Exemption allows Wie to take swing at PGA Sony Open

Advertiser Staff

Punahou freshman Michelle Wie, 14, has been given a sponsor's exemption to play in the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawai'i, according to a spokesman for the event who asked not be named because of the sensitivity of the annoucement.

The exemption was to be announced in a press conference today with Gov. Linda Lingle.

Wie will follow in the golfing footsteps of Annika Sorenstam and Suzy Whaley, who played in PGA Tour events this year. LPGA players Laura Davies and Se Ri Pak played on overseas tours. Pak was the only one to make the cut, finishing 10th on the Korean Tour to become the first woman to make the two-round cut in a men's event in 58 years.

Wie played against the men in a Canadian Tour and Nationwide Tour event ÷ the PGA Tour's minor league ÷ this year, missing the cut in each.

The Sony Open will be held Jan. 15-18.

In September, Wie shot 3-under-par 69 at Waialae, playing from the back tournament tees.

"It will certainly be a difficult test for her to play against the best players in the world," said Kapalua's Mark Rolfing, a TV golf analyst. "The most important thing is that it can do a lot for the event and Friends of Hawai'i Charities. Clearly, she'll be a big attraction and it will help give the Sony Open a new buzz, which will be good."

Wie has not played competitively in Hawai'i since tying for fourth at the State Amateur in March, and is not entered in this weekend's Prince Resorts Hawai'i State Open. She tried to qualify for the Sony Open in January, finishing 47th against 97 men.

Sony polled several PGA Tour pros before offering the exemption, said Michelle's father, BJ.

Wie played in seven LPGA events this year, making the cut in all but one. She was ninth in the first major of the year, playing in the final group Sunday at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Wie also became the youngest to win a U.S. Golf Association amateur title when she captured the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links in June.