Friday, July 14 2006 15:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Sylvis (Illinois): US teen golf star Michelle Wie struggled to a six-over par 77 here Thursday, leaving little chance of reaching her goal of playing the weekend at the PGA John Deere Classic.

One year after the Korean-American prodigy from Hawaii nearly made the cut against a PGA men's field, the 16-year-old high schooler with the rich endrosement deal made a woeful start and never recovered.

Wie had six bogeys and a double-bogey against only two birdies in the US$3.8 million event, 13 strokes behind leaders John Senden of Australia, Daniel Chopra of Sweden and Americans JP Hayes and Zach Johnson.

One year ago, Wie almost became the first woman since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945 to make the cut in a US PGA Tour event, shooting a one-under-par 141 over 36 holes. But with only four holes remaining in 2005, Wie took a double-bogey on the par-4 sixth and a bogey at the par-3 seventh to doom her bid at history.

Wie has also tried and failed to make the cut among the men at an event in Hawaii, where she will be a high school senior this year, and in lesser tours. She made a breakthrough in South Korea but never against US tour standouts.

Wie began on the back nine and sandwiched four bogeys and a double bogey plus two birdies between pars at 10 and 18. She made bogeys at one and eight as well as seven pars on her second nine.

"I feel like I have a really good round in me," Wie said. "I feel like if I hit the fairways more, if I was in the fairway I could have shot a lot under par.

"I felt like my irons are really good right now, my putting feels really good and I really feel like I can do it. I feel really motivated to do it," he said.

Play was delayed two hours by morning fog and as a result, the final threesome had to complete the last two holes. The trio will finish Friday morning before starting round two.

Many top players skip this event before next week's British Open, although the top non-qualified player earns a berth in the year's third major championship.

But that simply pushed Wie and her quest to the forefront.

Wie has been solid in LPGA events, finishing no worse than fifth in five events, but was lackluster Thursday. She needed a 12-footer for birdies on 13 and a 50-foot chip in at the par-3 16th just to finish where she did.

"Well, I didn't make the cut shooting 1-under on the first round (in 2005), so maybe shooting 6-over might do it," Wie said.

Chopra enjoyed a bogey-free round of 64 topped by an eagle at the par-5 17th while Hayes made seven birdies in a bogey-free round. Senden sank nine birdies but a double-bogey at 11 kept him from an outright lead.

Johnson birdied seven of his final nine holes, including the final five.