LONDON, 28 January 2004 — Teenage prodigy Michelle Wie is likely to play in at least two events on the 2004 Ladies European Tour (LET), officials said yesterday.
The 14-year-old American, who narrowly failed to become the first female to make the cut in a men’s PGA Tour event at this month’s Hawaiian Open, will compete at the Evian Masters in France in July and possibly the Women’s British Open the following week.
“Michelle confirmed her entry for the Evian Masters last Friday and she may well try to qualify for the (British Open),” an LET spokesman said.
“If she makes the American Curtis Cup team, she is exempt to go into final qualifying for the (British Open), which will be played on the Monday before the tournament.
“I’m pretty sure she will be there,” he added. The British Open, the last of the year’s four major championships, will take place at Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England from July 29-Aug. 1.
Should American Wie qualify on July 26, she would be the biggest draw in the field.
The 1.83-meter Hawaiian amateur, a prodigious striker of the ball with a magician’s touch around the green, is already being hailed as the future Tiger Woods of the women’s game.
Although she missed the cut in Hawaii by a shot after firing a second-round 68, her performance in Honolulu left seasoned PGA Tour players gasping.
Three-times major winner Ernie Els described her swing as the best of any women golfer he had seen, while Davis Love III, the 1997 US PGA champion, could not think of a player under the age of 25 — man or woman — with as much potential.
World number one Woods, who was surprised to discover Wie was slightly taller than him after the pair practiced together in Hawaii, is also excited by her talent.
“I think it’s pretty neat what she’s doing and I wish her all the luck in the world,” he said. When schoolgirl Wie joins defending champion Juli Inkster and world number one Annika Sorenstam at the July 21-24 Evian Masters, she will not, however, become the youngest player in Ladies European Tour history.
