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ASSOCIATED PRESS Michelle Wie reacted after missing a birdie putt on the 18th green during the U.S. Women's Open yesterday.

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Wie fades on
final day

The Honolulu teen shoots 82 and
winds up tied for 23rd place

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. » She changed her name to Birdie so everyone would know who she was, and even that wasn't enough at a U.S. Women's Open where historical moments belonged to everyone else.

It started with Annika Sorenstam and her quest for the Grand Slam.

Then came 17-year-old Morgan Pressel playing the lead role in a parade of teenage contenders, poised to become the youngest major champion in golf history.

Ultimately, the most compelling moment of a riveting week at Cherry Hills belonged to Birdie Kim.

With a spectacular shot that allowed her to live up to her nickname, the 23-year-old from South Korea holed a 30-yard bunker shot for the only birdie on the 18th hole yesterday to win the U.S. Women's Open.

"I never think about to win," she said. "I was never a good bunker player. Finally, I make it."

Equally shocked was Pressel, the fiery teen from south Florida who marched confidently up the 18th fairway, believing she was about to make history at Cherry Hills. Instead, she watched in disbelief from 200 yards away as Kim's bunker shot rolled across the green and disappeared into the cup.

"It was like, 'I can't believe that actually just happened,' " Pressel said.

Sorenstam wondered what hit her, too.

She looked so unstoppable winning the first two majors of the year, but was never a factor at Cherry Hills. Sorenstam even tried to emulate Arnold Palmer's final-round charge in 1960 to win the U.S. Open by trying to drive the first green. Instead, she clipped a tree and went into a creek, making bogey on her way to a 77.

Sorenstam finished over par in a 72-hole event for the first time in four years, ending up at 12-over 296.

"Just didn't happen," she said.

Still, the biggest surprise was Kim.

In two years on the LPGA Tour, she had made only 10 cuts in 34 starts and only once had finished in the top 10. Her career earnings were a meager $79,832.

One shot that ranks among the most dramatic finishes in a major changed everything. Kim, who closed with a 1-over 72, finished at 287 and earned $560,000, the biggest payoff in women's golf.

It was reminiscent of Bob Tway sinking a bunker shot on the 72nd hole to win the 1986 PGA Championship.

"I heard about the name," Kim said. "He's an old guy, right?"

Pressel went for broke on her birdie chip to force a playoff, sent it 20 feet by and made bogey for a 75 to tie for second with 19-year-old amateur Brittany Lang, who missed an 8-foot par putt on the 18th hole for a 71.

The other teens melted on a difficult day at Cherry Hills, where Lorie Kane (69) was the only player to break par and the average score was 76.1.

Michelle Wie, the 15-year-old from Hawaii coming off a runner-up finish in the last major, double bogeyed the first hole on her way to an 82. Eighteen-year-old Paula Creamer had two double bogeys and a triple bogey for a 79.

Wie was still a factor.

She, too, hit into the bunker on the final hole, and her shot gave Kim a good idea what to expect. She needed all the help she could get, coming into the tournament ranked 141st in sand saves on the LPGA Tour.

"I saw her landing and her roll, so the green is not that fast, not that hard," Kim said. "I have confidence to make close to the pin. Maybe get close, maybe really close. It goes in!"

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Michelle Wie congratulated Birdie Kim after her victory in the U.S. Women's Open yesterday.

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The U.S. Women's Open champion went by her given name, Ju-Yun Kim, as a rookie last year, but decided to use "Birdie" this season to stand out from the other five players with Kim as a surname on the LPGA Tour.

"I wanted something different, something simple and easy," she said at the start of the season. "Birdie is good in golf, and it's good for me."

It was better than she ever imagined on a sun-baked afternoon at Cherry Hills, which ultimately came down to a battle for survival. This was the first time the Women's Open champion was over par since 1998 at Blackwolf Run, when Se Ri Pak won in a playoff after finishing at 6 over.

Arnold Palmer made Cherry Hills famous in the 1960 U.S. Open for his charge from seven shots behind. This was more of a retreat, a battle to see who could survive.

Lorena Ochoa of Mexico had cause to feel even worse than Pressel.

She was 3 under for the round and 3 over for the tournament -- a likely winning score -- until the pressure got the best of her and she chunked her tee shot into the water on the 18th, making a quadruple-bogey 8 to finish four shots behind.

"I fought so hard for 71 holes and just the last one, you know," Ochoa said, as tears welled in her eyes. "I feel really sad. That's the way golf is."

Sorenstam had played conservatively all week, but drew cheers when she pulled driver from the bag on the 346-yard opening hole, the same one Palmer drove in the 1960 U.S. Open when he charged from seven shots behind.

Palmer hit the green and made birdie. Sorenstam clipped a tree and went into a hazard for a bogey.

"My game plan today was to be a little bit more aggressive," she said. "It totally backfired."

It was a major bummer for Wie, who was coming off a runner-up finish in the LPGA Championship and was tied for lead going into the final round. The gallery lined both sides of the first fairway, eager to see if the 15-year-old could make headlines around the world.

What they saw was someone who played every bit her age.

She took double bogey on the opening hole, hitting into the rough and laying up in more rough. She missed putts inside 3 feet on consecutive holes. And trying to hammer a shot out of the thick grass, the ball dribbled only 25 feet. Wie went out in 42 and was never a factor the rest of the day.

