By Dave Shedloski

Edina, Minn. – Michelle Wie waited all night to play three strokes and complete the final hole of her second round in the U.S. Women’s Open Saturday – the same hole that one day earlier effectively ended her chances of further competing at Interlachen Country Club.

Wie, 18, was one of 36 players forced to return at 7 a.m. Saturday to finish their second rounds in the 63^rd U.S. Women’s Open after a two-hour, 27-minute weather delay on Friday. It couldn’t have been a pleasant night for the enigmatic teen, who was two over par in her round and 10 over for the championship when play was suspended by darkness.

Her final shot on Friday was a drive into the trees in the right rough at the par-4 ninth hole. From a nearly similar position in Thursday’s opening round, Wie bludgeoned the hole for a quintuple-bogey 9 that led to an 81.

This time, Wie punched an iron under the limbs of the trees to a position short and left of the green, pitched up to 6 feet and holed out for a par in front of about 75 fans. A single wave of her right hand, and she was done.

Former Women's Open champion Se Ri Pak headed home. (Hunter Martin/USGA)

"Well, I parred 9 at 7 o’clock in the morning, so that feels pretty good," said Wie after failing to advance to the final 36 holes for the second year in a row after nearly winning the Open in 2006 at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island, where she tied for third. "You know, I hit great shots. My irons were great. I left myself the hardest putts on the golf course.

"A couple of missed putts here and there, but I played solidly."

But it wasn’t solid enough. The cut fell at 4-over 150 with 74 players advancing. The 10-shot rule ended up being a non-factor with the leader, Angela Park, posting 6-under 140.

Wie, who last year withdrew from the Open to mark the nadir of an injury-plagued season, said the weather delay Friday was a factor in her coming up short. She had birdied the 17^th hole, her eighth of the day, to move to 1 under on her round, and then just missed a birdie at 18 when the horn sounded. She never recovered her momentum.

"That was a bummer," she said. "I have to look at it as it was not my week."

She also admitted that her play in the Open "showed I’m not fully there yet." But she is encouraged as she prepares for her next start at the LPGA Jamie Farr Corning Classic in Toledo, Ohio, where she received a sponsor’s exemption.

"I felt real healthy. I feel good about my body and my swing," she said. "I’ve had a couple of good week, but in the recovery process, you going to have a bad round or two, and, unfortunately, I had one in the U.S. Open."

While Wie will have to wait another year to try and win the U.S. Women’s Open, several former champions joined her on the sidelines.

The biggest casualty perhaps was Se Ri Pak. The 1998 champion, the youngest ever to win the Open, Pak had never missed the cut and had finished tied for fourth and third, respectively, the last two years. But she followed up an opening 76 with a 78 Friday for 154.

Local favorite Hilary Lunke, who had played just three LPGA tournaments leading into the Open, was looking good after an opening 74 and was still sitting on the cutline when Friday’s rains moved in, but she dropped two more shots coming in and her 5-over 78 left her at 6-over 152.

"I’m pretty disappointed to not be playing on the weekend," said Lunke, 29, who won the 2003 championship. "I kind of felt like things were maybe going to fall together. I’m definitely disappointed, but it was still a great week playing in my hometown. It’s something I’ll remember forever."

Other former winners who didn’t survive included Juli Inkster, Lieselotte Neumann, Birdie Kim, and Laura Davies, the 1987 champion who slipped to 81 after an opening 70 and missed the cut for the sixth time in the last eight years. After missing the cut last year for the first time since 1998, Inkster, a two-time champion, put in extra preparation time for this year. Alas, a second-round 81 nullified her opening 74, and the 155 total missed by five strokes.

The youngest player in the field for the second year in a row, Alexis Thompson missed the weekend again. A year ago, at age 12, she was the youngest to ever qualify for the Open. Since then, she has grown 5 inches and added about 20 yards to her driving average. However, Interlachen was inhospitable to her game and she fell out at 77-152.

David Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on www.uswomensopen.com.