Sep 16, 2005 By Ed Kolencik 3 min read

FARMINGTON – This hasn’t been the best of years for Charlie Wi. Of the 17 tournaments he’s played in, he’s missed the cut 10 times, been disqualified once and his best finish was 22nd place at the Honda Classic in March. The first-year PGA player finds himself in perfect position after the first round of the 84 Lumber Classic as he sits in a four-way tie for first place with Shaun Micheel, Mark O’Meara and Jason Gore at 7-under-par.

“It’s nice to get off to a nice start,” said Wi. “Now I just have to stay there.”

Wi’s first round consisted of nine pars, eight birdies and only one bogey, which came on the 461-yard par 4, 15th hole.

In the years since he turned professional in 1995, Wi has seen the world in a career that has taken him from Japan to Europe and finally here to the U.S. where he’s taken his share of bumps and bruises for somebody on tour.

“Well, I started off the year pretty well, making all the cuts, but I think I was trying a little too hard on the weekends, where I was shooting maybe 74 or 75 and I would really shoot myself in the foot,” said Wi. “I was really aggressive, trying to attack all of the pins, and from there, I was just making dumb bogeys.”

Drawing comparisons to the courses in Asia, Wi is quick to point out that there are a lot of similarities between U.S. courses to those overseas since most are designed by western architects, so they’re similar in style. The course make-up is another story.

“It’s not like the nice bentgrass, so it’s very unpredictable hitting from the fairways,” said Wi.

Patience is one aspect of Wi’s game that’s a work in progress and is the biggest thing he’s learned on tour this year.

“You have to be really patient out here,” said Wi. “I think that the conditions of the golf courses are really difficult, and you have to be able to be really patient hitting approach shots into the green.”

In the first round, Wi’s patience paid off as he hit 12-of-18 greens and totaled 23 putts. He hit 7-of-14 fairways and averaged 299 yards off the tee.

Focusing on his first visit to Mystic Rock, Wi is complimentary to the course as well as his accommodations.

Hole 12 was the topic of conversation among players during the first round as players struggled with the changes.

“I think they made good changes,” said Wi.

“The green is very small and you’re hitting a seven or eight iron to the green. It’s a challenging shot.”

“The conditions are absolutely perfect,” said Wi. “The greens … fairways … Mr. Hardy has done a wonderful job out here.”

Wie’s scheduled to tee time today at 1:30 p.m. with playing partners Phillip Price and Ryan Moore.