FRANCE: GOLF - Michelle Wie looks forward to Evian Masters

American teenage golf star Michelle Wie is competing in the Evian Masters for the third year running. Having turned professional in October 2005 with a contract that made her the third highest paid sportswoman in the world, the 16-year-old phenomenon is getting ready for next week's British Open, the final major of the LPGA season, which follows the Evian Masters. Although Wie has yet to win an LPGA event, she came very close to winning the previous three LPGA majors of 2006 - she was 3rd at the Nabisco Championships, 5th at the LPGA Championships and 3rd at the US Open - and believes in her chances at winning the British Open. "Definitely, my game feels good, and if I can get everything together and if I get a couple of lucky bounces here and there, that might be good," Wie said. Wie is taking extra precautions for the Evian Masters after she suffered a heat exhaustion during the John Deere Classic in Illinois and had to withdraw from the competition. "It's really good, I'm sweating a lot, but I'm drinking a lot and I take a rest when I feel a little bit tired", she said. Wie's withdrawal from the John Deere Classic heightened the debate over her role in men's events and attracted growing criticism. That event was her fifth foray on the PGA tour, and the ninth time she took on the men in a professional tournament. Asked why she's so focused on the men's PGA tour rather than the women's, she said, "Well it's always been what I wanted to do. I played on a boys' team when I played baseball when I was really young, and it's always been what I did, all the time where I was growing up, and it's a lot of fun getting to play against men and playing against women, I get to see the different sides of golf, and I really enjoy it."

ITN Source | July 26, 2006

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