[Golf] Wie Finishes 2nd in 1st Event as LPGA Member

The weather in Hawaii was treacherous. Dark clouds moved in and heavy rain followed fine weather.

Michelle Wie, a Korean-American native of Hawaii, was also precarious in her play. She almost tasted victory, only let it slip at the last moment.

“It was disappointing. But I had a good run. I take a lot of positive aspects, and I will redouble efforts to win,” she said.

Hawaii is nicknamed the Rainbow State because rainbows are spotted often due to frequent showers there. Wie showed a rainbow of hope in her play after suffering from a long slump.

The third round of the LPGA’s SBS Open was held at Turtle Bay Resort’s Palmer Course in Kahuku, Hawaii yesterday.

Wie maintained a three-stroke lead until the 10th hole, but managed to finish second (seven under) in the tournament behind winner Angela Stanford of the United States (10 under).

Wie suffered a double bogey (par four) on the 11th. She used a three-wood on a tee shot, but the ball fell into a lake due to gusty winds. After a penalty shot, she used five-wood for her third shot, which went beyond the green, and then hit the ground with her fourth shot, losing two shots. This gave Stanford a chance to come from behind.

Stanford declared unplayable a ball she tee shot at the ninth hole (par five), but managed to make par. Then she had three birdies in a row from the 13th to overtake Wie.

Wie failed to counter after her one-meter birdie putt missed to the left on the 16th (par four).

Though Wie lost in her first event as a full-fledged member of the LPGA, she displayed more stable play, heralding better things to come this season. She raised the accuracy of her shots by often using a three-wood instead of a driver, while increasing her precision in her short game and putting.

She raised her accuracy in hitting the fairway and green to nearly 70 percent, while cutting the average number of putts to 26.7 per round.

kjs0123@donga.com