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Wie equals worst at men's event with 81
2006-11-23
Michelle Wie equaled her worst score in a professional men's tournament after opening with a nine-over-par 81 at the Casio World Open in Japan on Thursday. The Honolulu schoolgirl began her round on the back nine overlooking the Pacific Ocean but was left with a sinking feeling after carding nine bogeys at a drizzly Kuroshio Country Club. "It was frustrating obviously," Wie, who is attempting to make the cut for only the second time in 12 professional men's events, told reporters. "But I'm not playing that bad. I don't think my score really reflects how I played today." Wie missed the cut by a single shot at last year's World Open but she struggled for control off the tee in the wet and chilly conditions during Thursday's opening round. "For tomorrow it's just going to be to get my rhythm back, get it back on the fairway, put it on the green and I think that low score will come," the 17-year-old said. "Everything else feels fine. I just have to get used to hitting the ball straight again. I'm going to think about the fairway. Hopefully I can see that in my dreams tonight." WIE BACK Wie finished the first round 101st out of 102 players and a massive 15 strokes off the lead. Only Japanese university student Tomomichi Oto fared worse with an 83. Japan's Azuma Yano and Tetsuya Haraguchi shared the top of the leaderboard with India's Jeev Milkha Singh on six under par at the completion of the first round. "I don't think It was the pressure," Wie added. "A couple of shots just went straight left on me. After that it was hard to hit it the way I usually do. "I just need to get my confidence back with my driver. It's just tempo and rhythm and, hopefully, that will fix it." Wie became the first woman to make the cut in a major men's tour event in 61 years at the Asian Tour's SK Telecom Open in South Korea in May. The previous woman to make the final two rounds of a men's tournament had been Babe Zaharias at the 1945 Los Angeles Open. Wie, who has yet to win an LPGA tournament, also shot an 81 in missing the cut in the 84 Lumber Classic at Mystic Rock in September.
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