Wie gets to even-par; Sorenstam wins by 8

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Michelle Wie opened the Kraft Nabisco Championship with what she figured was the worst score she could have shot considering how well she was hitting the ball. She closed yesterday with the best score possible considering she was hitting the ball all over Mission Hills Country Club.

Michelle Wie, left, and Morgan Pressel received trophies as the low amateurs in the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Wie was 14th and Pressel was tied for 19th at Mission Hills Country Club. Chris Carlson • Associated Press

Wie returns to the 10th grade at Punahou today with a 14th-place finish at the LPGA's first major of the year. To put that in perspective, it was her worst in the three years she has played here in the desert.

Wie says she learned the most about her game yesterday. On a warm, still, smoggy day in the Coachella Valley, Wie wore out her putter and her parents in shooting a 1-under-par 71. She drained 16 putts between two and 12 feet to salvage her round and low-amateur honors.

"I'm glad I lived through it," Wie said with a grin. "I learned a lot from this week. I really learned how to grind it out there. I kinda taught myself how to turn things around. I just feel really good about today. I seriously made every putt inside 10 feet and I feel really glad about that. That's a really big accomplishment for me."

Her even-par 288 total was 15 back of Sorenstam, who shot a 68 to finish at 15 under for an eight-shot victory. The Swede's fifth consecutive victory tied the record set by Nancy Lopez in her rookie season of 1978. Sorenstam's $270,000 first prize gives her more than $1 million in this event and $16.4 million in her career.

In contrast, Wie turned down another $26,160 in her 20th LPGA event. She has made the cut in all but four, including the last 12. She has finished in the Top 10 at nine of her last 10.

Rarely has she been less consistent or more tenacious than yesterday. With her swing instructor, David Leadbetter, gone for the weekend but a representative from Nike watching every move, Wie made the most of an exhausting round after riding a roller-coaster the previous two days.

"The first day (70) I felt really good," Wie recalled. "When I was leading, I felt really good about my game. David came. My swing felt so much better than last week. But it was a really strange week. For some reason I couldn't shoot well and couldn't stay under par. It was really weird. The last two days it was extremely weird. I couldn't pinpoint anything that was wrong. If I knew what was wrong I could fix it. Usually my putting is horrible or my mid-irons aren't going right, but it was all pretty junk. I really grinded today."

Wie had only two tap-ins the entire round. She didn't birdie any of the first 10 holes, one-putting the last three on the front nine simply to stay at 1-over for the day and 2-over for the tournament.

When she hit a 4-iron second shot to the green on the par-5 11th, it finally clicked.

Wie, fooled by the slope, left her long eagle putt 12 feet short, then drained the birdie. She hooked her second shot around trees to save par on the next hole, then chipped in from 20 feet to get back to even on the 13th.

When she sank a 9-footer for birdie on the following hole, Wie bolted into eighth place. A shockingly bad approach shot into the back bunker on the 16th led to a six-foot bogey putt and took her out of the Top 10, after ninth- and fourth-place finishes here the previous two years.

"I hit a great drive, only had about 90 yards to the hole," Wie said of 16. "But that lob wedge carried 100 yards. That's not possible. Then I had a really hard bunker shot. It was a really good bogey."

Just as 18 (par-5 485 yards) was a really good par, particularly after Saturday's double-bogey debacle. On a hole shortened some 40 yards to entice players to go for the green in two, Wie hooked her drive into the water.

"It was really weird because I didn't hit it that bad," Wie said. "I hit it pretty good."

After dropping in the rough, she launched a 4-iron approach about 190 yards over more water and two-putted from the fringe.

After two days and two hours of frustration, Wie finished with a relative flourish. She smiled when it was over, and started thinking about tests in Japanese, math and Asian history this week at Punahou.

"I actually took it for granted that I would play good here and this is just a bit difficult," Wie said. "I really grinded out there and it's my worst finish. I feel the worst, but I think my game has improved a lot."

NOTES

When Nancy Lopez won her five straight events in 1978 she was a combined 39-under par. Annika Sorenstam is 53-under. The difference in earnings is even more dramatic. Sorenstam has collected $1,025,000 in her streak, while Lopez won $73,500.

"(Sorenstam) looks more physically fit than even last year," Lopez said yesterday. I think she's awesome. I don't think anybody in the sports world gives her enough credit for what she has done and what she's accomplished. I think, truly, she's better than Tiger Woods."

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