Golf: Wie Suffers More Bighorn Misery

Misfortune has continued to dog Michelle Wie at the course where she was disqualified on her professional debut last year, her misery compounded by the embarrassment of an air shot.

A year ago at Bighorn Golf Club, she dodged bees and bunkers before being disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. In the first round of the women's world championship yesterday, at the same course, she suffered a near-farcical quadruple bogey at the 14th that included a horribly missed shot, en route to a two-over-par 74.

The 17-year-old Wie began her second year as a pro with a round that left her seven strokes behind Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa, who each opened with 67 in the 20-player field.

Her four-hour, 40-minute round was a mixed bag - she made eagle, a birdie, par, a double bogey and, most farcically, an eight on the 354-yard 14th, the shortest par-four hole on the course.

After hitting her tee shot in a waste area to the right of the fairway, landing her ball against a rock, Wie called a rules official, Janet Lindsay. Since her stance was impeded by the cart path, Wie was allowed to take a free drop in the waste area. As she stood in the shade of an overhanging willow tree, Wie swung the club back but missed the ball. "Completely whiffed it," she said, giggling.

She walked away from the ball and tried to gather herself, only to pitch her shot into the bottom of a bush. She took an unplayable lie, which cost her a stroke, hit back on to the fairway, laced an iron to the green and carded an eight after two putts.

The saga lasted 30 minutes, with Wie and her new caddie, Fanny Sunesson, measuring out the angles to ensure that Wie dropped her ball no closer to the hole. That was the rule she broke last year, at the seventh hole, when she signed an incorrect scorecard. "I called the referee every single time this time," Wie said. "I don't think there will be any problems."

Wie, in search of her first career victory, began the round by making par on the first hole. She birdied the third and opened with a one-under 35 on the front nine. She recovered from a double-bogey at the 11th with an eagle on the following hole ,where she rolled in a 60-foot downhill putt.

After Wie's quadruple bogey, several scoreboards awarded her a seven. As she approached the 18th green, she noticed that the main scoreboard also gave her a triple bogey, but Wie knew better. When she signed her card, the scorer told her that she too thought she made a seven, and asked Wie if she received a free drop from the bush because of a gathering of bumblebees. Wie and Cristie Kerr, her playing partner, were sharper this time. "That was last year," they said.