[ GOLF ]
Wie plays with
pros again
PORTLAND, Ore. >> While Annika Sorenstam is having the year of her career, Michelle Wie is busy launching hers.
The LPGA's present and future are both in Oregon this week for the LPGA Safeway Classic at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
Sorenstam won this tournament last year but that seems like a lifetime ago. Since there have been two wins in majors, an appearance on the PGA Tour, and the recent Solheim Cup.
"I feel like I've been everywhere," Sorenstam said. "I've been to Asia, I've been on the men's tour, and I've been playing Solheim. And then later in the year I'm going to play the Skins Game. I mean, the spectrum.
"I've been everywhere it seems like."
Wie, the long-driving 13-year-old phenom from Honolulu, is making her second trip to Oregon this year. She also played in the U.S. Women's Open at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in nearby North Plains.
It also has been a busy year for the 6-footer from Hawaii. Including an appearance on the Canadian tour, Wie will have played in nine professional tournaments -- with both men and women.
Wie is coming off an appearance last weekend in the Nationwide Tour's Boise Open, where she missed the cut.
Her last trip to Oregon -- for the Women's Open -- was tumultuous. In addition to playing in a major under the international spotlight, Wie and her father got into a public dispute with LPGA Tour veteran Danielle Ammaccapane.
B.J. Wie, who was his daughter's caddie for the event, accused Ammaccapane of pushing his daughter on the green and then berating her in the scoring tent after their first round for a breach of golf etiquette.
Michelle Wie said she had no hard feelings about the experience.
Last year Sorenstam shot a 17-under 199 on the 6,327-yard northeast Portland course in a one-shot victory over Kate Golden.
