Wie advances to
Public Links
quarterfinals

LEBANON, Ohio » Michelle Wie won two more matches at the U.S. Golf Association's Amateur Public Links Championship, advancing to the quarterfinals in her quest to become the first female player at the Masters Tournament.

The 15-year-old Wie beat C.J. Hockersmith 6 and 5 in a second-round match yesterday morning, then defeated Jim Renner 3 and 1 at the Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, Ohio, yesterday afternoon.

Hockersmith and Renner both played college golf last season.

The winner of the Public Links Championship has received an invitation to the Masters every year since 1989. Wie is the first female to participate in a men's USGA event.

Wie, who was seeded 55th in the 64-player field after two rounds of stroke play, won her first five holes against Hockersmith. She was 6-up through seven holes before Hockersmith won a hole for the first time with a birdie at the par-3 eighth.

Hockersmith, who will be a junior at Ball State in Indiana, also won the 10th hole with a par before Wie ended the match by winning the 12th and 13th holes. That gave her a six-hole lead with five holes remaining.

Wie also never trailed in her third-round match against Renner, who was voted the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' Player of the Year.

Wie built a three-hole lead that dwindled to one when Renner birdied the par-4 12th hole. Wie responded with a birdie of her own at the 475-yard, par-4 13th and another at the par-5 17th to close out the match.