Sports Notebook
Star-Bulletin staff
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michelle Wie attracts fans wherever she plays, as she did in South Korea last year.
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Appleby thinks Wie should cut back
KAPALUA, Maui » Stuart Appleby believes Michelle Wie's quest to play with the big boys has run its course.
The Punahou School senior will try to make the cut at next week's Sony Open in Hawaii for the fourth time in as many years. She has failed to play on the weekend in 11 of 12 men's events she has entered, including twice at the John Deere Classic and once at the 84 Lumber Classic.
What has hurt Wie's cause of late is how poorly she has fared when facing off with the men. Many PGA Tour players don't like to see sponsor's exemptions going to Wie, instead of a full-fledged member, especially when she's finishing last in the field.
"I hope she plays better," Appleby said yesterday during an interview for the Mercedes-Benz Championship. "It's great exposure for the tournament. I'm not sure when it's going to finish, the saga, whether she has to make a cut or whether that makes her want to play more events, I don't really know.
"I think she came five years too early to try to play the men's tour. I think she should really just let it go for now, come back when she's more accomplished at a game that's more comparable to say someone like Annika (Sorenstam). Annika did her thing.
"She's (Wie) just not ready for it. She's certainly not proving anything except that she can't play with the men at her level right now. There's no doubt she's going to improve dramatically as a player and mature as a person, but right now, it's just the wrong time."
Wie recently announced that she will attend Stanford University next fall. She signed a contract with Sony Corporation upon turning pro as a 16-year-old in October of 2005, and has boosted ticket sales for the Sony Open the last three years she has played. Two prominent tour members, who will also receive sponsor's exemptions for the Sony Open, are former world No. 1 David Duval and John Daly.
First-time PGA Tour member Parker McLachlin received an exemption from Sony officials as well. The graduate of UCLA also attended Punahou School. He made the cut at last year's Sony with former Kaneohe resident Scott Simpson on the bag, Wie came within one shot of making the cut at the Sony in 2005.
"A couple of times it's nice, it's interesting," Appleby said. "But now it's getting to the stage where she'll get criticized too much and she needs to pull the plug and come back when she's 20, 25."
Woods, Mickelson MIA:
There were 36 golfers eligible to compete in this year's winners-only tournament with 34 opting to begin their 2007 season at the Plantation Course on Maui. The two exceptions? Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Tournament director Gary Planos said he was disappointed that Woods skipped the Mercedes for a second consecutive season, but added he had a tournament to run. Most folks knew Mickelson, who hasn't played here since 2001, wouldn't be coming, but Woods waited until the last minute before deciding to sit this one out.
Three-time defending champion Appleby and world No. 2 Jim Furyk conceded Woods not being here changes things, but added that the tournament field, which includes U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, remains strong.
"Phil said he wasn't going to play, four months, five months, seems like an eternity off," Appleby said. "Tiger made his decision-making later. Having won three times, I'd like to think I have some intimidation factor on him, and he's just not interested in coming over here.
"He was going for, what, his seventh (straight) official win, maybe he didn't want me to break his run. I don't know what I have on him. It must be some psychic power to keep him away."
Appleby paused to let the laughter die down a bit, before continuing.
"No, I'm sure it's disappointing," the Aussie said. "We all want to play against Tiger because we know any given week he can just explode, and there's a lot of really top players here. I'm here. I don't want to be too selfish, but we are all players trying to do our thing and Tiger sure is enjoying his lifestyle back home."
When told Woods was skiing, Appleby just couldn't contain himself.
"I hear skiers can break their legs -- maybe we won't see much of him for a while, if he hits the wrong slope."
Furyk also took a small swipe at Woods, who only played in 15 PGA Tour events last year, winning eight.
"What's he going to cut back to, 14?" Furyk said, then smiled. "Our season is just so long. I'm not complaining, but if I wanted to, I could probably play 50 weeks out of the year. A guy like Tiger gets pulled at more angles than any of the rest of us.
"It's his choice. Obviously, it's tough for any event that doesn't have him in the field and it will hurt. But you know, he's got to make sure he takes care of himself first. And if that's the plan and that's the way to do it, then he needs to decide and that's fine."
Star-studded pro-am:
If folks want to come out and see the stars, today's pro-am is just the ticket. Adam Scott tees off at 7 a.m. with world champion surfer Kelly Slater among the four amateurs in the group.
Appleby follows 10 minutes later and will enjoy film actor Dennis Hopper's company over the 5-hour round. Hopper is a regular in the Mercedes amateur field. Furyk will play with 1970s rock star Alice Cooper. Television standout Craig T. Nelson will play 18 holes with Vijay Singh, who has come close to winning this event several times since it moved to Maui.
Kyle MacLachlan of "Twin Peaks" fame will play with Arron Oberholser, while Trevor Immelman will compete with avid golfer and movie star Samuel L. Jackson. Comedian and TV standout Cheech Marin will tour the Plantation Course with Ben Curtis, and actor Mark Wahlberg will play in John Rollins' group.