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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, September 4, 2009

Wie is 5-over-par in Canada


Advertiser Staff and News Services

Honolulu's Michelle Wie's joy ride came to a halt.

Coming off a fourth-place finish last week at the LPGA's Safeway Classic in which she shot under par in every round, Wie had her worst round in weeks in yesterday's first round of the CN Canadian Women's Open at Priddis, Alberta.

Wie had seven bogeys, including two on par-5 holes, en route to a 5-over 76 at the Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club and is tied for 125th place.

Anna Rawson shot a course-record 7-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Suzann Pettersen.

Rawson, a 28-year-old Australian who has missed nine cuts in 13 starts this year, had nine birdies and two bogeys to break Dawn Coe-Jones' course mark by a shot.

Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, the 2007 winner at Royal Mayfair in Edmonton, was two strokes back along with Amanda Blumenherst.

TENNIS

GEORGIA TEEN OUDIN UPSETS DEMENTIEVA

It's not quite the case that 17-year-old Melanie Oudin and her family knew for sure she would get this far, this fast.

Not when Melanie was 7, hitting buckets of tennis balls with Grandma Mimi back home in Marietta, Ga. And certainly not when Melanie lost her first two Grand Slam matches.

Still, there was Oudin at the U.S. Open in New York yesterday, ranked all of 70th, dealing with a painful leg and an overwhelming occasion on a supersized stage — and stunning No. 4-seeded Elena Dementieva, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, to set up a third-round match against 2006 champion Maria Sharapova.

"During the match, I had confidence, and, I mean, I was right there with her the entire time," Oudin said. "She wasn't blowing me off the court. She wasn't hitting winners left and right on me."

Next comes three-time major champion Sharapova, who eliminated another 17-year-old American, Christina McHale of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 6-2, 6-1.

Fifth-seeded Jelena Jankovic made another early departure from a Grand Slam event, losing to 55th-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6).

No. 1 Dinara Safina nearly joined the parade of surprising exits, before hanging on to edge 67th-ranked Kristina Barrois of Germany, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.

No seeded men lost yesterday, when the winners included 2007 runner-up Novak Djokovic and five Americans: No. 5 Andy Roddick, No. 21 James Blake, No. 22 Sam Querrey, 55th-ranked John Isner and 276th-ranked Jesse Witten.

AUTO RACING

EDWARDS BREAKS FOOT, WON'T SKIP ANY RACES

Carl Edwards broke his right foot playing frisbee, and the preseason favorite to win NASCAR's championship will be on crutches this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

But Edwards says he will race in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series races.

Edwards is fifth in the Sprint Cup Series standings with two races remaining before the title-deciding Chase for the championship begins. He is second in the Nationwide standings.

NBA

LAIMBEER, THEUS JOIN TIMBERWOLVES' STAFF

Former Detroit Pistons "Bad Boy" Bill Laimbeer and former Sacramento Kings head coach Reggie Theus are among the assistants who will work under Kurt Rambis with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The team announced the additions yesterday. The staff also includes Dave Wohl, who most recently worked in the Boston Celtics organization.