[ GOLF ]
Michelle Wie acknowledged the crowd after sinking a putt on No. 7 yesterday during the men's Public Links qualifier.
Wie falls short at
Publinx qualifierThe 14-year-old misses her best shot
at qualifying for the Masters
by two strokes
HERSHEY, Pa. » Michelle Wie shot a 2-under 142 at the U.S. Men's Public Amateur Links qualifying, all but ending her chance to qualify for the 2005 Masters through the Publinx tournaments.
The only female in the field, the 14-year-old Wie finished two strokes behind winners David Bradshaw and Alex Knoll.
Had she been victorious, Wie would have been invited to the Minnesota event in July as one of two southeastern Pennsylvania representatives.
The top 64 players from the Publinx will qualify for a match-play tournament and would have to win six matches to make it to the Masters. Wie has said that winning the July match-play tournament would have been her best hope of getting to Augusta.
Wie will be one of four alternates for the July Publinx tournament should Bradshaw or Knoll be unable to participate.
The Hawaiian 10th-grader will now shift her focus to the U.S. Women's Open, held July 1-4 in Massachusetts and defending her Women's Amateur Public Links championship next week.
Wie finished the morning round tied for fourth at one-under 71 and shot another 71 in the afternoon session to finish tied for third at 142.
She missed two six-foot birdie attempts on the fifth and sixth holes in the afternoon. She birdied the seventh from 4 feet, but failed to convert birdie putts on the eighth and ninth holes.
