Wie big hit with gallery, golfers at Shoot-Out

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Michelle Wie chips out of the rough on No. 13 at the Kraft/Nabisco Shoot-Out. Wie shot a 1-under 34, one behind Hank Kuehne. Nancy Lopez and John Daly shot 36s. Associated Press photos

Michelle Wie, 13, gets a hug from teammate John Daly after sinking a 30-foot putt on the 17th hole during the Kraft/Nabisco Shoot-Out yesterday in Boise, Idaho. The team of Nancy Lopez and Hank Kuehne won the nine-hole event.

At yesterday's Kraft/Nabisco Shoot-Out, played over the back nine at Hillcrest Country Club, Wie (who shot a 1-under 34) left a curious gallery in awe off the tees and spontaneously combustible on the greens. Her best drives, particularly the poke that came up six feet short of the green on the 293-yard, par-4 15th, all but silenced 10,000 people. They turned into screaming maniacs when she drilled a 30-foot birdie putt into the heart of the 17th hole.

But while the older fans appeared more impressed by Wie's wondrous swing — "If I swung like that, you'd have to go get the car and come and get me," one told his friend — the few young players at the exhibition watched something more subtle.

The Boise State golfers, whose program made $9,000 off the performance of Wie and John Daly, were unanimous in their praise of Wie's emotional precociousness.

"Her swing is fundamentally perfect, you can't beat it," said sophomore Tyler Aldridge. "But more than anything, I can't believe her composure on the golf course."

"It looks like she just enjoys being young," added teammate Katie Street, a freshman. "She has no worries, not a care in the world."

If Wie, who turns 14 next month, can be carefree here, she can be carefree anywhere. Boise is the first to say it is in the midst of "Michelle Mania," particularly since she validated all her pre-teen hype this year by playing in the final group the final day of the Kraft Nabisco Championship and winning the U.S. Golf Association Women's Public Links.

Her face graced the front page of Sunday's Idaho Statesman, and her chipping form took up the entire cover of the special eight-page section celebrating Wie's historical appearance in the Albertsons Boise Open this week. Accepting a sponsor's exemption into the Nationwide Tour event — the PGA Tour's minor league — makes her the first female junior amateur to play in a sanctioned tour event.

"Anyone who hits the ball as long and straight as she can, can play in my tournament anytime she wants," said Albertsons chairman and chief executive officer Larry Johnston.

The crowd following Wie, Daly, Nancy Lopez and Hank Kuehne yesterday was in their faces every moment thanks to Hillcrest's idyllic spectator design. Since it was a free exhibition, cameras and cell phones proliferated, with all their bells, whistles and beeps. Fans begged for autographs between holes, and got them.

Well covered

The Golf Channel had three hand-held cameras on every fairway and another in a tower behind each hole. Yet another camera floated atop a 110-foot crane taking aerial shots. ESPN International showed the Shoot-Out in Latin America.

The Punahou freshman with the fake flower behind her right ear was the star of the show. She gripped, ripped and giggled with the most charismatic player in LPGA history and the two longest bombers on the PGA Tour, and the crowd clearly was with her. When Wie drained the putt on No. 17, the roar was the loudest she "has heard in my memory."

She and Daly won the second hole of the nine-hole exhibition (No. 11) when Daly nearly chipped in for eagle. They upped their advantage to $4,500 when Wie barely missed a long, ultra-quick birdie putt, but converted the eight-footer coming back.

On the next hole, she launched a 6-iron to the green 186 yards away. Impressed, Daly asked what club she hit, then drove into the bunker and shanked out.

"I'm done with this hole," he said, grabbing his ball and then a TV camera. "I want to get my partner. She's going to make this putt."

Wie didn't and she and Daly would not win another skin as Kuehne's putter got incredibly hot. He one-putted the final five holes — from 45 feet on in — and played the final four in 5-under par.

Pars gave Kuehne and Lopez $5,000 on the 14th hole. Kuehne's eagle added $6,500 two holes later. Wie's monstrous putt on the 17th tied that hole and made the 18th (280-yard uphill par-4) worth $9,000. Kuehne's five-foot birdie there tied Daly, whose drive stopped on the front apron. Organizers split the $9,000, giving Lopez and Kuehne $16,000 for the University of Idaho golf program.

The 18th was the only "fairway" Daly hit all day as he and Kuehne, who both average nearly 320 yards a drive, found Hillcrest's fairways elusive.

Wie was the most effective driver of the bunch once she settled down on her third hole. She was helped in part, her father said, by her experiences in First Hawaiian Bank Pro-Junior Shoot-Outs, also played in front of swarming crowds.

Wie draws raves, hug

Wie constantly outdrove Lopez, blowing it by 50 yards on the fly at No. 16. Lopez, who said before the Shoot-Out that she "wouldn't watch much" off the tee to preserve her pride, walked over to Wie and hugged her. On the final hole, Lopez finally let loose with a loud grunt as she tried to keep up, and nearly did.

"Michelle was fantastic," Kuehne said. "Unfortunately, I didn't get to see as much of her as I would have liked because I wasn't on the right hole very often. She's a great kid, got a great personality. She's a great ball-striker and, honestly, she's a great competitor as well. She's going to be something very special."

Lopez has been saying that for awhile.

"She hits the ball so beautiful and she's very mature on the golf course," Lopez said. "It's amazing how young she is.

"She's very ... I guess naive is a good word. That is good. You should be naive at that age. She's real sweet."

Wie covered all her bases yesterday, hitting just enough sweet shots to satisfy the masses that gathered, and softening up her opponents before it started.

Asked who her golf heroes were, she answered — as always — Ernie Els and Tiger Woods. Then she paused and grinned. "And all the golfers here," Wie said. "They are my heroes."

SHORT PUTTS: Yesterday's Shoot-Out skins format was best-ball of the twosome. The $25,000 purse was divided into $1,000 on the first hole, $1,500 on the second, $2,000 third and fourth, $3,000 fifth and sixth, $3,500 seventh, $4,000 eighth and $5,000 ninth. ... All the players drove off the same tees, with "a few moved up to accommodate Nancy Lopez," according to organizers. ... Michelle Wie will participate in the Idaho Statesman Junior Clinic tonight with John Cook. Gary Gilchrist, Wie's instructor at the David Leadbetter Academy, will emcee. ... The $600,000 Albertsons Boise Open starts Thursday.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.