[ THE CURTIS CUP ]
Hawaii's Michelle Wie tees off yesterday during the 2004 Curtis Cup in Formby England.
Wie helps U.S.
rally in Brit-Irish
competitionThe 14-year-old golfer bounces
back in her first team engagement
MERSEYSIDE, England >> When she got the chance to play her game, Honolulu's Michelle Wie was every bit the budding golf star.
Wie struggled to find a rhythm in her first team competition, but bounced back in her afternoon singles match by handily beating Great Britain & Ireland's Anna Highgate 5-and-4. Before a large gallery that sometimes went 20 deep (attendance was 7,462), Wie helped the U.S. Curtis Cup team to a slim 5-4 lead yesterday at the Formby Golf Club.
Though the U.S. had more outward displays of team spirit with each player tying red, white and blue ribbons in their hair and wearing small American flag stickers on their faces, the American team was clearly more comfortable in singles competition.
Gray skies gave way to afternoon sunshine as the U.S. golfers stormed back from a 3-0 deficit and took five of six singles matches. Emma Duggleby was the only GB&I golfer to salvage a singles point, defeating Liz Janangelo 3-and-2. Four of the five U.S. wins didn't require the full 18 holes to be played.
"We went out this morning just a little bit flat and had a little trouble cranking it and it was a wake-up call for us," U.S. captain Martha Kirouac said. "This team is very competitive. They didn't like being shut out three-to-zip this morning and they showed that this afternoon."
The U.S. comeback demonstrated the swift momentum change on the unpredictable and hilly course that experienced strong gusty winds all day. Yesterday morning's competition had GB&I captain Ada O'Sullivan beaming about her team's success. By the end of the day, O'Sullivan didn't know what to feel.
Michelle Wie chipped out of the bunker yesterday on the 18th hole during Curtis Cup competition.
"It's been a day of mixed emotions, but the way I would describe it is that we are going into tomorrow with a one-point deficit and there's absolutely no reason we can't overturn that," she said.
O'Sullivan can have confidence in the knowledge that no team has lost the Curtis Cup after leading the first foursomes 3-0. But the GB&I captain couldn't have imagined she'd be trailing at the conclusion of the first day, especially after Claire Coughlan and Anne Laing snatched a dramatic 1-up victory from Wie and Britanny Lang. Coughlan drained a beautiful 15-foot putt on the par-4 18th hole to complete GB&I's sweep of the morning foursomes. In a match that had little separation (the largest lead was 1-up), it was sinking the pressure putts that made all the difference.
"That was really nerve-wracking," said Laing, who holed a 12-foot putt on the par-5 17th to save the hole. "For the putts, Claire just said, 'Keep your head down and hit it.' I suppose a half would have been good, but to win is incredible."
Despite the loss, Wie found her first foray into foursomes fun.
"It was really interesting. It was quite surprising," Wie said. "Nothing like I ever played before, but it was good. It was a little bit strange, but it was good. It was a lot of fun."
Wie had more fun in the afternoon when her suspect putting improved and she turned in a very convincing victory over Highgate. Both players had shaky starts with drives that veered right into the dense trees on the par-4 first hole. Wie double-bogeyed, but Highgate carded a triple-bogey. They halved the next two holes before Highgate rolled a 20-foot putt to even the match. She won the next hole when Wie three-putted for bogey, but the teenager evened the match on the par-3 sixth hole with a 2-foot putt after missing short putts on her two previous holes.
Wie won the next three holes with two pars and a birdie to go 3-up. She missed an opportunity to increase her lead on the par-3 10th hole. Her tee shot ran off the back of the green, but she chipped within 5 feet of the cup. Wie's putt skirted the edge and opened the door for Highgate to halve the hole.
Though her putting was up and down (she missed several short putts under 5 feet), Wie found the pin when she needed to. On the par-4 11th, she one-putted to go 4-up. The youngest player in the history of the Curtis Cup finished off Highgate three holes later.
"When I started getting that lead, it kind of just kept coming and coming," Wie said. "I think that she wasn't really playing very well and I wasn't playing that well, either.
"My short game wasn't going very well today. Today I just worked on my putting and my putting is a lot better. I worked on my chipping today a little bit and it's better."
The U.S. squad will be hoping for better results in today's foursomes. Wie will switch partners and team up with Janangelo against Anne Laing and Coughlan at 8:15 a.m. GMT. Singles competition starts at 1 p.m.
