John Deere Classic
Heat gets to Wie; Ogilvie paces field SILVIS, Ill. (AP) – Missing yet another PGA Tour cut was the least of Michelle Wie’s worries.
The 16-year-old phenom was treated for heat exhaustion at a local hospital after withdrawing from the John Deere Classic with nine holes left Friday. She struggled to keep herself from getting sick on a hot, steamy afternoon, and left the course in an ambulance with an IV in one arm.
“She suffered a number of different symptoms, including stomach pains, nausea, dizziness and breathing problems which worsened as the round continued,” Wie’s agent, Ross Berlin, said in a statement.
“She was treated at the emergency room of the Genesis Medical Center and will soon be released. Michelle was diagnosed with heat exhaustion and is now resting and in very good spirits.”
Wie walked off the ninth hole on her own, but after talking with her parents said she couldn’t play anymore. She then was taken to the course medical trailer, where she was treated for about 30 minutes.
Under Illinois law, Wie had to be taken to a hospital for further attention. Her mother, Bo, accompanied the teenager in the ambulance and her father, B.J., followed behind in an SUV.
“She’s fine. She’s getting better,” B.J. Wie said when he came out of the course medical trailer.
This was Wie’s fifth attempt at becoming the first woman since Babe Zaharias in 1945 to make a PGA Tour cut. But her chances at history were all but over after she opened with a 6-over 77 Thursday, leaving her 13 strokes behind the leaders and eight strokes over the projected cut line.
She was at 2-over 37 when she withdrew Friday. Joe Ogilvie was the second-round leader at 10-under 132 after a 4-under 67. Daniel Chopra (69), Kris Cox (68), John Senden (69) and John Huston (67) were one stroke back at 9 under.
Defending champion Sean O’Hair (69) was six strokes behind Oglivie.
The temperature Friday afternoon was 88, with the sun and humidity making it feel as if it was five degrees warmer. Wie teed off shortly before 2 p.m. and was looking listless by the time she approached the fifth green. She sat on her bag with her head bowed, a towel to her face, until it was her turn to putt.
“We’ve had several cases of heat-related illness, but mostly spectators,” said Dr. Benjamin Shnurman, a physician and tournament medical staff volunteer who treated Wie. “We haven’t treated any other players with this type of condition.”
She was in obvious pain over the next four holes, bending over and gripping her stomach, wiping her face with a towel and sitting on her bag every chance she got. Her caddie gave her several bottles of cold water to drink, but Wie only got worse and Shnurman was summoned when she was on the seventh hole.
Though she gutted out the rest of the front nine, her play got more and more mechanical. She managed only a slight wave after making a nice birdie putt on No. 8, and responded with a weak smile when a fan called out “Nice shot, Michelle.”
After teeing off on the ninth, she took a seat on her bag, holding her sides and bowing her head. At one point she sat up straight but put her hand to her mouth, as if she was going to get sick.
When she stood up, she put her hand to her mouth again and headed toward some weeds next to the tee. She stood there for a minute or two, but didn’t get sick. Shnurman checked on her, walking with her to her ball and asking how she was feeling.
“With the heat and when you don’t feel well, she was appropriate for what she was going through,” Shnurman said.
After putting out on the ninth, Wie went to talk to her worried-looking parents. As they patted her on the back, Wie said she didn’t want to continue playing. She said goodbye to her playing partners and then headed for the medical trailer.
“She just said, “I’m going to withdraw,’ which was good because she was holding us up again,” said Jeff Gove, one of Wie’s playing partners. Gove missed the cut with a 1-over 143.
Wie is 0-for-5 in PGA Tour events. She will get another chance to make history in September, when she is scheduled to play the 84 Lumber Classic at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa in Farmington, Pa.
Wie needed the round of her career and a lot of help Friday to make the cut. She didn’t get either. She had to save par on No. 1 with a nice up-and-down after flying the green with her second shot. She pushed her tee shot right into some deep weeds on the par-5 No. 2 and had little choice but to lay up.
She found a greenside bunker with her third shot, and her 15-foot par putt stopped just short of the hole.
Wie started struggling on the long par-4 fifth. She had an animated discussion with her caddie, Greg Johnston, and he appeared to be trying to encourage her. When they approached the green, though, she took a heavy seat on her bag and bowed her head.
After teeing off on the sixth hole, she sat on a box, then stood up and leaned on a cooler. She walked off the tee rubbing her stomach, and bent over her bag until it was her turn to hit.
As she waited for Gove to putt, Wie knelt at the edge of the green with her head bowed, pulling the bill of her baseball cap over her eyes.
“I saw she was hurting, but she never said anything,” Gove said. “And she was walking real slow, which I thought was inconsiderate again because we’re trying to keep up. If we get on the clock again, that’s painful.”