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Wie aims to be a cut above at SK Telecom

Michelle Wie, the hottest thing in women's golf, headlines next week's US$600,000 SK telecom Open where she will bid to make her first halfway cut against the men in eight appearances.

The 16-year-old phenom will be the third high profile woman golfer after Laura Davies of England and Japan's Ai Miyazato to feature on the Asian Tour where she will face the likes of defending champion and three-time US PGA Tour winner KJ Choi of Korea at Sky 72 Golf Club in Incheon, on the outskirts of the capital city.

Still in high school in Hawaii, Wie, known as the Big Wiesy, turned professional last year and finished third in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA's first major of the year, earlier this month. It was her fifth top-10 in a major where he previous four were achieved when she was still an amateur.

"I'm happy with the way I played in my first major as a professional. I wish I would have played a little better like the last nine holes. But I'm still happy with the way I finished," said Wie, who missed a birdie attempt on the 72nd hole to join eventual winner Karrie Webb and Lorena Ochoa in a play-off.

Former world number one Davies played in the Korean Open in 2003 but missed the halfway cut with rounds of 78 and 77 while Miyazato finished last after two rounds at the Okinawa Open last December. Two other lesser known women golfers from China and Chinese Taipei have also played recently against the men on the Asian Tour but without any success.

Wie was born in Hawaii but her parents are from Korea and it was the first language she learned. This will be her second appearance in Korea after featuring in an LPGA event on Jeju Island three years ago.

The powerful teenager, who stands at six feet tall and regularly smacks her drive to 300 yards, came close to making the halfway cut against the men at the Casio World Open on the Japan Tour last November but two closing bogeys saw her exit by an agonising one shot. She was invited to play in the US PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii in January but played only two rounds.

Her high profile visit to Korea will also see Wie and the event's title sponsor, SK telecom donate to several hospitals in Korea to help children with incurable diseases.

Wie will face two-time winner Choi and some of the Asian Tour's top players at the SK telecom Open. India's Jeev Milkha Singh, winner of the recent Volvo China Open and current leader of the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit, will also feature in the event.

Local favourite Charlie Wi, also a two-time winner of the event, will be in Korea as well to shoot for a record third victory. This season, the US-based WI has enjoyed some solid form, winning the Maybank Malaysian Open for his seventh career title on the Asian Tour and first on the European Tour.

SK telecom has also raised prize money by US$100,000 this year from its total fund of US$500,000 in 2005. The event will be played from May 4-7 and is the 12th leg of this season's Asian Tour.

April 25, 2006