Ace highlight of Wie’s spree

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This article was published 27/08/2010 (5752 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dancing was about the only thing Michelle Wie didn’t do Thursday at St. Charles.

The 20-year-old phenom had a perfect checklist otherwise. She wowed the crowd on the first tee and kept them wowed most of the day. She authored one of golf’s most exciting shots, a hole-in-one, at St. Charles’ 11th and then later holed a bunker shot at the 17th for her sixth birdie of the day.

It all added up to a round a cut above, a seven-under-par 65 for a three-shot lead over Australia’s Sarah Kemp after Day 1 of the CN Canadian Women’s Open.

Wie, who has only one LPGA Tour victory to her credit, looked more like a seasoned performer and less like potential on Thursday.

Even in an excited but very mature moment after her five-iron from the 11th tee travelled exactly 181 yards and fell into the hole cut close to the left side of the green for a one.

"I did a little shimmy after I made (an ace) at McDonald’s (the 2009 McDonald’s LPGA championship) and it got replayed one too many times and (people) made fun of it a little bit too much. So I just decided against it.

"I really wanted to do it but I didn’t. But it was pretty crazy. You know, they make a sound like it’s going to go in and make that noise and everyone’s hands go up. It was really cool."

It was Wie’s eighth hole-in-one, and her second in competition.

After her round, Wie, who hit only four fairways but needed just 25 putts, downplayed the significance of her first-round lead. It’s happened just once before, when she shared the 18-hole lead at the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open with a 69.

"It’s pretty cool, you know, but it means nothing, really," she said. "Today is over and done with. We still have three more days of the tournament, so I’ve just really got to focus and try to play better every day."

It’s a good focus, since Wie hasn’t had a top-10 LPGA finish since May.

But even more out of the blue came Kemp, the third-year LPGA member who has never finished in the top 10.

Ranked 157th in the world entering the Open, she carded six birdies and two bogeys to post the best score of Thursday’s morning draw.

"Good putter, I think, was the four-under today," Kemp said. "I holed some really good putts and I just kept it in play.

"The rough’s pretty long and I hit a lot of fairways."

It’s a great strategy if you’re not long-bombing Wie, who several times overpowered St. Charles’ long-ish grass off the fairways.

Kemp’s round came almost out of the blue, as inconsistencies have plagued her pro career, she said.

"I’ve played well on occasions and then really bad, so I’m kind of looking for that consistency," she said. "I don’t know how you practise that, though. I was speaking to my coach about that the other day."

Behind Wie and Kemp, defending champ Suzann Pettersen was lurking at three-under. Her round included hitting 15 greens.

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Jane Park of California, Meredith Duncan of Louisiana, Pernilla Lindberg of Sweden, Ilhee Lee of South Korea, Kristy McPherson of South Carolina, Karen Stupples of England, fourth-ranked Jiyai Shin of South Korea, Amy Hung of Taiwan and Mindy Kim of California were the crowded occupants of fourth spot after rounds of two-under 70.

None of the 14 Canadians managed to equal or better par on Thursday. Seema Sadekar of Toronto shot 73 (the same as Yani Tseng, 1992 du Maurier champ Sherri Steinhauer, Juli Inkster, Laura Davies and Se Ri Pak).

B.C.’s Sue Kim was the next Canadian at 74, while Lorie Kane and Rebecca Lee-Bentham were 75.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca