DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Michelle Wie seemed to be having a good time facing the media yesterday after her first day at the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club.
Wie wows the crowd
with skill at Sony
Hawaii golf fans were out in force and following Michelle Wie during yesterday's opening round of the Sony Open in Hawaii, and the young 14-year-old gave them something to cheer about when she birdied her final hole to post a respectable 2-over-par 72.
That score was nine shots off the pace set by Paraguay's Carlos Franco, who fired a 63, but it was better than 28 of the world's best male golfers. More important, it gave the Punahou freshman a legitimate shot at becoming the first female golfer to make the cut in a 72-hole PGA Tour event heading into today's second round at the Waialae Country Club.
"I think I learned I can play here," Wie said afterward, referring to the PGA Tour. "I never felt like I was out of place. ... If I play the way I did today and a couple of putts fall in, I think I could make the cut, because I think I can shoot under par tomorrow."
With the cut projected to be at even-par 140, Wie will have to shoot a 68 in today's second round. And while that may seem like a tall order, the 14-year-old recorded that exact number during Tuesday's practice round with Ernie Els.
"My lowest score was 65 here," she said. "But I think if the course plays like it did today and if I hit the same kind of shots I hit today and if my putts just fall in, I think I could shoot a 65 or a 67."
Local pro David Ishii, who captured the 1990 Hawaiian Open and carded a 66 yesterday, called Wie's 72 "amazing." Ishii, who played in the group ahead of Wie, conceded he kept looking back to see how she was doing. "When I was 14 ... that's the first time I broke 80," he said. "So for her to play against most of our idols and to not be flustered by it ... that's pretty amazing for a teenager to do that."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Michelle Wie tried a little body English, but her putt just missed on the 15th hole, which she eventually parred. Wie finished yesterday with a 2-over-par 72 on the first day of the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club. Carlos Franco was leading the field.
The sunny, almost windless conditions were perfect for scoring yesterday as Wie became the fourth female and the youngest golfer to ever tee it up in a men's PGA Tour event. A gaggle of TV cameramen and photographers recorded her every shot, and a gallery of several thousand cheered her on, including her parents and close friends, who were wearing shirts that read, "Wie go."
All the fuss hardly seemed to faze the youngster. "I felt a little bit nervous and shaky on the first hole," she said, "but after the first shot it was all gone. ... I feel less nervous the more people there are. I mean, I feel I play better when there's more of a spotlight and more people are following me."
Wie said she struck the ball better than she scored yesterday, and her stats backed that up. She blasted several 300-yard drives and averaged 275 yards off the tee. She also hit 11 of 14 fairways, 12 of 18 greens, and had 31 putts.
"My game felt respectable, but my score felt less respectable, because how I played was very good. ... The putts just didn't drop today," she said.
Wie did not putt poorly. In fact, she rolled in putts of 8 and 15 feet for birdies at the sixth and 12th holes and drained a 20-footer to save par at par-3 fourth. At the par-4 third hole, she left a 50-foot putt for birdie hanging on the lip.
Nevertheless, she admitted that she left herself too many long putts and several missed short ones. At the par-5 18th (her ninth hole), for instance, she failed to get up and down from the front left of the green, watching in exasperation as her 12-footer for birdie spun out of the hole.
She followed that up with bogey at the first hole, where she pitched 7 feet long from the back right fringe and failed to convert. She made two more bogeys on her incoming nine, three-putting from 60 feet at the fifth and missing a 6-footer at the par-3 seventh.
When she reached her final hole, the 510-yard, par-5 ninth, she was 3 over par for her round and desperately in need of a birdie. When she responded by getting that birdie, blasting out of a greenside bunker and holing an 8-foot putt, the crowd roared its approval.
How important was that last putt? she was asked afterward.
"I think mentally and score-wise it was very important because I ended in a really good way, and hopefully that will mean I will start in a good way tomorrow," she said.
