Michelle Wie won two matches to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Public Links, meaning the 15-year-old from Hawaii is three wins away from an invitation to the Masters.
She birdied three of the final five holes and beat Jim Renner 3 and 1 in her second match of the day. Wie, the first female to qualify for a men's USGA championship, earlier won 6 and 5 over C.D. Hockersmith.
Augusta National traditionally invites the winner of the Public Links to the Masters, and chairman Hootie Johnson has said the all-male club would welcome Wie or any other female who qualified.
She plays BYU junior Clay Ogden in the quarterfinals on Friday morning at Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, Ohio. The semifinals are Friday afternoon and the 36-hole championship is Saturday.
PGATour
Rookie Matt Hendrix, playing on his only sponsor exemption of the year, shot a 9-under 63 and was tied with Glen Day for the first-round lead at the B.C. Open in Endicott, N.Y.
Mike Springer, Jason Bohn, Ben Crane and Brenden Pappas were all a stroke back at the old En-Joie Golf Club course.
Mathias Gronberg, Omar Uresti, Mark Wilson, Chris Smith and Arjun Atwal all had 65s. Hank Kuehne, coming off a tie for second at last week's John Deere Classic, was part of a three-way tie at 66.
LPGA Tour
Janice Moodie birdied the final hole to cap a 6-under 66 and held a one-stroke lead over Emily Bastel after the opening round of the Canadian Women's Open in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Bastel aced the par-3 13th at the Glen Arbour course in her career-best 67. Linda Ishii was third after a 68, while Brittany Lang, Angela Stanford, Johanna Head, Sherri Turner, Cathy Johnston-Forbes, Mhairi McKay and Il Mi Chung were another stroke back.
-- From wire reports
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