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Saturday, February 23, 2008

MICHELLE WIE MAKES THE CUT IN HAWAII
WITH TWO STROKES TO SPARE AFTER 73

Mark the calendar! Michelle Wie made the cut with two strokes to spare in the Fields Open on her native Hawaii.
She followed her opening 3-under 69 with a 73 that left her 10 strokes behind leader Jeong Jang with one round left.
The 18-year-old Wie scrambled for three birdies and four bogeys, but wasn’t as sharp as her opening round on Thursday when she broke 70 for the first time since the Evian Ladies Masters in July 2006.
Wie qualified for the weekend for the first time since last year’s Evian, where she closed with rounds of 84 and 76 to tie for 69th.
She injured both wrists last year but kept playing, and struggling. She made only two cuts in 2007 and finished 19th in a 20-player field at the Samsung World Championship in October, her final event of the year.
In eight starts against women, she withdrew twice and only broke par twice in 19 rounds.
She got off to a good start Friday, swirling in a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 2 and making a putt that was just as long for a remarkable par save on the par-5 fifth.
After hitting the cart path with her drive, her approach from 70 yards flew over the green, sending a few spectators running for cover. She pitched to the top tier of the leveled green and made the tough, downhill putt that drew a roar from the crowd.
Wie holed an 8-footer for birdie on the next hole to reach 4 under but lost a stroke by pulling a 6-foot par putt on the par-3 eighth.She avoided disaster on the par-5 14th after yanking her tee shot to the left through a row of palm trees and nearly in the street. The ball came to a stop between the grass and the curb.
With no relief and the traffic stopped, Wie looked down at the ominous shot with thoughts of her wrists running through her head. She calmly hit it to the front of the green and nearly escaped with a par but settled for bogey.
Playing in front of a large gallery on her home island of Oahu, Wie is starting the season against the women for the first time in five years. She previously opened at the US PGA Tour’s Sony Open where she nearly made the cut as a 14-year-old. She wasn’t invited to Waialae this year.
Players enjoyed a second day of mostly calm conditions at Ko Olina, a wide-open resort course featuring several manmade waterfalls and palm trees.
The 54-hole tournament will end today to accommodate television audiences in Asia.
Jang, who opened with a course record-tying 64, had seven birdies and four bogeys in a 68 to reach 12-under 132.
The 2005 Women’s British Open champion was a stroke ahead of fellow South Korean Song-Hee Kim, who made several long putts for a career-best 64.
Paula Creamer (68) was third at 10 under, followed by Lindsey Wright (66).
Annika Sorenstam, trying to complete a Hawaiian sweep after winning at the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay for her 70th LPGA title, birdied four of the final six holes for a bogey-free 66 to put her in the hunt at 8 under with Angela Stanford (69) and Minea Blomqvist (65).
Sorenstam is healthy and confident again after coming off an injury-shortened season in 2007 where the Swedish star was winless for the first time since her rookie season in 1994.
Jang started the day with a two-stroke lead over Creamer and tried to stay aggressive, paying for it on a couple holes. The 27-year-old made a 30-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 fourth and hit a 7-iron off the tee on the par-3 eighth to 15 feet to reach 11 under.
She missed the greens for bogeys on Nos. 9 and 10 that dropped her a stroke behind Kim. Jang then birdied three of her next four holes to regain the outright lead at 12 under.
Possibly the smallest player on tour at barely 5 feet, Jang is coming off a strong year, surpassing $1 million in earnings, despite failing to win for the first time in three years. She had nine top-10 finishes to finish seventh on the money list and lost in a play-off to Natalie Gulbis at the Evian Masters.
The 19-year-old Kim surged up the leaderboard, opening with five birdies in seven holes. Her 12-foot birdie on the par-5 14th moved her to 10 under. She eagled the hole Thursday with a 12-foot putt.Kim missed the cut last week at Turtle Bay and is hoping for a good showing in her second year on tour. She dominated on the Duramed Futures Tour where she earned player and rookie of the year honors in 2006 with five victories.
SECOND ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72) 6,519-yard
Ko Olina Golf Club, Kapolei, Hawaii
Jeong Jang 64-68–132
Song-Hee Kim 69-64–133
Paula Creamer 66-68–134
Lindsey Wright (Aus) 69-66–135
Angela Stanford 67-69–136
Annika Sorenstam (Swe) 70-66–136
Minea Blomqvist (Swe) 71-65–136
Kelli Kuehne 67-69–136
Hiromi Mogi 69-68–137
Laura Diaz 71-66–137
Maria Hjorth (Swe) 68-69–137
Hee-Won Han 68-69–137
Moira Dunn 68-70–138
Sophie Giquel (Fra) 68-70–138
Nicole Castrale 70-68–138
Diana D'Alessio 70-68–138
Sandra Gal (Ger) 72-66–138
Dina Ammaccapane 68-70–138
Dorothy Delasin 68-70–138
Teresa Lu 69-70–139
Nancy Scranton 71-68–139
Karen Stupples (Eng) 69-70–139
Birdie Kim 69-70–139
Christina Kim 72-67–139
Rachel Hetherington (Aus) 71-68–139
Jimin Kang 69-70–139
Su A Kim 68-71–139
Yani Tseng 68-71–139
Karin Sjodin (Swe) 72-68–140
Eun-Hee Ji 70-70–140
Erica Blasberg 70-70–140
Miho Koga 68-72–140
Cristie Kerr 73-68–141
Brittany Lang 70-71–141
Momoko Ueda 72-69–141
Meg Mallon 71-70–141
Brittany Lincicome 69-72–141
Louise Friberg 73-68–141
Miki Saiki 69-72–141
Candie Kung 73-68–141
Russy Gulyanamitta 70-71–141
Jennifer Rosales 71-71–142
a-Ayaka Kaneko 72-70–142
Carin Koch (Swe) 70-72–142
Meena Lee 71-71–142
Stacy Prammanasudh 70-72–142
Michelle Wie 69-73–142
Charlotte Mayorkas 71-71–142
Mikaela Parmlid (Swe) 73-69–142
Johanna Head (Eng) 69-74–143
Leta Lindley 73-70–143
Candy Hannemann 71-72–143
Becky Iverson 73-70–143
Cindy Pasechnik 74-69–143
Michele Redman 72-71–143
Young Kim 71-72–143
Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 72-71–143
Morgan Pressel 70-73–143
Seon Hwa Lee 70-73–143
Irene Cho 69-74–143
Danielle Downey 70-73–143
Linda Wessberg 69-74–143
Karine Icher 73-71–144
Jacqueline Yang 71-73–144
Angela Park 69-75–144
Jee Young Lee 72-72–144
Wendy Ward 71-73–144
Sherri Steinhauer 71-73–144
Carolina Llano 72-72–144
Liz Janangelo 68-76–144
Alena Sharp 72-72–144
Wendy Doolan 73-71–144
Heather Young 73-71–144
Ji-Young Oh 75-69–144

THOSE WHO MISSED THE CUT INCLUDED
Janice Moodie 74-72–146
Helen Alfredsson 73-74–147
Becky Morgan 75-73–148
Mhairi McKay 77-71–148

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