Posted on: Thursday, July 15, 2004

Wie fuels ticket sales for 2005 U.S. Open

Associated Press

BOULDER, Colo. — The Cherry Hills Country Club is seeing a surge of interest in next year's U.S. Open in what officials credit to a rise in the women's game led by Annika Sorenstam and Hawai'i teenager Michelle Wie.

Ticket sales for the tournament next June are 30 percent ahead of what they were this time last year for the 2004 tournament in Massachusetts, said Doug Habgood, championship director.

"We're trending toward a new record," Habgood said Monday. "This is great timing. With the rise of the women's game and Cherry Hills' history, we're hitting it at exactly the right time."

The suburban Denver course has hosted three men's U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships and four other U.S. Golf Association events. It has never hosted a women's major.

Officials expect the 2005 Open to at least match the 118,000 fans who showed up for this year's tournament, which Habgood attended.

"It struck me how big the event has become. A lot of it has to do with Michelle Wie — I'm not going to lie to you," he said. "You have more crowds and more media. With the scope of the event, everything has to expand. We'll have to build a bigger interview room, have more parking, more buses, more volunteers, more security."