Michelle Wie beat only one player in yet another embarrassing performance in a men's event, shooting an 8-over 80 on Friday in the second round of the Japanese tour's Casio World Open.
The 17-year-old Wie finished at 17-over 161 on the Kuroshio Country Club course, leaving her 27 strokes behind leader Tetsuya Haraguchi and a shot ahead of amateur Tomomichi Oto. She didn't birdie a single hole in the tournament, finishing with six bogeys and a double bogey Friday after bogeying nine holes Thursday in an 81.
``It was pretty tragic, that's how I'd describe it,'' Wie said. ``My driver wasn't working at all and that put a lot of pressure on my short game.''
In her previous two men's events, she finished last in the European Masters (78-79) and 84 Lumber Classic (77-81). In the event before that, she withdrew from the John Deere Classic because of heat exhaustion after playing 27 holes in 8 over.
She said the poor performances wouldn't deter her from playing in men's events.
``Not at all,'' said Wie, winless in 33 career LPGA Tour appearances. ``I didn't play like myself today and it doesn't bother me because I know I can play much better than this. I learn a lot from playing with the men.''
She has made the cut in only one of her 12 starts on men's tours, in May in an Asian Tour event in South Korea. Last year at Kuroshio in her first appearance in Japan, she bogeyed the final two holes in the second round to miss the cut by a stroke.
The high school senior from Honolulu will make her next start against the men in January in the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii.
``I know what I have to work on,'' Wie said. ``I'm looking forward to going home and working on my swing with David Leadbetter.''
Haraguchi shot a 68 to top the leaderboard at 10 under. India's Jeev Milka Singh, the winner of the European tour's season-ending Volvo Masters, was a stroke back after a 69, and Hideki Kase (69) was third at 8 under.
Oto had rounds of 83 and 79 to finish last among the 101 second-round finishers at 18 over.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
