One golfer who will be glad to see the back of 2007 is Michelle Wie.

The past year has been an unmitigated disaster, two giant steps back.

Her game was nowhere because she rushed two wrist injuries and suffered for it; her public image was hammered by withdrawals during tournaments, reports that she received on-course coaching from her omnipresent father, stories of how she upset players like Annika Sorenstam with her actions and words - the list goes on and on.

Finally, the 2007 nightmare is coming to an end. Does this mean, then, that Michelle Wie will awake to a bright new dawn in 2008?

Well, that depends on which press story you read.

This week she has been in Florida working with her swing coach, David Leadbetter.

In one story, written by respected AP golf writer, Doug Ferguson, Leadbetter is quoted as saying, "Her health is getting better, her game is getting better, the confidence is growing. The plan hasn't been made totally for this year yet, but she's looking to play one or two Hawaiian events against the women" [in 2008].

Yet, in another story penned by Lewine Mair in the Daily Telegraph, Leadbetter says, "She's full of the joys of spring and is back to full health. For the first time in 12 months, she is swinging well and feeling no pain".

She's either getting better or is back to full health. We're left wondering.

Mair's story on Wie is titled "Michelle Wie Opts out of Men's Events"; Ferguson's article has this banner: "Teen figuring out a schedule that might not include men".

Ferguson maintains Leadbetter believes that competition against men "would probably be on hold until she gets her health and her game back together".

Mair's take on that point is this: "[Wie] has said that she will not be playing in any men's events in 2008. The only exception may come at the end of the season with an appearance in Asia. Wie, 18, has explained her change of tack to her coach, David Leadbetter, during lessons at his Florida academy this week."

She must have said one thing and Leadbetter heard something different, then.

In fact, according to the AP's Ferguson, Leadbetter claims Wie "is not ready to play in that [the Sony Open, a PGA event] yet".

Does that not leave the door just a little bit ajar, then?

According to the swing coach, Wie's parents have been trying to "find a balance" between golf and school in the spring when she returns for her second semester at Stanford University.

That balance, Leadbetter said, includes a full playing schedule. Balance? I guess it is if you're Michelle Wie's parents and she is your mule.

In the end, we are left with a picture of Michelle Wie for the coming year that is as clear as mud.

It also hints at having the makings of another tough one for the 18 year old.