Michelle Wie got off to another rough start on Thursday, leading to an early finish to her stay in the Lotte Championship.
Wie followed up an 80 in the opening round on Wednesday with a roller-coaster 1-over-par 73 Thursday and missed the cut at 9 over par in an event she won two years ago.
Wie opened the afternoon by slicing her drive toward the parking lot along the first fairway to set up a double bogey. She bogeyed No. 2 to go to 10 over, then birdied three of her next six holes to get back to even for the day. She couldn’t make a sustained move toward the cut line, finishing with bogeys on two of her last three holes and missed the cut for the third time in eight starts this season.
“Just missed some bad shots on the first and second holes, which you can’t really do,” Wie said after her round. “I played well the rest of the day. Just needed to post a really low score, which I wasn’t able to do, which is obviously very disappointing.”
Wie missed the cut in the inaugural Lotte Championship in 2012, won the event two years later and tied for 11th last year.
Thompson finds putting stroke
Lexi Thompson looked anything but confident on the greens on Wednesday while taking 34 putts in an opening-round 75. The world’s third-ranked player was considerably more sure of herself in the second round with a bounce-back 6-under 66 to move to 3 under after 36 holes.
“Yesterday was just a struggle on the greens. Don’t really know what was going on,” Thompson said. “I hit it great yesterday. Just the hole seemed like a penny-size.
“I would say my attitude was the main focus. Even if I played bad today, my main focus was just to have a good attitude out there. I guess the good attitude came with the good play. Then just committing to my lines. We worked on a little putting after my round yesterday and changed a few things.
“It’s all about confidence, especially in this wind.”
Thompson, the leading American in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, eagled the 528-yard, par-5 fifth hole for the second straight day, giving herself a 12-foot putt with a downwind 9-iron from 164 yards out. She birdied both of the par-3s on the front side, draining a 20-foot putt on the eighth to move to 3 under in her second appearance in the Lotte Championship. She missed the cut in 2012 and hadn’t returned until this week.
Salas goes low again
Lizette Salas turned in one of Thursday morning’s hot rounds with a 6-under 66, her lowest score at Ko Olina since setting the tournament record with a 62 in the final round in 2013.
She signed for a bogey-free round to get to 3 under for the tournament after trudging through a 75 in the opening round. With the winds a bit calmer for the second round, she hit 14 greens in regulation after giving herself putts for birdie on just six greens on Wednesday.
“I just erased the round from yesterday,” Salas said. “We knew the problem was I wasn’t getting close, so I really wanted to be aggressive whenever I had a short iron.
“So really feel good. Really feel good off the tee. I can see my shots and visualize a lot better and I’m staying patient out there, which was much needed today, this whole week. This wind is gnarly.”
The USC graduate posted one of the Lotte Championship’s landmark rounds when she made a final-round charge to catch Suzann Pettersen for the lead in 2013. She fell short in the playoff when her approach on 18 went into the water.
Salas said the memory of her 62 helped out on Thursday, “just try to know that I can pull those shots off and I can play good golf here. Just having those good vibes and memories,” Salas said.
“My mom flew in last night, so I had to play good for her or she wouldn’t have been happy.”
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Star-Advertiser staff
