Michelle Wie and Morgan Pressel exited the 18th green together on this blustery Saturday afternoon all smiles despite disappointing performances by both in the final round of the Lotte Championship.
In late February 2006 in this same event with a different sponsor, the twosome squared off for the first time as teenagers before a packed house, with Wie winning that day so dominantly, Pressel cried unabashedly in a national interview on the Golf Channel and then with local reporters before righting herself.
Wie beat her by five shots that dramatic day en route to finishing third in the Fields Open, one shot off the pace of eventual winner Seon Hwa Lee. On this afternoon, Wie beat Pressel by three, but it hardly mattered as both finished back in the pack to Sei Young Kim, who holed out from 154 yards to beat world No. 3 Inbee Park on the first playoff hole with an eagle.
As many wonderful shots as Wie managed this week, she produced an equal number of head-scratchers. The defending champion of this LPGA Tour event played on her home course at Ko Olina Golf Club never found her rally cap over the closing 36 holes, shooting a 2-over-par 146 for the weekend, including a 1-over 73 on Saturday.
Her 72-hole total of 3-under 285 left her tied for 11th, eight strokes off the winning pace of Kim. Last year, Wie came back from four shots down in the final round to win for the third time on tour in a gritty performance that was a prelude to her U.S. Women’s Open victory a couple of months later.
Since winning her first major last June, Wie had a tie for eighth followed by two missed cuts and then two withdrawals as she battled through an index finger injury that sidelined her for a month. The Punahou School graduate produced three top-5s in her final five events of 2014 and seemed to be rounding into form for an equally impressive 2015 campaign.
But as the golf gods often do, they pulled the pin on Wie. Her upwardly mobile career suddenly stalled through the early part of this season. Wie’s finish Saturday was her first top-20 in 2015 and just her second top-25 in eight starts. She has missed the cut only once, but ties for 57th, 29th, 64th and 51st in her previous four starts aren’t scorecards you send home to mom.
This one was a little better and helped Wie maintain a positive attitude as fans gathered three deep around the scorer’s tent in hopes of getting her autograph or a chance to exchange a few words with one of Hawaii’s own.
"A little bit," Wie said when asked if she was disappointed. "I definitely really wanted to (defend). At the same time, I tried really hard. Just was a little bit close; just wasn’t there. A lot of positive takeaways. I had so much fun this week. My game is really starting to feel good. It was just fun this week. I am going to just get that momentum going for the next couple of weeks and the rest of the season."
Wie leaves Sunday for San Francisco to play in the Swinging Skirts tournament, where defending champion and world No. 1 Lydia Ko rejoins the tour. Ko held off world No. 2 Stacy Lewis last year to win in a playoff. Lewis also skipped this week’s Lotte Championship, a trend no one here wants to see. They reportedly don’t like playing in the wind, which was plentiful this week in West Oahu.
At the beginning of the year, the LPGA was hopeful Ko, Lewis and Wie would be the stars of the show. But Wie has yet to hold up her end of the bargain as the meat of the season awaits. Currently ranked No. 9 in the world, Wie needs to regain some lost consistency. Her scorecard had too many squares compared to circles this week. She produced one eagle — a hole-out from 117 yards with a gap-wedge at the par-4 15th —14 birdies, nine bogeys and two double bogeys at the par-4 second on Friday and par-4 15th on Saturday.
Giving up four shots on two holes is never good when you’re trying to compete for a championship.
Wie fell ill in late February and has yet to fully recover, a fact that frustrated her all week.
"I felt pretty good," Wie said. "But it’s still a battle. I don’t feel quite 100 percent yet, which is ridiculous because I got sick back in February. I feel like I should be better by now. But it feels great to be back home and breathing the nice Hawaiian air. It’s been so much fun. I spent all last week just hiking, paddle boarding, being home and eating all the good stuff. I’m not quite ready to leave yet. They’re going to have to drag me onto the plane tomorrow."
