StarBulletin.com

Wie takes second-round lead in Mexico


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POSTED: Saturday, May 01, 2010

MORELIA, Mexico » Hawaii's Michelle Wie held her game together with the wind hollowing through the mountainside ravines at the Tres Marias Championship, shooting a 5-under 68 yesterday to take a one-stroke lead.

Brittany Lincicome (67) and Japan's Ai Miyazato (72) were tied for second.

But the gusts and the emotional ups-and-downs got to Lorena Ochoa, who fell five strokes off the pace with a 73 in her farewell tournament.

This is the last event for the top-ranked Ochoa, under some pressure to deliver a victory for her adoring fans in Mexico—she has won the event three times—before stepping away.

“;I'll take it I guess with these conditions,”; Ochoa said. “;With all the emotions I am going through and the adrenaline it's been a little bit tough.”;

Wie beat the wind, and seems to love playing in Mexico where she won her first LPGA event 5 1/2 months ago in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara—Ochoa's hometown.

“;It's fun over here,”; Wie said. “;It's a good attitude over here; relaxed, great weather, great people and hopefully I can keep it going.”;

It could have been even better for Wie, who pulled off a spectacular birdie on the 541-yard 16th, but then stumbled with two bogeys.

 

TIGER BOTTOMS OUT

Finally, all the talk about Tiger Woods was mostly about his golf.

And it was more bad news.

In a shocking meltdown yesterday at the Quail Hollow Championship, Woods missed the cut for only the sixth time in his career with a performance that was incomparable for all the wrong reasons.

He shot a 79, his worst score on American soil as a pro and the second-highest of his career. He matched his highest score on nine holes with a 43 on the back nine, and that was with three solid pars on the tough closing stretch. His 36-hole score of 153 was the highest in his 14 years on the PGA Tour.

Rust? Mechanics? Distractions from a personal life in turmoil?

“;It is what it is,”; Woods said. “;Whatever it was, it wasn't good enough.”;

Not even close.

He missed the cut by a whopping eight shots—and he was 17 shots behind 36-hole leader Billy Mayfair—and headed back to Florida as speculation mounts that being caught in rampant extramarital affairs has tarnished more than his image.

 

TWO TIED AT SENIORS

Bob Tway and 63-year-old Leonard Thompson shot 5-under 67s to share the first-round lead in the inaugural Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Saucier.

Tom Purtzer, David Peoples, Brad Bryant and David Eger opened with 68s at Fallen Oak.