RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. (AP) - Michelle Wie said Annika Sorenstam apologized to her for comments she made in an interview with Golf Magazine.
“She actually reached out to me last night, said a couple of things got misquoted,” Wie said Thursday after her first round in the Kraft Nabisco Championship. “I thought that was really nice of her to reach out to me. She apologized for what she said, and that’s that.”
Sorenstam’s comments appear in a question-and-answer story in the magazine’s May edition.
“I didn’t read it, so I don’t know what she said,” Wie said when asked how Sorenstam could be misquoted in a question-and-answer format.
The former child prodigy, now 23, has mostly struggled since winning the 2010 Canadian Women’s Open for the second of her two LPGA Tour titles. In five events this year, she has missed three cuts and also played poorly in two no-cut events in Asia.
She shot an even-par 72 on Thursday at Mission Hills and has broken 70 only once in 15 rounds this season, closing with a 69 in Singapore after a third-round 77.
“What I see now is that the talent that we all thought would be there is not there,” Sorenstam is quoted as saying in the magazine article.
The Hall of Famer also pointed at Wie’s appearances in men’s tournaments as a possible reason for some of her struggles.
“I don’t think it helped her career,” Sorenstam said. “I think we see some of it today. I think she jumped in way too deep, and I think it had some tough consequences for her.”
Sorenstam was asked if Wie could still become the best player in the world.
“She has a long way to go, let’s put it that way,” Sorenstam said. “There was a time when the LPGA really needed her. I thought she had a lot to bring to the table. Now she’s one out of many.”
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SLUGGER’S WIFE: Amanda Blumenherst shot a 7-over 79 after staying up late Wednesday night to watch husband Nate Freiman make his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics.
Blumenherst went to bed at 11:30 p.m. and was up at 4:40 a.m. for her 7:26 a.m. tee time.
“It was a late night and I could not fall asleep because I was so excited,” Blumenherst said. “I was bummed out that I wasn’t able to be there to watch him, but focus-wise on the golf course it wasn’t a problem.”
Freiman had an RBI single in his first at-bat and finished 2 for 3 in the Athletics’ 6-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
“I think the entire Yard House _ the restaurant we went to _ knew that he was my husband because I was just cheering and shouting and jumping up and down,” Blumenherst said.
On Thursday in Oakland’s 8-2 victory over Seattle, the 6-foot-8 first baseman drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in his lone plate appearance. The former Duke stars were married in December.
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GULBIS RETURNS: Natalie Gulbis opened with a 2-over 74 in her return to play after recovering from malaria.
“I’m so excited to get back out here,” Gulbis said. “I feel good. It was fun to get out there and play and it’s nice that I still have some good energy.”
Infected by a mosquito during the LPGA Thailand, the 30-year-old Gulbis withdrew after the first round the following week in Singapore and missed tournaments in Phoenix and Carlsbad.
She had a birdie and three bogeys in her morning round.
“I didn’t hit it very well,” Gulbis said.
She won the 2007 Evian Masters for her lone LPGA Tour title.
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DIVOTS: I.K. Kim shot a 75. Last year, she missed a 1-foot par putt on the final hole of regulation and lost to Sun Young Yoo in a playoff. … Juli Inkster, at 52 the oldest player in the field, had a 77.
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