SILVIS, Ill. -- Michelle Wie wants to do more than make
history.
The 15-year-old shot 1-under 70 at the John Deere Classic on
Thursday, keeping her hopes alive of being the first woman in 60
years to make a cut on the PGA Tour. She was on the right side of
the line when she finished, but the cut had moved to 2 under at the
end of the day.
"I'm not really thinking about the cut," said Wie, who is tied
for 73rd. "I'm only five shots behind (the early leaders), and if
I put up three crazy rounds, who knows?"
Go ahead and dream big. It wasn't so long ago the mere idea of a
woman playing on the PGA Tour was farfetched.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias was the last woman to make a cut on the
PGA Tour, at the 1945 Tucson Open, and it would be another 58 years
before Annika Sorenstam teed it up at the 2003 Colonial. Suzy
Whaley played at the Greater Hartford Open later that year; neither
women made the cut.
Wie has played the Sony Open the last two years, missing the cut
by a stroke in 2004. She missed it by seven strokes this year.
"It's impressive at 15, that's for sure," said Scott
Gutschewski, one of Wie's playing partners Thursday. "I don't know
how many 15-year-olds could come out here and do that, let alone a
15-year-old girl."
But the girl can play.
This was her second-lowest round in a PGA Tour event, and she
beat both her playing partners. She played her last 10 holes at 3
under, had five drives over 290 yards and missed only one putt from
inside 10 feet.
She also had one of the most impressive shots of the day,
getting within 10 feet of the pin from about 260 yards out on the
par-5 17th. She missed her eagle putt, but made a 3-footer for
birdie to get to 1 under.
Oh yeah, and Hunter Mahan shot an 8-under 63 to take the lead
and J.L. Lewis is one stroke behind.
"She's going to beat a lot of guys today. She'll probably beat
a lot of guys tomorrow," said Gutschewski, who finished at even
par. "She's going to beat a lot of guys for the rest of her life,
I'm sure."
Though Wie is still three months away from her 16th birthday,
she's already achieved major-player status. She's been second twice
on the LPGA Tour this year, including a runner-up finish at the
LPGA Championship, and had a share of the third-round lead at the
U.S. Open.
She also has that same megastar appeal Tiger Woods had when he
was a teenager. A couple hundred people were waiting for her at the
first hole, and that number grew to 2,000 by the time she made the
turn. By the end of the round, there were 5,000 people on 18.
And, no offense to Gutschewski and Nick Watney, but the crowd
wasn't there to see them.
Just as when Woods plays, fans were on the move as soon as she
hit or putted, regardless of what Gutschewski or Watney were doing.
Her every shot was cheered, and more than a few people were heard
saying, "And she's only 15!"
"On the surface, it was a very well-played round. Then you
realize she's a 15-year-old girl, and it's mind-boggling," said
Watney, who shot 4-over 75. "She's a phenom. When I was 15, I sure
didn't look like that."
Wie might have been showing some of her age early, when she fell
to 2 over with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6. She overshot
the green with her second shot on No. 5, and the ball smacked into
the netting below the bleachers. It landed about 3 inches from the
netting, and she had to take a drop because she had no shot. She
then two-putted for bogey.
On No. 6, she clipped a tree and the ball dropped straight down,
landing short of the green. She had an "iffy" pitch shot, and
two-putted again for bogey from 12 feet.
"If I had made those two bogeys in a row (last year), it would
have been kind of tough because I was really young," Wie said,
drawing laughter. "I'm pretty young now, but I've gotten a lot
older and more mature. I have a lot more experience. I know what to
expect."
She finally righted herself on No. 9, from the most unlikely of
places.
Her tee shot sailed right and just over the rope, leaving her
without a view of the hole from 210 yards out. But she put her
second shot on the green, about 30 feet above the hole, and rolled
the putt in.
"I haven't played that big slice in a long time," she said.
"It has been like at least a year since I played that shot. That
was like the pivotal point. I really trusted in myself, and it felt
great. It was really good."
Wie made a 12-footer on the 11th hole to get back to even par,
doing a combination fist pump and wave to the crowd after the ball
dropped in.
Her birdie on the 17th easily could have been an eagle.
With about 260 yards to the green on her second shot, Wie hit a
3 wood to within 10 feet. There were cheers and whistles from those
sitting around the green, and Wie smiled as she walked up the
fairway.
Her eagle putt broke too far right, leaving her 3 feet from the
hole, but she made that for birdie.
"I was kind of disappointed on that hole," Wie said. "I felt
like I should have made an eagle there, but I was still happy with
the birdie."
She wasn't happy with herself on 18, either. After her second
shot landed in a trap below the green, Wie waved her club and
stamped her right foot. But she still managed to save par, making a
15-footer to close out her round.
"The front nine I just was a little bit shaky and made a lot of
stupid bogeys," Wie said. "But I'm pretty proud of myself for
getting back on track. The back nine was pretty solid, and I feel
like I'll see some good scores from now on."<
^Divots:@ Wie's group was put on the clock on the 10th hole. They
were taken off on the 13th hole. ... CNBC will televise the end of
Wie's second round Friday.