[ U.S. WOMEN'S PUBLINX ]
Michelle Wie hit from the bunker on the 12th hole en route to defeating Angela Park in the semifinal round of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship yesterday.
Wie reaches final
The 14-year-old will try to be the
first back-to-back Publinx winner
in 15 years
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. » Michelle Wie's ambitious schedule has had her playing against LPGA Tour stars, in an international competition and against men in a bid to earn a spot in the Masters.
Returning to a venue where 14-year-old girls are more the norm has proved more difficult than she expected as the defending champion in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship at the Golden Horseshoe.
"A lot of people expected a lot of me this year," she said. "I kind of felt that. I saw my picture on the program. It was a lot of pressure."
Wie handled it perfectly yesterday, putting together her two best rounds of the week to advance to the 36-hole championship match today.
One year after becoming the youngest Publinx champion, Wie will attempt to defend her title after beating No. 2 qualifier Jenna Pearson 5 and 4 in the quarterfinals and then outlasting Angela Park 2 and 1 in the semifinals.
Wie will play Ya-Ni Tseng of Taiwan, who beat In-Bee Park of Eustis, Fla., 1-up in the other semifinal.
The 15-year-old Tseng also beat Ashley Grier of Hagerstown, Md., in the completion of a 22-hole third-round match, then ousted Hannah Jun of San Diego 7 and 5 in the quarterfinals.
Wie, a 14-year-old Punahou student, finished 12th in an LPGA Tour event just down the road in May, helped the U.S. Curtis Cup team beat Britain and Ireland in mid-June, and came up two strokes shy of qualifying for the U.S. Men's Amateur Public Links tournament, eyeing that champion's invitation to Augusta National.
Back in her domain, she felt the pressure most against Park. The Torrance, Calif., player took her only lead on the third hole, got back to even on the 13th hole and matched Wie almost shot-for-shot throughout.
"My heart was in my lungs the whole time," Wie said. "I had to make so many putts and I'm so proud of myself that I did."
She'll chase another big goal in the championship match.
"I really want to win this tournament," she said. "I made it this far and I don't want to drop at the end. ... Winning two times in a row hasn't been done since 1989, and I really want to do it."
Pearl Sinn won it in 1988 and 1989.
Park, 15, erased Wie's two-hole lead with consecutive birdies at Nos. 12 and 13, but said she let herself feel too good about it too soon.
"I think I got over myself a little bit," she said. "After my consecutive birdies, I was like, 'OK, I can do this.' Maybe I should have taken it more one step at a time and one hole at a time."
Wie wasted no time, hitting her second shot to the par-4 14th hole to about 4 feet away before Park missed two putts and conceded the hole.
Wie ended it at the par-3 17th when Park missed two more putts.
Park said she exceeded her expectations this week, when she was sixth among 144 players in stroke-play qualifying and reached the semifinals.
"I think it's good experience for me. I'm still only 15," she said.
In the other match, delayed when In-Bee Park rallied to beat medalist Brittany Lang in 22 holes, Tseng used three straight birdies to lead 3-up after four holes, then held off Park's try for a third dazzling comeback.
She'd rebounded from 4-down after four holes in the first round, then birdied five of the last six holes to win her marathon against Lang.
"I tried to do that routine again, but I didn't make it," said Park, blaming a putter that just wasn't quite as clutch in the afternoon.
Tseng, speaking through interpreter Ernie Huang, said she was very happy and surprised to reach the final, and will be nervous today.
So will Wie, who was grateful that Park played her so close, especially with the U.S. Women's Open looming less than a week away.
"The tough matches have really prepared me mentally for the final match," she said. "I think it will help me next week in the U.S. Open. I think I'll be able to make the putts when I need to make the putts."
Earlier, Wie made fast work of Pearson. Wie led 5-up at the turn, scoring with three short birdie putts and two two-putt pars. She got it to 6-up, lost a hole and ended it with a matching par at No. 14.
