Sick Wie Leaves Deere Classic in Ambulance

SILVIS, Ill. Jul 14, 2006 (AP)— Missing yet another PGA Tour cut was the least of Michelle Wie's worries. The 16-year-old phenom was taken to a hospital after withdrawing from the John Deere Classic with nine holes left Friday. She had struggled to keep herself from getting sick on a hot, steamy afternoon, and left the course in an ambulance, getting IV fluids.

"She's fine. She's getting better," Wie's father, B.J., said while his daughter was being treated at the course medical trailer.

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 spent about 30 minutes before she was taken to the hospital.

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.

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. CDT, and appeared fine for the first four holes.

But she looked listless as she approached the fifth green, sitting on her bag with her head bowed, a towel to her face, until it was her turn to putt. 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.

She could manage only a weak little wave after making a nice birdie putt on No. 8. And when a fan said, "Nice shot, Michelle," she responded with a weak smile.

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. A doctor came out to check on her, and he walked with her to her ball, asking how she was feeling.