Wie moves into quarters with 2 wins
Michelle Wie is three wins away from an invitation to the Masters.
The 15-year-old from Hawaii birdied three of the final five holes and beat Jim Renner 3 and 1 in her second match of the day Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Public Links at Lebanon, Ohio.
She conceded that Augusta National has crept into the back of her mind.
“Obviously I’m thinking about that, but I’m taking it one match at a time,” she said.
Wie, the first female to qualify for a men’s USGA championship, earlier won 6 and 5 over C.D. Hockersmith.
The 6-foot girl who nearly made the cut on the PGA Tour twice and was tied for the lead last month in the U.S. Women’s Open, might be on the verge of her most stunning feat of all.
Augusta National traditionally invites the winner of the Public Links to the Masters, and chairman Hootie Johnson has said the all-male club would welcome Wie or any other female who qualified.
Wie would have to win two matches for a second straight day to reach the final. She next plays Brigham Young University junior Clay Ogden, who defeated Andrew Black of Chattanooga, Tenn., 3 and 2, in the quarterfinals in the morning. The semifinals are this afternoon, followed by the 36-hole championship on Saturday.
Chun advances at women’s Publinx
Co-medalist Mari Chun, a 17-year-old from Hawaii, survived two close matches and advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at Kansas City, Mo.
Chun will meet 14-year-old Jane Rah of Torrance, Calif., in the quarterfinals this morning. The semifinals are this afternoon and the 36-hole final is Saturday.
Angela Park, the other co-medalist, lost 1-up to Juli Wightman of BYU in her second-round match.Wightman, the freshman of the year in the Mountain West Conference, will face Ya-Ni Tseng, a 16-year-old from Taiwan who beat Michelle Wie in last year’s finals, in the quarterfinals.
Hendrix ties Day at B.C. Open
Rookie Matt Hendrix had quite a day in just his fourth PGA Tour event. Glen Day did, too.
Playing on his only sponsor exemption of the year, Hendrix shot a 9-under-par 63, tying Day for the first-round lead at the B.C. Open at Endicott, N.Y.
Mike Springer, Jason Bohn, Ben Crane, and South Africa’s Brenden Pappas are a stroke back.
Sweden’s Mathias Gronberg, Omar Uresti, Mark Wilson, Chris Smith and Arjun Atwal were tied for seventh, another shot back. Hank Kuehne, coming off a tie for second at last week’s John Deere Classic, was at 66 along with David Edwards and Harrison Frazar.
Hendrix’s finish atop the leaderboard was noteworthy, considering his disastrous start. His first drive landed next to a tree. He punched his second shot into a water hazard, and finished with a double-bogey 6 at No. 1.
Moodie leads Canadian Open
Janice Moodie birdied the final hole to cap a 6-under 66 and held a one-stroke lead over Emily Bastel after the opening round of the Canadian Women’s Open at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Bastel aced the par-3 13th at the Glen Arbour course in her career-best 67.
Linda Ishii was third after a 68, while Brittany Lang, Angela Stanford, Johanna Head, Sherri Turner, Cathy Johnston-Forbes, Mhairi McKay and Il Mi Chung were another stroke back.
Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum, Idaho, is five shots in back of Moody after a first-round 71.