junior Amateur and the U.S. Women’s Amateur. That’s what Nicklaus and Woods were doing at her age — working their way up.

Retief Goosen, the South African pro, recently said this about Wie’s efforts to play against the men: "We all know with her playing in the men's events that she is not going to get anywhere, so I'm not really sure what she is trying to achieve. If she thinks it is helping her development then fine, but so far I think it has been damaging to her game."

And to her future.