Wie edged out in Public Links
Associated Press
LONG GROVE, Ill. — Eleven-year-old Michelle Wie's run at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship ended in the third round yesterday, when she lost 1-up to Allison Johnson.
Associated Press • Special to The Advertiser
"I just kept telling myself, 'I can't get beaten by an 11-year-old,"' the 20-year-old Johnson said. "She's awesome. I was in shock — she hits it so far."
Honolulu's Michelle Wie lost in the third round of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championships yesterday. The 11-year-old plans to "go even farther next year."
Wie, who will be a Punahou School seventh-grader in the fall, became the youngest player to qualify for a U.S. Golf Association women's amateur event when she made the Public Links field last year, losing in the first round.
She topped that finish by winning first- and second-round matches Thursday, but couldn't get past Johnson of Amarillo, Texas.
"It was really fun. I got more experience, and I think I'll go even farther next year," Wie said.
She holed a 50-foot birdie putt to win the 17th hole and stay in the match, trailing by one hole with the last to play. Then she almost holed a tough shot from a bunker on the 18th, but the ball settled inches from the hole and Wie made par.
"I played bad. I made lots of bogeys," Wie said. "I couldn't get on the green. I was putting good, but just couldn't get it on the green."
Johnson two-putted from 35 feet for par to win the match and move into the quarterfinals at the 6,110-yard, par-72 Kemper Lakes Golf Club course.
She was ranked No. 1 in the nation in tennis when she was 12, and has played competitive golf for only three years.
