Wie Shoots 75 at Michelob Ultra Open
Friday, May 9th, 2008Michelle Wie, playing in her first tournament since February, carded a hard-fought 75 in the first round of the Michelop Ultra Open. The tournament exhibited some amazingly low scores, not the least of which was a course record-tying round of 63 by Scotland’s Mhairi McKay.
Not surprisingly, Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa are up high on the leader board shooting 64 and 65 respectively.
Amazingly enough, Wie managed just one birdie on her round on Thursday.
“I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well,” she said, considering the rust. “There were a couple of shots here and there where I felt like if I play a couple more tournaments or had more experience under my belt, it would come out a little differently. But, like I said, I’m hitting the ball solid. I just have to work out a couple of other things for tomorrow.”
“I just think it’s going to come around anytime,” Wie insisted. “I’m not far off.”
At least Michelle stays confident about her game. She always talks like she will pull it out at any time. Unfortunately, she will have to shoot a blistering score on Friday to stay in the mix.
She’ll have to get there fast to stick around for the weekend, especially with top-ranked Ochoa and No. 2 Sorenstam off to fast starts in a tournament neither has won.
“I haven’t shot this low all year, so it feels good to get off to a good start here, a place that I really like a lot and haven’t played so well,” she said.
This “low”? Since when is a 75 “low”? Michelle sure seems different than she was a couple years ago - the most heralded young player in the game since Tiger Woods.
“I think my game fits this course,” she said of the 6,315-yard layout, where her best finish is sixth. “Why I haven’t played well here in the past, I’m not really sure.”
Michelle will have to shoot better than 75s if she expects to do any winning this year on the tour. With the way Ochoa is playing, its going to take some serious golf to catch her.