Wie fans all abuzz after 65
Hands on her hips as she surveyed a situation that could have wrecked her round Friday, Michelle Wie noticed dozens of bees hovering over a desert bush with her ball nestled against the root.
She asked for a free drop, stated her case, and the kid got her way.
“One day I watched TV – it was a very rare occasion for me – and I saw this one player, he was in a bush, and he had all of these fire ants in the bush and he got relief,” the 16-year-old Wie said. “I remembered that, and I asked the rules official if I can get relief because I’m allergic to bees.”
Doing her homework paid off.
The birdies and bees carried her to a career-low 65 in the Samsung World Championship at Palm Desert, Calif., and into the final group going into the weekend of her professional debut. Wie was two shots behind Grace Park, who had a 6-under-par 66 after recovering from a four-putt double bogey.
Annika Sorenstam wasn’t so lucky.
An hour after Wie got a fortuitous ruling on the 14th hole, Sorenstam’s tee shot landed in a bush. She was given a free drop because the scoreboard was in her way, just not as much relief as she thought she deserved.
The ball was still well above her feet, meaning the flight would be right-to-left, and Sorenstam argued that the board was still in her way. The official said the shape of her shot didn’t matter.
“I thought I could get complete relief. I thought that was the rule,” Sorenstam said after a 71 that left her tied with Wie and 19-year-old Paula Creamer (69). “They said, ‘No, it’s a straight shot.’ So we disagreed.”
Park, who has missed chunks of the year with back and neck injuries, overcame a four-putt from 20 feet to make six birdies on the back nine and finish two rounds at 11-under 133.
Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot her second straight 74.
PGA Tour
Briny Baird had an “accidental” hole-in-one on his way to a 5-under 66 and a two-shot lead midway through the Michelin Championship at Las Vegas.
Two courses, the par-72 TPC at Summerlin, and the par-71 TPC at The Canyons, were used the first two days. The final two rounds will be played at Summerlin.
Baird, one stroke in front beginning his day at The Canyons, was 15 under through two rounds.
Tour rookie Ryan Moore, the 2004 NCAA and U.S. Amateur champion and 2005 college player of the year out of UNLV, birdied six of his first nine holes at The Canyons and finished with an 8-under 63 that pulled him into a five-way tie for second.
Masters and PGA champion Phil Mickelson failed to make the cut, which came at 6 under. He shot a 71 to finish at 5-under 138.
Champions Tour
Jay Haas got off to a fast start in his bid to win consecutive events, shooting a 7-under 65 for a share of the first-round lead with Des Smyth and Morris Hatalsky in the Administaff Small Business Classic at Spring, Texas. The 51-year-old Haas, still active on the PGA Tour, won the Greater Hickory Classic last Sunday in North Carolina for his first victory on the 50-and-older tour.
Haas had an eagle and five birdies in his bogey-free round on the Augusta Pines course. He eagled the par-5 second hole and played the back nine in 5-under 31 with birdies on Nos. 10-13 and 18.