Michelle Wie was agonisingly close to winning on her pro tour debut but had victory snatched away at the SBS Open in Kahuku, Hawaii.
Wie, making her debut as a full LPGA Tour member, blew a three-stroke lead with eight holes to play, allowing Angela Stanford to burst through and snatch the top prize.
The 19-year-old Wie, who earned her Tour card through qualifying school, stumbled on the final holes, eventually carding one-over 73 for a total of nine-under 207.
That was one stroke behind Stanford, who closed with two-under 70 for a 10-under 206. It was Wie’s second runner-up place in the tournament played at her home course in Turtle Bay.
Being Wie and given her history as an unfulfilled teenage prodigy, her miss may seem as another example of squandered talent. However, a runner-up finish in your first pro tour event is not bad going by any standards. Wie, certainly, sees only the bright side, as she said in an AP article:
“Missing the trophy by a little bit is going to motivate me to work even harder for the next one. I just had one bad hole. I’m kind of disappointed in that. But there’s a lot of positive things I can take from this week.â€
Wie, who hasn’t won a tournament since lifting the USGA Women’s Amateur Public Links Championships at age 13, double-bogeyed the 11th hole and that opened the way for 31-year-old Stanford to overtake her.
For world number eight Stanford, the victory is merely a continuation of the fine form that characterised her performances towards the end of last year, when she won twice and had four other top 10 finishes.
Angela Park struggled scored 75 to tie for third with South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi (69) at four-under 212, six strokes behind Stanford.
Wie didn’t stumble, she collapsed under pressure. She my now he thinking why she didn’t follow the suggestions of her coach and not the dollar signs. Her sponsors didn’t help.