Wongluekiet Twins Forging Identities
RANCHO MIRAGE — The names on the lockers this week at Mission Hills go like this, in order, Naree, Aree, Karrie. . . .
We may be talking the chain of command on the LPGA Tour in the next few years. Naree and Aree Wongluekiet are 14-year-old amateurs playing in their second Nabisco Championship, where Karrie Webb is not only the defending champion but also the top player in the game.
At this point, Webb is hoping nobody is too quick to tear the pages from the calendar.
“I’m glad we’ve got four more years until they’re out here because we’re going to be in trouble when they are,” Webb said of the twins.
When the tournament begins Thursday, Webb will be trying to repeat, Naree will be trying to make the cut and Aree will be trying to finish in the top 10, as she did a year ago when she and her sister laughed and left some cute notes taped to Webb’s locker.
It’s going to be hard for either of the Florida sisters to crack the top 10 but they have a lot going for them. They’re so much older now, at 14, their experience is vast and, pretty soon, they’ll grow into their feet.
“I relate to her,” Nancy Lopez said of Aree. “She has big feet too. I’ll tell you, whenever she plays in the wind, she won’t have any trouble keeping her balance.”
Actually, neither Wongluekiet seems likely to lose her balance, even playing against the best women’s professionals. Aree won the Nancy Lopez Award as the top woman amateur in the U.S., and Naree is also a top junior player.
Ty Votaw, the LPGA commissioner, says Aree’s realm extends beyond the U.S.
“She is without question the best female amateur golfer in the world,” he said.
Aree was the American Junior Golf Assn.’s player of the year and won such events as the Junior Orange Bowl, the PGA Junior, Junior World and the World Golf Village Junior. Besides tying for 10th at the Nabisco, she tied for 13th at the Safeway LPGA Championship.
The twins--Naree is nine minutes older--are daughters of a Korean dad and a Thai mom who moved the Wongluekiet family to Bradenton, Fla., from Thailand.
Naree acknowledges Aree as the better golfer, but says they are just about the same in many other areas.
“We are comparable,” Naree said. “We still dress alike.”
The twins wore matching brown caps, matching sunglasses, orange shirts and black slacks Tuesday. Only their shoes were different. Naree wore white spikes, Aree’s were white with black stripes.
They are eligible to play in four LPGA events but cannot become LPGA members until they are 18, although they could turn pro at any time. There is no timetable for the big move to the pros, the twins say.
If she were asked to give the Wongluekiets advice, Webb says, it would be to enjoy childhood, since they will have years to play professional golf and it’s not likely that they’re going to fall flat on their faces.
“They’re in a league of their own,” Webb said.
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Nabisco Championship
* When--Thursday through Sunday
* Where--Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage
* Prize money--$1.5 million ($225,000 to winner)
* Defending champion--Karrie Webb
* TV--Thursday-Friday, ESPN, 12:30-2:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, ABC, 1-3 p.m.
* Field--96 players, among them Webb, Annika Sorenstam, Se Ri Pak, Lorie Kane, Juli Inkster, Betsy King, Nancy Lopez, Laura Davies, Dottie Pepper, Sophie Gustafson, Grace Park.
