KOCHI, Japan -- Distraught over poor play on the final two
holes, 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 two-round 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 Hawaiian'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."
Wie, who had three birdies and six bogeys, thanked the Japanese
fans for their support during a greenside interview after the 18th
hole but was distressed by her play.
"I made a couple of bad mistakes," Wie said. "That shouldn't
have happened."
The top 60 players in the $1.7 million event made the cut, which
was 3-over 147. Four players, including first-round co-leader
Toshimitsu Izawa, were tied for the lead at 138. Wie was tied with
11 others for 68th place.
Her game started to sour on the par-4 17th. After hitting the
fairway with her tee shot, Wie's approach landed in the greenside
rough. She chipped onto the green and missed a 5-foot par putt.
A backlog of players forced her to wait 20 minutes before
playing the par-5 18th. She drove into the right rough and hit out
onto the fairway. Her approach landed in the short rough on the
edge of the green. After chipping on, she missed a 6-foot par putt.
"I hit the putt the way I wanted to," Wie said. "It just
didn't break the way I thought it would."