Wie drops out of John Deere Classic

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By Craig DeVrieze | Tuesday, June 19, 2007 11:40 PM CDT | () comments

Someday, Michelle Wie may be ready again to challenge a PGA Tour field and golf course.

That day won’t be in July.

Wie withdrew from the July 12-15 John Deere Classic on Tuesday, citing ongoing struggles with injured wrists and the daunting length of the host 7,268-yard TPC Deere Run course.

Wie, who played in the previous two JDCs and accepted a third straight sponsor’s exemption in May, had sat out much of the golf season after fracturing her left wrist in a February fall. She had injured her right wrist late last year, hitting out of the rough at the LPGA Tour Samsung World Championship.

The 17-year-old golfer had struggled since returning to competition late last month, withdrawing 16 holes into her first round at the LPGA Tour’s Ginn Tribute in Charleston, S.C., and then finishing last, by 10 shots, a week later at LPGA Championship in Havre De Grace, Md.

She is expected to try and compete in the U.S. Women’s Open next week, but said taking on some of the world’s top male players at Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., might be too big of a challenge right now.

“While my rehabilitation is on schedule, I do not have all my strength back yet,’’ Wie said in a tournament media release. “The TPC Deere Run course is obviously very long and I just don’t have the length to play there right now.

“I do intend to play the U.S. Women’s Open, and to continue competing throughout the summer to help myself gain strength and get back to where I want to be.’’

Tournament director Clair Peterson said he remained a Wie supporter.

“We look forward to having her back when the time is right,’’’ he said.

Contacted on a recruiting trip in at the Travelers Championship in Hartford, Conn., Peterson said injuries are a part of the sporting landscape.

“They just announced Phil Mickelson because of a wrist injury wasn’t going to be here,’’ he said of the Hartford event. “Michelle has her wrist issues and her feelings about playing a PGA Tour length course in PGA Tour conditions were what made her decide not to come. We totally understand.’’

Even before the injuries, Wie had been struggling with her game virtually since arriving at Deere Run last year, and she had been particularly unsuccessful vs. men.

She shot a 6-over par 77 in the JDC’s first round last year and was 2-over for the day at Deere Run when she withdrew due to heat exhaustion nine holes into her second round.

She subsequently failed to make the cut and finished dead last in a pair of men’s events in Switzerland and Pennsylvania, and she failed to break 80 at the Casio Open on the Japanese men’s tour.

In January, Wie missed the cut by 14 shots at the Sony Open in her native Hawaii, where, as a 13-year-old, she missed the cut by a single shot.

She also nearly made the cut at the 2005 JDC. There, she stood one shot below the cutline with four holes to play, but then had problems on successive holes. By just two shots, she missed out on a chance to become the first woman since 1945 to play on PGA Tour weekend.

In 14 career starts vs. men, the gender-bending Wie has made the cut only in the 2006 SK Telecom Open in Korea.

She also is winless in 35 starts on the LPGA Tour but has a number of top five finishes, including five in major championships.

Still, Wie said as recently as last month that she wants to continue challenging the men.

“I learn so much from playing with men and I just feel grateful to have the opportunity to play that kind of golf,’’ she said prior to the Ginn Tribute. “It brings a different perspective to the way I play and I learn a lot of cool shots from them. I just like it, so I’m going to do it as long as I enjoy it.’’

Peterson indicated that Wie will be welcome at the JDC when next she feels she is ready.

“We’re hopeful,’’ he said of a potential return. “We are rooting for her. When the time comes to think about having her join us again, we will think about it very seriously.’’

Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com.