Wie could be back in 2005
By BIll Kwon
Special to The Advertiser
The 2004 Sony Open in Hawai'i will be indelibly remembered as the year the "Big Wiesy" and the "Big Easy" took over at Waialae.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Michelle Wie thrilled huge galleries in the first two rounds and defending champion Ernie Els capped it off with a three-hole playoff victory over Harrison Frazar yesterday at the Waialae Country Club.
Michelle Wie helped boost weekday attendance at the Sony Open in Hawai'i, where she shot a two-round total of 140.
Wie should get a sponsor's exemption again next year to join Els as he tries for a three-peat.
Ryozo Sakai, Sony Hawai'i president, said a final decision on another exemption for Wie probably will be made in November. But there's no question that Sony was very pleased with Wie's eye-opening performance in the PGA Tour's first full-field event of the year.
"We were very happy. She was very good and was well received. It was very good for us," Sakai said.
Wie didn't make the 36-hole cut despite shooting the lowest round (68) by a woman in a PGA event in finishing with an even-par 140. But so did 62 other male professionals, including U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, British Open champion Ben Curtis and Stuart Appleby, winner of last week's Mercedes Championships, who all posted the same score as Wie.
"Go Michelle" fans were even more elated that she posted a lower score than Scott Hoch, who had been openly critical of her receiving an exemption.
To the delight of the large galleries Thursday and Friday Wie proved her skeptics wrong.
Wie won over many of the pros who got a close look at the 14-year-old golf phenom, especially Els and Davis Love III.
"She shot 68 in a PGA Tour event. It's an incredible accomplishment," said Love. "I was watching her play just like everybody else. It was very exciting."
"I think she validated her exemption status in this tournament," Els said. "She had a lot of attention, deservedly so. She did great. She did better than any other woman has ever down on our tour. It would be great if she could play next year again."
"She proved she was in her element," said Dale Nagata, Sony's liaison with the PGA Tour.
That Wie was a hometown talent with national recognition was the overriding reason she was extended an invitation, according to Nagata.
Wie drew larger-than usual weekday crowds and generated a lot of TV exposure for the tournament's title sponsor as ESPN followed her every move. And not only did Wie prove she was competitive, she created a buzz never seen before in either the Sony or Hawaiian Opens.
Wie wasn't a sideshow. She was the whole show until Els took over. She created a Tiger-like buzz, according to Love. "Like Tiger Woods ... her influence will be just as great, especially for little girls."
It was that kind of influence that led Sony to sponsor the PGA event here, according to Sakai.
"We had this dream that young people from Hawai'i one day would win a PGA tournament because of watching the Sony Open," said Sakai, who calls Wie "Sony's ambassador" to Hawai'i's youngsters.
"Many children came to watch her," he said.
If nothing else, it bodes well for future exemptions to the Sony Open for Wie.
"Sony's happy with what's going on this week," said tournament director Ray Stosik, adding that Wie's role in the future will be among the subjects discussed in upcoming evaluation meetings.
"I'd think she'd have a place in the tournament for a few years to come," he said.
Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.
