Michelle Wie Blog

Michelle 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.

The first LPGA Pro-Am kicks off this weekend without the women’s number one play Lorena Ochoa. But there will still be some big golf names on the roster, including Anikka and Paula Creamer. The tournament is the first Pro-Am for the tour in 7 years and will feature 44 of the top 50 names on the money list. A few big stars will be testing their golf skill against the women as well, including James Caan, Mike Schmidt, Ivan Lendl and even television news man Stone Phillips.

Caan, an 11 handicapper will be paired with Chistina Kim. When asked about the event, Caan quipped, “It’s fun, and it’s an honor to be here. On the other hand, they’re here to make money. I’m capable of going out and shooting even or a couple over. But I’m very capable of shooting 95. And these particular surroundings are more conducive to the 95. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I’m going to be taking probably shots of Valium every two or three holes or something.”

Stanford International Pro-Am

When: 4/24 - 4/27.

Where: Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club, Aventura, FL.

Purse: $3 million; first prize $300,000.

Format: Pro-am is today through Saturday. After 36 holes, there is a cut to low 70 professionals and low 20 teams. On Sunday, only the pros play.

TV: 2-4 p.m. today, 3-5 p.m. Friday, 4-6 p.m. Saturday, 3-5 p.m. Sunday; ESPN2 all days.

Tickets: Go to www.stanfordinvitationalproam.com or call (786) 279-6750.

Directions: Take Interstate 95 to Ives Dairy Road or Hallandale Beach Boulevard. Take U.S. 1 south to Aventura Boulevard, turn left and follow signs to parking.

You have got to love those sponsor exemptions, especially if you are Michelle Wie (or John Daly!) Michelle has just accepted yet another sponsor exemption - the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic to take place in a suburb of Toledo starting July 10th.

As you may remember, Michelle’s wrist troubles surfaced again a few weeks ago, forcing her to withdraw from the Safeway tournament.

The fact that the tournament is not til July should give Michelle time to nurse that wrist back to good health. Oh, and on another note…what is with some of these tournament names? The “Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic?” What will they think of next….