CASIO WORLD OPEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A gallery of hundreds watched Michelle Wie today during the Casio World Open's first round.
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Wie opens Casio with 81
The Hawaii teen notches nine bogeys in the men's event where she almost made the cut last year
By Jim Armstrong
Associated Press
KOCHI, Japan » Michelle Wie had another terrible round in a men's event, shooting a 9-over 81 today in the first round of the Casio World Open.
The 17-year-old's troubles started early on the Kuroshio Country Club course. After teeing off in light rain on No. 10, she bogeyed the par-4 12th hole and had four straight bogeys starting with the par-3 14th.
"I don't think it was pressure," Wie said. "My first couple of drives went left and it was tough to get my rhythm back after that."
Wie, who had nine bogeys, is making her second appearance in the Japanese tour event. Last year, she bogeyed the final two holes in the second round to miss the cut by a stroke in her first appearance in Japan.
Japanese players Tetsuya Haraguchi, Yoshikazu Haku and Thailand's Thammanoon Srirot were tied for the lead at 5 under with more than half of the 102-player field still on the course. Wie was 101st, two strokes ahead of last-place Tomomichi Oto.
Despite failing to make a single birdie, Wie said she wasn't too concerned about her game.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii 17-year-old Michelle Wie did not like the look of her tee shot on No. 10 today in the Casio World Open.
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"I don't think I was playing that bad," she said. "My long game put a lot pressure on my short game. I have to get my confidence back on my drive and just hit the ball the way I always do and I'll be fine."
Wie has made the cut in one of her 11 starts on men's tours, in May in the Asian Tour's SK Telecom Open in South Korea.
In her last three men's events, she withdrew from the John Deere Classic because of heat exhaustion after playing 27 holes in 8 over and finished last in the European Masters (78-79) and 84 Lumber Classic (77-81). She's winless in 33 LPGA Tour appearances, the last nine as a professional.
Wie said she was still confident about making the cut.
"I've been practicing and working on my game a lot," she said. "I still have a positive mind-set for tomorrow."
Scotland's Colin Montgomerie withdrew from the event, citing personal reasons.