2008 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament: Michelle Wie earned her LPGA 2009 tour card

(This entry was originally posted in this blog on December 7, 2008 and the information is based on that time.)

Michelle Wie finally won her PGA tour card. The nineteen year old finished her final round with an unimpressive 74 strokes. Still, it is better than getting nothing. At least, now she can go to the LPGA.

The final round took place at the champions course. Wie’s nine out was very depressing. Looking at her performance, it felt like she would not make it. Wie shot three bogeys in the first three holes. The weather was cold and she made some poor putts. Wie’s swing coach, David Leadbetter, who was seeing her performance from the gallery, said that there were demons floating around there. Then the wind calmed down and Wie got back on track. She played methodically which seemed very boring. In her nine-in she made one bogey in hole 14. In the entire game, Wie shot only birdie in hole 17 par 3. At the end of the day, Wie tied with Lisa Storm scoring 348.

Stacy Lewis proved to be the legendary dark horse in the qualifying tournament. Till third round, Stacy struggled to stay in the top position. She shot her way up in the fourth round with an impressive 4 under par. In the final round, she went steady and finished the round with 3 under par. Over all, Stacy Lewis’ score was 342.

Related articles:

lpga.com

New York Times

Stacy Lewis took the lead in the fourth round of 2008 Final LPGA Qualifying Tournament

(This entry was originally posted in this blog on December 7, 2008 and the information is based on that time.)

On the fourth day of 2008 Final LPGA Qualifying Tournament, Stacy Lewis took the leading position. In the fourth round, Stacy Lewis, Mollie Fankhauser, Michelle Wie, Shiho Oyama, and Amy Yang competed on Champions course. Stacy Lewis finished in 67 strokes. Michelle Wie, took the second lead by finishing in 68 storkes. Amy Yang, got into third position by finishing the course in 67 strokes. Shiho Oyama, who was leading the scoreboard in the first two rounds, went to the fourth position. She finished with one stroke below par. At the end of the day, Stacy Lewis scored 273, Michelle Wie 274, Amy Yang 275, Shiho Oyama 276 and Mollie Fankhauser 277.

It looks like Michelle Wie is going to earn her position in the LPGA tour. For the first time in more than two years, the lady made it to the final round of any tournament. In the fourth round, she scored birdies on hole 4, 7, 9, 12, and 16. At the end of the day, she remained one shot behind Lewis. lpga.com reports:

I played really well. I could have shot a really low number today, but it¡¯s hard to be upset with a 67,¡± said Lewis, after a round that saw her card five birdies on holes three through eight for a front-nine 31. ¡°I haven¡¯t thought about top-20 all week. It¡¯s just not a goal of mine. I¡¯m here to win. Out here, you have to pay attention with your shots. You could hit it offline into some of the greens and get into bad situations.¡

Amy Yang, a three-time winner on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and 2008 LPGA Tour rookie, said, her goal is to just finish in the top twenty. She would be very happy to win the tournament but she did not want to change anything. She would now only focus on her game.

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lpga.com

LPGA Qualifying Tournament: Mollie Fankhauser takes the lead in the third round

(This entry was originally posted in this blog on December 5, 2008 and the information is based on that time.)

In the third round of the ongoing LPGA Qualifying tournament, spectators watched the rise of Mollie Fankhauser, a former collegiate standout at Ohio State and winner of two tournaments on the Duramed Futures tour. Mollie finished the 18-hole legend course in 66 shots, which put her ahead of Shiho Oyama, Michelle Wie, and Stacy Lewis in terms of total storkes. At the end of the day, Mollie Fankhauser was in the first position (67-71-66), followed by Shiho Oyama (64-70-71), Michelle Wie (69-65-72), and Stacy Lewis (69-66-71). Mollie was very happy with her performance. She told reporters:

“Anytime you can go out and play some of your best golf against a lot of the up-and-coming best players in the world sounds good to me, so I’ll take it,”

In the third round, Wie and Oyama fought to get into the lead in the legends course. Stacy Lewis had a tough time yesterday. She had 12 straight pars. She finished the 18^th hole with a birdie.

Michelle Wie, the star of the tournament, was not so impressive. Out of the three players, she was the first to fall behind. In the second par-5, she hit a double-bogey. However, she got back with impressive birdies at the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th hole. Wie hit six straight pars. She made two bogeys and one double-bogey and made a par of 72.

Shiho Oyama, who won the 2006 Japanese LPGA Tour champion, enjoyed one stroke lead till the par-4 sixth hole. Her snap-hook landed the ball into the water had she made a double-bogey. She was not happy with her performance.

The first twenty players of the Qualifying tournament will earn full time playing status in the 2009 LPGA Tour.

Related articles:

USA Today

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