Wie gets a head start on John Deere preparations

SILVIS, Ill. » There was one consolation for Michelle Wie in getting knocked out of the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

It allowed the 16-year-old Punahou student to get an early start on preparations for this week's John Deere Classic.

Wie, parents B.J. and Bo, and caddie Greg Johnston arrived in the Quad Cities yesterday, and it wasn't long before they were out on the hilly TPC course at Deere Run, mapping out the plan for Wie's next attempt to make the cut in a PGA event. The first round is Thursday.

This will be Wie's fifth try to be the first female to make it to the weekend with the PGA Tour men since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945. Wie has come up short the past three years at the Sony Open and here last year, when she missed the cut by two strokes with bogeys on two of the last four holes. She shot 1-under 141.

She did make the cut once at a men's pro event, in May in South Korea at the Asian Tour's SK Telecom Open, where she finished tied for 35th. Se Ri Pak, whom Wie beat in the HSBC round of 16 on Saturday, previously made the cut at a Korean men's event, in 2003.

Tomorrow, Wie joins JDC defending champion Sean O'Hair, Jason Day and Zach Johnson in a practice round that is the highlight of Youth Golf Day at Deere Run.

Tournament organizers expect up to 500 children to participate in the free event, which includes an opportunity for them to meet Wie and her playing partners after the practice round.

Dean Wilson, a PGA Tour pro from Kaneohe, is also in the JDC field. He shot even-par 284 for 70th place in last year's tournament.