Updated at 8:34 p.m., Friday, June 8, 2007
Wie makes the cut at LPGA championship
By Doug Ferguson
Associated Press
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Her hopes of playing ended when Wie teed off.
"I was going to ask her if she planned on finishing," Fernandes said. "Because if she wasn't, I want her spot."
Not to worry — Wie finished not only one round, but two, and moved on.
The 17-year-old former Punahou School student followed the same script today, never taking the cover off her driver, playing cautiously on a Bulle Rock course that others attacked, and finding small consolation in a 2-over 74.
Wie tied for 70th at 3-over 147, just making the cut. The top 70s and ties made the cut. Wie finished as half of the tournament's field was taking the course, was tied for 80th when she signed her scorecard, and spent the rest of the day at the cutoff mark.
Had Wie missed the cut, it would have been her first in an LPGA tournament since she was a 13-year-old in 2003.
"This was 5,000 times better than last week," Wie said.
She was referring to her ailing wrists, but could have easily been talking about criticism from players, the commissioner and observers who questioned why she would withdraw after 16 holes — two shots away from an 88 that would ban her from the LPGA for the rest of the year — then show up at Bulle Rock to hit balls and eventually play in the tournament.
"I just need to keep working on it," Wie said. "My wrist has to get healing. I have to get strong, and I just have to play more, it's that simple. I feel like it's in me. I hit some really great tee shots, some really good second shots, some really clutch putts. And I just feel like it's getting better and better."
It looked about the same.
She had four bogeys on the front nine, mainly because of poor chips, offset by a 30-foot birdie from the fringe on the fourth hole.
Sensing the cut might come at 2 over par, she didn't show any quit. Wie made back-to-back birdies with a 20-foot putt on the 14th and a shot gouged out the rough that caught a slope and stopped 6 feet away for birdie on the 15th.
But she saved her worst for last.
Another hybrid club went well right into deep rough, and her second shot stayed right in more rough, leaving her a tough shot to a pin tucked to the right between two ridges. She was a few yards short of pulling off a great shot, but it caught one of the ridges and she had to settle for a two-putt bogey from 35 feet.
Wie hasn't missed the cut after playing 36 holes on the LPGA Tour since she was 13 at the Kroger Classic. A week after her debacle at the Ginn Tribute, she was eager to keep playing.
"I think it's very important that I just keep playing rounds," she said.
Even so, this was one tournament where even Wie conceded she has no chance of winning. She is giving up so much distance off the tee by not hitting driver that she wound up hitting first from the fairway on every hole.
"Deep in my soul, I wanted to win this week," she said. "But realistically, I wanted to show myself that I'm better, like I can play and I can actually make birdies out here and I can actually keep it in the fairway."
Wie is competing in her second tournament since a four-month layoff after reportedly suffering a broken right wrist because of a fall while running. She had injured her left wrist earlier after she hit a ball off a cart path.
In her return last week, Wie withdrew after shooting 14-over through 16 holes citing "issues" with her injured wrists.
Asked what she has learned over the last few weeks, Wie stuck to her health and golf, not the conduct.
"I realize I have to be careful with my body," she said. "I never realized how long it would take to fight back an injury. Now I realize that it just takes a lot of patience and a lot of hard work to get back to where I was."
Last year at this tournament, Wie finished in a tie for fifth, just two shots from a playoff for the title. The year before, she finished second.
However, since last August at the Women's British Open, Wie has experienced ballooning scores, injuries and mounting criticism.
Not counting last week's round in which she withdrew, Wie has been at or over par in her past 18 rounds. Yesterday, she shot 1-over 73, her first round over par in nine rounds in this tournament.
In her last nine rounds against men, she has failed to break 76. In her last 11 rounds against the women, she has failed to break par. She last broke into the 60s in the final round (68) of the Evian in France July 29.
