Wie (74) Not Close to Cut

It’s back to school for Michelle Wie.

The 15-year-old sophomore never had a chance to make the cut Friday in the Sony Open, taking three putts from eight feet for a triple bogey on the sixth hole and losing more ground from there. She shot a four-over-par 74 to finish 17 shots behind leader Shigeki Maruyama, and seven shots below the cut line.

Wie had to settle for a tie with European Ryder Cup player Paul Casey at nine-over 149. She wound up tied for 128th place.

Maruyama holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-five ninth for a 65, giving him a one-shot lead over Justin Rose and Brett Quigley going into a weekend at Waialae Country Club that will be missing its biggest star.

Wie picked up her first birdie with an eight-foot putt on the 10th hole, but by then it was too late. There was no drama like last year, when she birdied two of her last three holes for a 68 to miss the cut by one shot.

Her lengthy stride gave way to slumped shoulders, and Wie stared at the turf after each shot missed the green.

Her only consolation was a birdie on the last hole, when she made a 10-foot putt.

As for next year?

Two-time defending champion Ernie Els believes Wie should return to the Sony Open.

“That is not throwing an invite away,” he said of the sponsor’s exemption Wie received. “It’s phenomenal what she is doing for the game.”