No kidding around
Late collapse costs Wie a shot at history
SILVIS, Ill. -- Michelle Wie got her weekend off, free to go to the movies and watch the ''Fantastic Four," free to return to being a teenager again.
The 15-year-old phenom from Hawaii took a much-needed timeout from the morning show appearances, the autograph hounds, and the seemingly endless scrutiny stemming from her quest to be the first woman in 60 years -- since Babe Didrikson Zaharias -- to make the cut in a PGA Tour event.
So Michelle, how does it feel?
''It feels like crap," Wie declared.
She might feel that way now, but she'll get over it. Wie didn't make the cut at the John Deere Classic, but she made the grade.
To borrow a phrase from the NBA, she's got game.
Through 14 holes on the TPC at Deere Run yesterday, Wie not only belonged, she owned the place. At that point she was 3 under par for the round and 4 under for the tournament, comfortably inside the projected 3 under cut line.
But then No. 6 -- her 15th hole -- happened. It's a hole she's likely to replay in her mind for a long time.
Her trouble started when she pulled her tee shot into the left-side fairway bunker and found herself with an awkward stance for her approach on the relatively docile 367-yard par 4. She went from that bunker to the right green-side bunker.
She exploded out to 25 feet, but aggressively rolled her lag 7 feet past the hole. She missed the comebacker for double bogey.
''I guess I was too aggressive with it," Wie said. ''I should have just lagged it near the hole, but it was kind of hard to do that at that time."
With three holes left, she still had a shot at making the cut but needed a birdie. Instead, she shot herself out of the tournament with a bogey at the 214-yard No. 7, when she pushed her 4-iron tee shot into the right-side trees.
She chipped on to within 12 feet, but missed the par putt. A par at No. 9 left her at 1 under for the tournament, two strokes short of making the cut.
J.L. Lewis, the 1999 winner here, followed his opening 64 with a 65 to take the lead at 13-under 129. Shigeki Maruyama (63) and Hunter Mahan (68) were second at 11 under.
Wie tied for 88th.
Not only would Wie have become the first woman to follow in the immortal Didrikson Zarharias's footsteps, she would have become the second-youngest person -- male or female -- ever to make a PGA Tour cut. Long-forgotten Bob Panasik turned that feat at the 1957 Canadian Open at the ripe age of 15 years 8 months 20 days, seven days younger than Wie was yesterday.
For the record, Wie was in very good company at the end of the day. Tied with her at 1 under par and headed home for the weekend were Nick Price and Mark Wilson.
J.P. Hayes, who won this tournament in 2002, was in the same boat at 2 over and Skip Kendall finished the tournament at 4 over.
If tying Price, once considered the greatest player in the world, didn't buoy her spirits, Wie should consider that Tiger Woods needed eight tries to make his first PGA Tour cut. In her first two attempts at making the cut in a PGA Tour event, she missed by seven strokes at the 2005
It's doubtful that any of that could pick up Wie yesterday.
''I think I'm more disappointed in the fact that I was shooting so well and then the two holes just kind of [did me in]," said Wie, who is incredibly poised for her age. ''I mean, I wasn't really that nervous.
''After those two holes, I was really just trying to make two birdies and my putts just kind of slid by the lip."
After surprising the largest Thursday crowd in John Deere Classic history with her 1-under 70, Wie declared that she was here to win the tournament, not make the cut.
For Round 2, she wore a belt she had purchased in France that had the number ''68" on the buckle.
''Well, 68 was the number I was trying to shoot," she said. ''I got [the belt] in France. I thought it was a really cool number."
Though the end was a letdown, Wie ruled out crying as an option.
''I don't really think about it afterwards," Wie said when asked how she handles disappointments. ''Sometimes I'll cry, sometimes I'll punch, sometimes I won't even care. It's different every time.
''I'll definitely care this time. But I won't cry." 