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Hawaiian teen Wie tries again to make the cut against the men


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Teenage prodigy Michelle Wie, who crashed out of a European PGA event last week, starts her 11th bid to make the cut in a men's event here Thursday at the 84 Lumber Classic.

The 16-year-old Hawaiian fired rounds of 78 and 79 in her European Tour debut last week to miss the cut at the European Masters in Switzerland, complaining of having to juggle her schoolwork and a groundbreaking golf role.

"I was very stressed about school," Wie said at her first competition in a month. "The first week back they just dump everything on you and I had to bring all my work here."

Wie made the cut at an event earlier this year in South Korea after missing in her first eight attempts, including every tournament against the elite fields of the US and European PGA Tours.

And this week's event will be tough despite a depleted field because some players are in Europe at the World Match-Play Championship, with five Americans here who will play in next week's Ryder Cup in Ireland.

Fiji's Vijay Singh, a former world number one who capturd this event two years ago, is on hand along with US Ryder Cuppers Chris DiMarco, David Toms, Scott Verplank, Brett Wetterich and Chad Campbell.

Adding to the pressure will be the supreme length of the 7,516-yard Mystic Rock Golf Course.

Wie said her European failure has made her all the more motivated to make the most of chances like this week.

"Things like (bad rounds) don't scare me away. It makes me more motivated," she said.

"You have got to learn how to play men's tournaments by playing men's tournaments. If I just play women's events I will just get better at women's events. I feel I have a good balance. I'm 16 and still learning."

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Golf-USPGA-Wie

AFP 121857 GMT 09 06

COPYRIGHT 2006 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.

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