• Wie misses cut by one stroke in Japan
Wie misses cut by one stroke in Japan
By Jim Armstrong – ASSOCIATED PRESS
KOCHI, Japan — Distraught over poor play on the final two holes, Honolulu’s Michelle Wie missed the cut by one stroke at the Casio World Open on Friday and promised to learn from her mistakes and keep playing in men’s tournaments.
She bogeyed the final two holes for a 3-over 75, leaving her with a tworound total of 4-over 148 in the Japanese tour event.
With a par on No. 18 Wie could have made the cut.
“I was a bit nervous walking up the 18th fairway,” she said. “I was just trying to play a good hole and make par, but it didn’t work out that way.”
The meltdown was reminiscent of the 16-year-old’s finish at the John Deere Classic in July when she bogeyed two of her last four holes and missed the cut by two strokes.
No woman has made a PGA Tour cut since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945. No one even tried again until Annika Sorenstam at the 2003 Colonial, and only Suzy Whaley and Wie have played PGA Tour events since. Wie missed the cut by seven strokes at the Sony Open in January.
The Casio was Wie’s first tournament since she was disqualified in her pro debut last month. She is only the second woman to play in a Japanese men’s event — Sophie Gustafson missed the cut in the 2003 Casio tournament.
Wie was making her sixth start in a men’s pro tournament. She failed to make the cut in three PGA Tour starts, a Nationwide Tour event and a Canadian Tour event.
“Hopefully, I can learn from the mistakes I made here and come back here,” Wie said.
Wie wasn’t about to read too much into these two rounds.
“I don’t know if it proves anything that I didn’t make the cut,” she said. “It shows that it’s possible and hopefully next time I can do it.”
Wie won’t have to wait long — she will play in the PGA’s Sony Open in Hawaii in January.
“I really realized here that I need to work on a few things before the Sony Open,” she said. “I’ve got to work on my irons and my putting.”
Things were looking good for her when she drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-5 10th at the Kochi Kuroshio Country Club course to go 2 over. The two closing bogeys, however, proved her undoing.
“I’m very disappointed,” Wie said. “I played as well as I could. I tried my best today, but things just didn’t work out and it wasn’t meant to be.”
Hawai’i women whisk away Cougars
HONOLULU — Hawaii trailed by nine points in the second half before coming back to beat Washington State 68-63 Friday in the first round of the Rainbow Wahine Classic. With the victory, Hawaii advanced to the tournament’s semifinals for the first time in three years. The Rainbow Wahine will face Wisconsin, an 85-73 winner over Idaho State, at 5 p.m. Saturday.
The score was tied 57-57 with a little more than two minutes left, before the Rainbow Wahine (2-1) outscored the Cougars (2-1) 11-6. Nine of Hawaii’s final points came on free throws.
In all, UH scored 25 points on 39 free throw attempts.
