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12-year-old Michelle Wie continued her remarkable journey by becoming one of the youngest golfers ever to qualify for an LPGA event.
isle golfer qualifies
for pro event
Michelle Wie is among
the youngest golfers to ever
qualify for an LPGA tournamentBy Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comOnly 12, the Punahou School youngster claimed a spot at this week's 2002 LPGA Takefuji Classic by shooting an 83 in yesterday's qualifying round at the wind-swept Waikoloa Beach Course on the Big Island.
She and fellow local golfer, Sally Soranaka, who now makes her home on the Woodlands, Texas, secured the final two openings in the first full-field event on the LPGA Tour. Soranaka is a 17-year-old amateur who made a name for herself by winning the Hawaii Ladies State Open. Her 79 was the best round among the four golfers trying to qualify for this week's $900,000 tournament.
The 54-hole event begins Thursday morning with Lorie Kane as the defending champion.
Annika Sorenstam, who is coming off a dramatic victory over Karrie Webb at the ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia this past weekend, is the headline act. She won the inaugural Takefuji Classic in 2000 by beating Webb in a playoff.
Sorenstam was the LPGA's 2001 Player of the Year. She won eight tournaments, pocketing $2.1 million and becoming the first woman to shoot 59 in an LPGA event.
For Wie, competing with Sorenstam will be a big thrill.
"I'm excited just to be playing in a tournament like this one," Wie said in a telephone interview after yesterday's qualifying round. "To be in the same field as Sorenstam is a dream come true. I just hope I play better than I did today."
Wie's round was an eventful one on the 6,164-yard, par-70 course. She opened with a triple bogey, trailed fellow competitors Leigh Ann Mills and Jean Zedlitz by as many as 10 shots, and only had two birdies for the round.
"But that wasn't too bad, I guess, considering the conditions," Wie said. "They said the wind was blowing 40 miles an hour. I believe it. I played really bad. Most of the time, I was walking in the lava. Right now, my legs are so sore I can hardly walk."
Wie shot a 42 on the front nine and a 41 on the back that included a double and triple bogey. Her birdie on the par-5 18th allowed her to beat Mills by one shot. Had they finished in a tie, they would have been in a sudden-death playoff.
"I was glad to get that birdie on the 18th," Wie said of the 524-yard finishing hole to shoot 13-over-par. "A lot of golf balls were blown off the green. It was kind of frustrating. Today, you had to keep the ball down and try to stay as close to the greens to get par."
Wie will try to become the first amateur since JoAnne Carner in 1969 to finish first in an LPGA Tour event. Carner was 30 at the time she won the tournament in Miami. The youngest woman to ever win on the LPGA tour was Marlene Hagge. She captured the Sarasota Open in 1952 as an 18-year-old.
"I just want to make the cut," Wie said. "That's my first goal."
The cut will take place on Friday after 36 holes. If Wie does survive, she will not accept any money after Saturday's final round so as not to lose her amateur status.