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Wie advances to next round of LPGA Tour qualifying

RANCHO MIRAGE: Michelle Wie advanced to the final round of qualifying for the LPGA Tour after shooting 71 in the fourth round at Mission Hills Country Club on Friday.

Wie placed in a tie for fourth place, eight strokes back of winner Ahn Sun-Ju, of South Korea, who finished with a 16-under 272 total in the Palm Springs-area sectional qualifying event. Japan’s Shiho Oyama and American Stacy Lewis joined Wie at eight-under 280. American Wie advances to the final round of qualifying in December where she will try to earn her LPGA playing privileges. Wie, who turned pro in 2005, is unique in the sport because for the past few years she has not been a member of any professional tour. The 18-year-old Wie has previously stated she would like to join the men’s PGA Tour on a full-time basis and says her number 1 goal is to play in The Masters. But the Stanford University student hasn’t had the kind of season on the ladies tour that would translate well over to the men’s side.

As a non-LPGA tour member she was limited to playing in a half dozen LPGA events in a season. Wie, who has never won a 72-hole stroke-play tournament, has been relying on exemptions to get into LPGA tournaments and good performances to get into non-LPGA events like the US Women’s Open. But injuries and poor showings have resulted in lower earnings and less tournaments willing to give her exemptions into the field. The 32 players from the California event will advance to the LPGA final qualifying tournament December 3-7 in Daytona Beach, Florida. They will be joined by the top 30 finishers from a second sectional tournament, to be played September 30-October 3 in Venice, Florida. The final qualifying field will also include current LPGA Tour members attempting to improve their priority standing and the 10 players finishing 6th through 15th on the 2008 Duramed FUTURES Tour season-ending money list. afp

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