Can Michelle Make Cut Against Men?

After four stumbles, can Michelle Wie (17), finally make it?

Frequenting the men’s green as if there’s no gender barrier in golf, Wie will make her fifth challenge to survive the midway tournament cut in a PGA tour. The stage will be the John Deere Classic, which opens on July 13 at TPC at Deere Run (Par:71, 6762 yards), Silvis, Illinois.

Wie is determined to make it this time, since she was so close to qualification in the same tournament last year, but she missed it with a single stroke after losing three strokes at the last four holes. After 61 years since Babe Zaharias, who played in the Los Angeles Open in 1945, she is trying to be the first woman to make the cut.

"I made a couple bad decisions coming into the final holes, but I was only 15, and I can make mistakes when I`m 15. I won`t do them this year," said Wie, full of confidence. She continued, “Although the course isn’t too long and the fairway is quite wide, what matters more is how I perform in the actual game.”

When she was asked, “Between making a cut in a men’s tournament and winning a women’s, which achievement do you consider greater?” she said, “I will answer that as soon as I accomplish both.”

In the first and second round, she will have Daisuke Maruyama (Japan) and Jeff Gove (USA), both of whom are 35-year-olds and debuted in 1994, as her rounding partners. Maruyama, who has four wins in the Japanese tour, is recording an average drive about 283.1 yards, which is 140th in ranking. He has made only one tournament top ten this season, and therefore, has lagged to 137th on the money list. Gove, who has three career wins in the second-level Nationwide tour, is ranked 86th in the average drive standings with 288.5 yards and 104th on the money list. In terms of both drive range and overall skill, they don’t seem to be tough partners.

While the broadcasting station ABC is showing exceptional interest as they are scheduled to broadcast the third and fourth round, Sean O’Hair (USA), the tournament winner last year, predicted that Wie will make the cut.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com