Sport

Wie quietly coming good in Solheim race

WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN : FEW PLAYERS have achieved their first professional victory at a major, but, after all she has been through…

Thu Jul 30 2009 - 01:00

WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN: FEW PLAYERS have achieved their first professional victory at a major, but, after all she has been through, Michelle Wie believes she can join the list at Royal Lytham this week.

Yet even if the 19-year-old fails to capture the Women’s British Open, her last major as a teenager, she could still end the week with something to celebrate. Selection for the Solheim Cup.

This is the last week of qualifying for both Europe and the US, and Wie again finds herself at the centre of attention, as she has been since she first appeared on the men’s US tour at 14 and missed the cut by only one shot.

It has been a rocky road at times since, with injury and a dramatic loss of form, but after a runner-up finish and two third-places in this, her first full season as an LPGA Tour member, she is 16th in the cup standings.

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Only a victory would give Wie a chance of being among the 10 who earn automatic spots in Beth Daniel’s side, but a strong showing could secure her a wild card.

“I would love to play, it would be the greatest honour,” she said yesterday. “It’s one of the biggest goals I’ve had and it’s been weighing on my mind basically the whole year. I would like to say I deserve a pick, but a win will solve everything.”

Lytham last staged the event in 2006 and Wie was 26th that week after being handed a two-stroke penalty for hitting a piece of moss on her backswing in a bunker.

Noting after practice that the number of traps “seem like they are multiplying”, Wie added: “I’m going to try my best to stay out of them, they are definitely hazards.”

As for the European Solheim Cup team, the qualifying system is along the same lines as the men for the Ryder Cup – except more complicated.

Five come off a European points list – France’s Gwladys Nocera is way out in front on that – and then four more qualify from the world rankings.

Captain Alison Nicholas admitted she was “as much in the dark as you are” about what players needed to do this week to climb into the team on the world ranking list.

There is a two-hour gap between the end of the tournament on Sunday and the announcement of her three wild cards. Hopefully that is long enough for the calculations to be completed.