Heat cuts Wie from Deere
SILVIS, Ill. — Michelle Wie grabbed her stomach. She doubled over. At times, she took a seat on her golf bag and buried her head in her hands or pulled her cap over her face.
Clearly, she was in agony.
Jeff Gove could see that, but he felt little sympathy. Not even when Wie withdrew due to heat exhaustion after the ninth hole during the second round Friday of the John Deere Classic.
"She's got a beautiful swing, but she's got her name on her bags and she needs to be professional," said Gove, who was grouped with Wie and Daisuke Maruyama. "And she's not there yet. She's got a little time. I know she's 16. But if she wants to play pro golf, she needs to learn how to act."
Wie was attempting to become the first woman in 61 years to make the cut on the PGA Tour. But she struggled to keep herself from getting sick on the course on a hot, steamy afternoon.
After being treated at the course medical trailer, she was taken to a hospital in an ambulance, 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. "Michelle was diagnosed with heat exhaustion and is now resting and in very good spirits."
Wie was released about 8 p.m. and was resting comfortably, according to a statement from her publicist. She'll now have a week off before a two-week trip to Europe for the Evian Masters in France and the Women's British Open.
Wie 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 nearly got sick on the ninth tee, and stopped and clutched her chest on her way down the fairway. She managed to finish, but after talking with her parents said she couldn't play anymore. She was then taken to the course medical trailer.
Illinois law required she be taken to a hospital for further attention, and she left in an ambulance about a half-hour later. Her mother, Bo, accompanied the teenager in the ambulance and her father, B.J., followed behind in an SUV.
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.
