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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 4:17 a.m., Friday, June 21, 2002

Wie defeats Wilson to reach Public Links semifinals

Advertiser Staff


In a battle of Hawai‘i girls, Michelle Wie of Honolulu today defeated Amanda Wilson of Hilo, 1-up, to advance to the semifinals of the 26th U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.

Wie, 12, and Wilson, 14, met in the match play quarterfinals this afternoon after winning morning-round matches at the 6,189-yard, par-71 Meadows Course of the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.

In the semifinal, Wilson took a 1-up lead after she parred the par-3 16th hole, and Wie bogeyed. Wie tied the match on the par-5 17th hole with a birdie. Both parred the par-4 18th. On the first extra hole, Wie birdied the par-4 first hole to win. Wie never led until she won the final hole.

Wie will face Hwanhee Lee of Long Beach, Calif., in the semifinals tomorrow. The other semifinal pits Annie Thurman of Highland, Utah, against Yvonne Choe of Temple City, Calif. The final is on Sunday.

Earlier today in the third round, Wie, a Punahou eighth-grader, defeated Kelly Schaub, of Greeley, Colo., 5 and 4. Wilson, a WaiÅkea sophomore, defeated Jeanne Cho, of France, 1-up.

Both Hawai‘i junior golfers plowed through their first- and second-round matches yesterday.

Wie reached the third round for the second straight year. She defeated Janell Howland, of Texas, 5 and 4, and Angela Won, from California, 5 and 3. Wie never trailed. She was 6-under par against Howland and took a 3-up advantage after six holes against Won. Wie closed that match on the 15th hole with her only birdie.

Wilson took out Heidi Chua in the first round and Alexis Wooster in the second, both 2 and 1.

Chua, from the Philippines, qualified in Honolulu with Wilson. But the Hawai‘i state high school runner-up won Nos. 8, 9, 10 and 11 — playing them in 2-under par — to go from 1-down to 3-up.

Wilson never trailed against Wooster, who is from Illinois. Wilson birdied the 10th and 11th to go 2-up. Wooster cut her deficit to one, but another Wilson birdie on the 17th ended the match.