"I have to give my ball a GPS because it was lost," she said.

The victory gives Kim a five-year exemption on the LPGA Tour and three of the majors; she gets to return to the U.S. Women's Open for the next 10 years.

Kim let out a "Whoop!" when told of her prize money, but all she cared about was a big silver trophy she never thought she could win.

Wie struggles through final round

Michelle Wie tugged on her cap and said "Oh, my God!" after missing a 2-foot birdie putt on the seventh hole. After a similar miss for par at No. 8, she covered her mouth in disbelief.

It was that kind of day for the 15-year-old from Hawaii.

A co-leader with Morgan Pressel and Karen Stupples after three rounds, Wie spent most of the final round chopping out of the rough and missing short putts for an 11-over 82 -- her worst score in 12 rounds at the U.S. Open.

"Difficult would be too easy a word," said Wie, who finished tied for 23rd.

Wie hit into the thick rough three times to open with a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 first, then had three more bogeys and another double on the ninth for a 7-over 42 on the front nine. She wasn't much better on the back, with three more bogeys and a double on the par-4 13th.

"One of the things I definitely have to do is get a GPS for my ball because it was lost out there today," she said. "I mean, put a magnet in the ball or something because that thing was not going toward the hole."

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BACK TO TOP
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U.S. Women's Open

At Cherry Hills Village, Colo.
Final round, par 71
a-denotes amateur

Birdie Kim, $560,000	74-72-69-72	--	287
a-Brittany Lang	69-77-72-71	--	289
a-Morgan Pressel	71-73-70-75	--	289
Lorie Kane, $272,723	74-71-76-69	--	290
Natalie Gulbis, $272,723	70-75-74-71	--	290
Lorena Ochoa, $116,310	74-68-77-72	--	291
Karine Icher, $116,310	69-75-75-72	--	291
Candie Kung, $116,310	73-73-71-74	--	291
Young Jo, $116,310	74-71-70-76	--	291
Cristie Kerr, $80,523	74-71-72-75	--	292
Angela Stanford, $80,523	69-74-73-76	--	292
Karen Stupples, $80,523	75-70-69-78	--	292
Soo Yun Kang, $61,402	74-74-74-71	--	293
Meg Mallon, $61,402	71-74-75-73	--	293
a-Paige Mackenzie	75-75-69-74	--	293
Heather Bowie, $61,402	77-73-69-74	--	293
Tina Barrett, $61,402	73-74-71-75	--	293
Jamie Hullett, $61,402	75-72-70-76	--	293
Leta Lindley, $47,480	73-76-73-72	--	294
Rosie Jones, $47,480	73-72-74-75	--	294
Liselotte Neumann, $47,480	70-75-73-76	--	294
Paula Creamer, $47,480	74-69-72-79	--	294
Gloria Park, $34,556	74-75-74-73	--	296
Sarah Huarte, $34,556	74-76-73-73	--	296
Jennifer Rosales, $34,556	72-76-73-75	--	296
Laura Diaz, $34,556	75-73-72-76	--	296
Helen Alfredsson, $34,556	72-73-74-77	--	296
Annika Sorenstam, $34,556	71-75-73-77	--	296
Nicole Perrot, $34,556	70-70-78-78	--	296
a-Michelle Wie	69-73-72-82	--	296
Brittany Lincicome, $23,479	74-74-78-71	--	297
Karrie Webb, $23,479	76-73-73-75	--	297
Mi Hyun Kim, $23,479	72-73-76-76	--	297
Catriona Matthew, $23,479	73-72-75-77	--	297
Rachel Hetherington, $23,479	74-69-76-78	--	297
Wendy Ward, $20,386	74-74-75-75	--	298
Kim Saiki, $20,386	74-73-74-77	--	298
Sarah Lee, $17,939	79-70-75-75	--	299
Juli Inkster, $17,939	77-71-75-76	--	299
Il Mi Chung, $17,939	75-71-76-77	--	299
Johanna Head, $17,939	74-73-75-77	--	299
a-Amanda McCurdy	75-75-71-78	--	299
Aree Song, $17,939	77-70-72-80	--	299
Young Kim, $17,939	73-73-70-83	--	299
Se Ri Pak, $15,505	74-71-81-74	--	300
Nancy Scranton, $15,505	78-72-73-77	--	300
Dorothy Delasin, $13,986	80-69-77-75	--	301
Hee Won Han, $13,986	75-72-75-79	--	301
Beth Bader, $13,986	75-74-71-81	--	301
a-Amie Cochran	76-69-80-77	--	302
Jeong Jang, $12,774	76-73-75-78	--	302
Eva Dahllof, $10,707	78-72-76-77	--	303
Suzann Pettersen, $10,707	76-74-75-78	--	303
Stephanie Louden, $10,707	76-74-75-78	--	303
Katie Allison, $10,707	74-74-76-79	--	303
Kris Tschetter, $10,707	76-74-73-80	--	303
Grace Park, $10,707	76-72-74-81	--	303
Carri Wood, $8,898	78-72-78-76	--	304
Kaori Higo, $8,898	74-76-77-77	--	304
Katie Futcher, $8,898	73-76-76-79	--	304
Sophie Gustafson, $8,898	71-78-75-80	--	304
Candy Hannemann, $8,375	76-73-80-78	--	307
Jean Bartholomew, $8,171	73-77-81-78	--	309