Michelle Wie Poised to Make History

[Guest dafleur]

16-Year-Old Aims to Become First Woman to Qualify for U.S. Open

Wie Poised to Make History
16-Year-Old Aims to Become First Woman to Qualify for U.S. Open

By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 5, 2006; 5:30 PM

SUMMIT, N.J., June 5 -- Michelle Wie, trying to become the first woman to qualify for the men's U.S. Open golf championship, chipped in from the side of the 18th green for a birdie and posted a round of 2-under 68 Monday at Canoe Brook Golf Club. In her second round, she made it back to 2-under with a birdie on her eighth hole after a bogey had threatened to derail her chances.

Wie, 16, who will start her senior year in high school in the fall, played a bogey-free first round in a field of 153 players. Only the top 18 will make it to the Open, which will be played at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., from June 15 to 18.

After 27 holes, she was tied for 20th place.

The second round of 18 holes was played on a longer course at Canoe Brook. After her bogey, Wie was able to rebound with pars on the next six holes and finally got the birdie.

This morning, Wie got off to a somewhat shaky start in the first round on Canoe Brook's 6,700-yard South Course, scrambling to make par on the opening hole with a 15-foot saving putt.

The teenager from Hawaii had her only birdie on the front nine at the par-5 sixth hole when she two-putted from 20 feet.

Wie had several other decent birdie chances on her opening nine holes, missing four putts inside 10 feet, including a four-footer at the fourth hole.

She struggled a bit on the back nine, missing two more 10-footers, then brought her chip in from a difficult lie off the 18th green. That shot evoked a huge roar from a gallery of about 1,000 spectators.

Wie smiled broadly and pumped her fist when the ball dropped into the cup, leaving her four shots behind the early leader, Kevin Stadler.

When Wie finished her first 18 holes, 26 players were at 2 under par or better.

Of the 153 competitors at Canoe Brook, 135 are professionals, and nearly 50 are PGA Tour players. Among them are Mark O'Meara, Mark Brooks, Brett Quigley and Tom Pernice Jr.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6060500618.html

[LucasBunny]

So does she play for Korea or America??

[Guest ninpoo]

She's still horrible at golf. Choke more imo.

[LucasBunny]

She's still horrible at golf. Choke more imo.

Yeh but she's 80x richer than you!

Guess it pays to be horrible!

[Guest supa'Wanki]

like william hung?! lol

[joonage]

like william hung?! lol

lol ... thats harsh ...

She might have a chance ... She has to bring her A-Game tho ... and not choke

[Guest Fabolous]

should have spent more time practicing instead of going on variety shows...

[xkrndreamer]

i heard she didnt qualify on the radio. too bad...

[Guest stellabella]

I was just watching her on x-man today. When did she make her appearance on that show? I didn't get the date...

Anyways, for a GIRL and being THAT YOUNG, I'd agree with most people that she's a golf prodigy. Imagine how good she'll be in her adult years.

[Guest AsOne]

I was just watching her on x-man today. When did she make her appearance on that show? I didn't get the date...

Anyways, for a GIRL and being THAT YOUNG, I'd agree with most people that she's a golf prodigy. Imagine how good she'll be in her adult years.

she was on x-man last last week.

[Guest csnrain]

If she keeps up a hard work ethic and remains focused on golf, I believe she has it in her to become a great golfer in a few years....

however.....she should concentrate on dominating the women's tournaments before she even THINKS about competing with the men.

[Guest tenshiii0ox]

So does she play for Korea or America??

She plays for America. I remember this one time Wie had another competitor, and the female golfer was from Korea. All the Americans placed their bets on Wie, but the Korean golfer ended up winning. Big time loss for them eh? :]

[Guest heygingersnap]

wow, good luck to her.

[xkrndreamer]

She plays for America. I remember this one time Wie had another competitor, and the female golfer was from Korea. All the Americans placed their bets on Wie, but the Korean golfer ended up winning. Big time loss for them eh? :]

oh yeah i saw it on the news today. it was the mcdonals tour or something like that. michelle didnt play well and was in fifth. the korean golfer, pak se ri won.

what happened to grace (park?)

[Guest suki_*]

Wow i never knew she was 16 she looked so much older on x-men!!!

[Guest sparklnshine789]

She's so tallllll-very uncharacteristic of an asian girl haha but anyway she's a really good golfer and knows how to deal with the pressure. Not to mention a tremendous athlete. Of course I'm jealous of the girl..she's accomplished more than I have in the sport and we're the same age. Plus she's already sponsored by Nike and probably has an enormous salary...but I can't help but respect her for what she's done. People who have achieved stuff like she has deserve more recognition than criticism...I mean give it a break, she's been dedicated all this time and worked unbelievably hard

[Guest ninpoo]

She's so tallllll-very uncharacteristic of an asian girl haha but anyway she's a really good golfer and knows how to deal with the pressure. Not to mention a tremendous athlete. Of course I'm jealous of the girl..she's accomplished more than I have in the sport and we're the same age. Plus she's already sponsored by Nike and probably has an enormous salary...but I can't help but respect her for what she's done. People who have achieved stuff like she has deserve more recognition than criticism...I mean give it a break, she's been dedicated all this time and worked unbelievably hard

Why should people give her a break? She's an "athlete" anyone should be able to critque something they pay for. Is it entertaining for people to watch someone get a lot of publicity, for doing nothing? Oh wait, this is America.

[Guest Jeffversion2]

^ Yeah technically in competitive sports there are those really die hard fans who back up their star no matter what, then there are those who criticize them as well when they make mistakes.

MY viewpoint on Wie was great at first because I felt as though she was accomplishing so much feats in so little time for a 16 year old from Hawaii. But as of late I've been losing alot of my support for her because I see this run at the men's US Open as arrogance. Sure you can go for it but to say that you had a valid chance but didn't qualify because of a bad day isn't something she should be saying with the amount of experience behind her belt. Sure you can drive the ball 300 yards will consistency on that distance but her putting is off EVER tournament she's played in so she can't say it's only off for the qualifying round for the Men's US Open.

I mean look at other Hawaii teens that qualified for the Women's US Open. Stephanie Kono, who's also 16 and hails from Punahou has to me more experience than Wie because she doesn't "go for it all" and plays at her own age level to gain more experience for the future. There's also Kimberly Kim from Arizona, BUT at one time she played here on Hilo's own Municipal golf course. She's 14. Does she go for the US Open? No, because she recognizes that in time she may very well be ready instead of arrogantly charging in their with nothing ot prove but you aren't ready.

[Guest PINKXDREAMER]

should have spent more time practicing instead of going on variety shows...

lol. true that.

well, good luck to her on making history =]

[babybeck]

^ give the girl a break. she went on 1 or 2 shows while she was visiting korea. just to show her homeland that she acknowledge that she's korean...

golfers don't have to spend every single minute playing golf.

i'm not sure if she'll be any good in the future, but good luck to her.

she's only 16. wait til she gets a bit older. if by then, she still sucks, then we can criticise all that we want.