Michelle Wie, the 15-year-old golf phenom from Honolulu, has accepted an invitation to play in the 2005 John Deere Classic, July 4-10, at the Tournament Players Club at Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.
"We are thrilled that Michelle Wie has accepted our invitation to play in the 2005 John Deere Classic," said John Deere Classic tournament director Clair Peterson. "By playing in our tournament, Michelle will give golf fans - both serious and casual alike - a chance to see one of the most exciting young players in the game."
Wie's appearance in the Quad Cities will be her first regular PGA TOUR event outside of her home state of Hawaii, where she played in the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club the last two years. In 2003, she played in men's event at the Nationwide Tour's Alberton's Boise Open and in the Canadian Tour's Bay Mills Open Players Championship.
Wie said she chose to play at the John Deere Classic because the tournament fell perfectly on her schedule between the US Women's Open (June 23-26) and the Evian Masters in France (July 20-23).
In addition, she wanted to support the tournament's recently initiated new Think Pink breast cancer charity program aimed at raising funds for Gilda's Club of the Quad Cities, which helps cancer victims and their families through the myriad of issues associated with the dread disease. Wie also noted that the winner of the John Deere Classic receives an exemption into the British Open - a tournament in which she someday dreams of playing.
Wie's rationale for playing in a regular PGA TOUR event is straightforward: she wants to play against the best and learn from the best. And that means the PGA Tour players. She plans to try to qualify for the men's US Open at Pinehurst this year. Should she succeed, the Open would be the only other men's event in which she plays before the John Deere.
"When I go out and play in a PGA Tour event, I don't go there to win now but to learn from the best," Wie said. "The more PGA Tour events I play, the better my chance of making the cut and eventually becoming the first female member of the PGA Tour."
Already this year, Wie has played in three LPGA Tour events, where she tied for second, 12th and 14th, the latter at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, an LPGA major. If she were a professional, she would be 10th on the LPGA money list. Wie finished tied for 13th last year in the US Women's Open and hopes to improve at Cherry Hills in Denver this year.
Peterson noted that Wie's participation coincides with the one-year term of Pam Anderson, the first female chairperson of the John Deere Classic. He noted, too, that the tournament traditionally has used its sponsor exemptions to attract stars to the Quad Cities, including Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard, David Gossett, Charles Howell, Bill Haas, Casey Wittenberg, Zach Johnson, and Todd Hamilton.
The John Deere Classic will be celebrating its 35th anniversary this year with Australian Mark Hensby as its defending champion. Hensby, a former Illinois State Amateur champion, finished tied for fourth at The Masters tournament.
Source - John Deere Classic
