Wie qualifies for LPGA event

Advertiser Staff

Michelle Wie, 12, gains berth with birdie.

The other qualifying spot went to 17-year-old Sally Soranaka, who splits her time between Honolulu and Woodlands, Texas.

Soranaka shot 79 on the par-70 course; Wie shot 83. Ann Mills of Coral Springs, Fla., shot 84 and Jean Zedlitz of Pleasanton, Calif., 85.

The tournament, with a field of 132, runs Thursday through Saturday.

Wie and Mills, playing together, were tied approaching the final hole — a 538-yard, par 5.

Wie hit a 300-yard drive, launched a 5-wood to the green, then two putted from 30 feet. Mills parred the hole.

Knowing they were tied, Wie said, "I just thought if I made birdie on the last hole I would make it."

The wind played havoc with Wie's high trajectory drives, and she was assessed a penalty on nearly "every other hole."

"Even if Tiger Woods played, he would have had problems," Wie's father, B.J., said.

Wie said she'll "just try to make the cut and try to play the best I can."

Wie's coach, Casey Nakama, was supposed to caddy but his flight was canceled. Her father caddied and admitted that "if (Nakama) were caddying, Michelle would have played better."

Soranaka said she "could have played a lot better ... I three-putted four times ... but it was good enough to win. That was the main thing."