CARLSBAD, Calif. » There must have been something in the aina 22 years ago.
Michelle Wie, Ayaka Kaneko and Stephanie Kono were born over a four-month period and grew up 4 miles apart. This year all are playing on the LPGA Tour, which opens its third annual Kia Classic at La Costa Resort and Spa today.
"Pretty cool," said Kaneko with a grin.
"Don’t remember that happening before," added Mary Bea Porter-King, a former LPGA player who helped found the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association. "Pretty amazing."
Golf’s global tour, with the LPGA’s fresh "See Why It’s Different Out Here" slogan, looks like an HSJGA reunion. The diversity lies in how the trio got here.
Kaneko began golfing when she moved from Japan to Hawaii at 12. She was a Rolex Junior All-American during her Sacred Hearts Academy years, played an injury-filled season at Pepperdine, then turned pro in 2009.
Wie, Kono, Kaneko tee off in afternoon
All three Hawaii players on the LPGA Tour go out in the afternoon wave today and will be playing during the live Golf Channel broadcast.
Michelle Wie tees off at 9:30 a.m. Hawaii time, with Brittany Lincicome and Stacy Lewis, who is defending champion at next week’s Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first major. Stephanie Kono goes out with Meredith Duncan and Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall at 10:30 a.m. Ayaka Kaneko starts at No. 10 at 10:40 a.m., with Australia’s Lindsey Wright and Scotland’s Janice Moodie.
|
She earned conditional LPGA status last year but spent most of her time on the Futures Tour, then graduated with a 15th-place finish at December’s qualifying tournament. This will be her seventh LPGA start.
Kono had to give up the chance to become UCLA’s first four-time first-team All-American in golf when she finished ninth at qualifying and had a chance at living the dream she has been cultivating since the age of 8.
This will be her fifth LPGA start and she’s still looking to make her first cut.
"The more I try not to make mistakes the more I do," said Kono, who won four college tournaments and an NCAA championship. "I grew up idolizing a lot of these girls and watching them on TV. Obviously, on TV you see a lot of the good shots and not too many bad ones. When I got here I thought I had to be perfect. What I’m starting to realize now is I don’t have to be perfect. I’ll never be perfect, so I’m trying to be comfortable accepting that and playing my own game."
Kono graduated from Punahou a year after Wie. Both will graduate from college in June. Wie finished in 4½ years of part-time student/golf pro status. In her spare time, she has made millions in endorsements since turning pro at 16.
Wie now has, as Kia says, "A new way to roll." She can focus solely on golf.
"I’m so proud of what I’ve done," she said, "but after I’ve seen all my friends graduate and being the last one, I was kind of ready for it.
"I see them transitioning into real-world situations where they go to work every day. … I’m so ready to step into the real world and really focus on my job as this is, and really focus on the game and winning."
While Kaneko chatted with Japanese star Ai Miyazato on the practice green Wednesday, and Kono putted under the watchful eye of her boyfriend, Wie was in the Kia Skybox, the focus of another press conference.
Kia, one of her major sponsors, debuted her new commercial, "Clay Pigeons." In it, Wie rolls up to what looks like the Scottish Highlands in her Kia Soul, gets out and begins yelling "pull." As plates fly up, she shatters each one with a golf ball originating from that "Big Wiesy" swing. Then she gets back in her car, grins at the three old guys watching and blows on her fingers.
She will also be part of the LPGA’s "personality-driven" ad series, playing "Dr. Wie," university professor. That debuts next week, when she also will become the first woman featured on David Feherty’s golf show.
Wie also signed a Kia check for $50,000 to be given to Operation Hero, a mentoring and tutoring program for kids at nearby Camp Pendleton. She called it "the best graduation present ever."
Kono and Kaneko are lower maintenance, but just as driven. As they throw themselves into their first full year on the LPGA, Wie has a simple bit of advice.
"Get to know people. Have an open mind about everyone," she said. "Sometimes you get a little shy when you’re first out here. There are a lot of big names, a lot of people you don’t know. They are just people who want to help, want to talk to you. Just go up and ask them a few questions if you need to."
Notes
» After Kraft, the tour takes two weeks off and returns to Hawaii for the inaugural LPGA Lotte Championship, April 18-21 at Ko Olina Golf Club.
