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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, May 7, 2006

Wie finishes with 74

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Michelle Wie said she "had fun playing," despite making four bogeys — like here on the par-4 fifth.

LEE JIN-MAN | Associated Press

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Michelle Wie said she “had fun playing,” despite making four bogeys — like here on the par-4 fifth.

LEE JIN-MAN | Associated Press

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After easily making her first cut in a men's professional golf tournament, Michelle Wie couldn't keep the momentum going in the final round of the rain-shortened SK Telecom Open.

Wie, 16, shot 2-over-par 74 today — including four bogeys and two birdies — and finished at 3-under 213 and in a tie for 35th in Incheon, South Korea.

"I wasn't satisfied with the way I played today but I kept going and hitting away," Wie said in a television interview. "Strong winds made it difficult out there, but I had fun playing."

Prom Meesawat of Thailand shot a 4-under 68 today to win the tournament by three strokes with a 15-under 201. Meesawat, a 22-year-old Asian Tour player, earned about $127,523. Wie earned $4,303.

Wie, who was tied for 17th on Friday, began the final round six strokes behind the co-leaders — Meesawat and Malaysia's Iain Steel at 11-under.

Wie opened with a par at the par-4 first hole and had consecutive birdies at the par-4 second hole and par-5 third hole to go to 7-under overall. But she had consecutive bogeys at the par-3 fourth and par-4 fifth. She parred the sixth through ninth holes to make the turn at even-par 36.

After parring the par-5 No. 10, she bogeyed the par-4 11th. Wie then parred the 12th, 13th and 14th before getting her fourth bogey on the par-4 No. 15. She parred the final three holes.

South Korea's Seung Ho Lee and India's Jeev Milkha Singh, both shot 70 to tie for second at 204. PGA Tour member KJ Choi shot a 65 and was fourth at 205.

The tournament was shortened to 54 holes after yesterday's round was canceled by rain.

Wie shot 70-69—139 in the first two rounds. Seventy-eight players made the cut to play the final round.

The Punahou junior became the second female to make a cut in a Korean men's tournament, although she is the first to do so on the top-tier Asian Tour. In 2003, LPGA player Se Ri Pak finished tied for 10th at the second-tier KPGA Tour's SBS Pro-Golf Championships.

No woman has made the cut on the PGA Tour since Babe Zaharias at the 1945 Tucson Open.

Wie reportedly was paid a $700,000 appearance fee to play in the SK Telecom Open. The tournament had a $600,000 purse. The SK Telecom Open is a stop on the Asian Tour, not part of the more prestigious PGA Tour.

Wie opened her first full year as a professional by missing the cut at the PGA's Sony Open in Hawai'i in January.

She earned her first LPGA paycheck ($73,227) by finishing third at the Fields Open at Ko Olina in February. She won $108,222 for a tie for third in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first LPGA major of the season, at Rancho Mirage, Calif., last month.

Wie's next professional tournament is the McDonald's LPGA Championship, June 8 to 11, at Havre de Grace, Md. It is the second major of the LPGA season.

The Web sites koreapga.com and asiantour.com contributed to this report.