[ SONY OPEN ]
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Michelle Wie teed off on the 17th hole at sunset yesterday.
Wow, Wie!
The golfer misses the cut
by a stroke but delights
observersSPORTS
Wie's run ends
Michelle Wie needed one more miracle to be inside the ropes for this weekend's Sony Open in Hawaii.
After sinking putt after putt through most of yesterday's second round -- including a pair of 50-footers for birdie -- Wie's chip for eagle at the jam-packed 18th from 80 feet rolled to within four feet, effectively keeping her from becoming the first female to make the cut at a PGA Tour event since Babe Didrikson Zaharias did it twice in 1945.
Walking off the 18th green, Wie was clearly disappointed that her even-par finish fell a single shot shy of allowing her to compete this weekend. For most of the day, the projected cut of the first full-field event of the PGA Tour season was even-par 140. But by late evening the cut fell to 1-under 139.
PGA rules state the top 70 finishers and ties play over the weekend. Wie wound up in a tie for 80th and said while standing beside the 18th green, "I can't believe it."
Most folks couldn't believe she came as close as she did. ESPN-TV extended its coverage by an hour and spent most of the afternoon chronicling nearly every one of Wie's 68 shots as she finished 2 under for the round. She became the first female in PGA Tour history to shoot a round under par and a round in the 60s.
The start of the Los Angeles Lakers-Sacramento Kings game forced the country to leave Wie behind as she eyed a 7-footer for par at the 17th. During the NBA game, two Sony Open updates cut into the action. One was when Wie made the putt at 17, and the other was her reaction that a birdie at the 18th was not enough to make a little more history.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Earlier, she reacted as her ball went toward the ninth hole -- and just missed. She parred the hole.
The 14-year-old ninth-grader at Punahou School captured everyone's attention during yesterday's round. Golfers who were out on the course repeatedly asked for updates. Several past champions here, including 2000 Sony Open winner Paul Azinger and 2002 champion Jerry Kelly commented on Wie after their rounds.
"What she's doing is absolutely amazing," Kelly said. "I don't know what I was doing when I was 14, but it wasn't trying to make the cut at a PGA Tour event. It's amazing."
Azinger was equally impressed. He said every time a roar went up, they knew Wie had done something special.
"To be able to come out and handle the pressure as well as she has is incredible," Azinger said. "To think somebody who isn't legal to drive the cart is out here competing. It's amazing to think about."
Wie left everyone sitting in the bleachers or lining the 18th green wanting more. She managed bogeys at the first and 13th holes, and four birdies, including one from 52 feet and another from 58. The 4-footer for birdie she sank at the 18th, she believed at the time, was good enough to survive the cut.
"Today, I think, my first couple of holes, my ball was a wimp; he wouldn't listen to me," Wie said. "But I changed balls after two holes, and he listened to me very well. I just told him to go in, and he would go in. I had like about a 54-footer for birdie, and it went in. I made two really long putts. I think I played really great today. Just one more shot and I would have made it. It's killing me now. I can't believe (the cut) was 1 under par."
The gallery was pro-Wie from the outset. Many of her friends came to see her play, prompting Wie to say: "I saw a lot of my friends. I think they got bored pretty fast."
They may have been the only ones. Golf writers from the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and major papers in Japan, Europe and Australia were here to see Wie. And she did not disappoint.
"I didn't expect this much (coverage)," Wie said, "because I thought you guys would probably be used to women playing by now. I guess I was sort of expecting it, kind of wanting it to be this much, I guess. It worked out very nicely."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Michelle Wie signed autographs yesterday after shooting a 68 on the second day of the Sony Open to finish even over the two days. A huge gallery followed her every move. Wie missed the cut by one stroke but created a stir with her play.
