Half way there

Michelle Wie stands three match wins away from an invitation to the Masters next Spring. She has advanced to the Quarter-finals of the US Men's Public Links Championship. Good luck Michelle.

Michelle Wie is three wins away from an invitation to the Masters.

The 15-year-old from Hawaii birdied three of the final five holes and beat Jim Renner of Plainville, Mass., 3 and 1, in her second match of the day yesterday to advance to the quarterfinals of the US Amateur Public Links in Lebanon, Ohio.

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.

Wie is confident she will play in the Masters, although she's not sure when.

''I don't feel any kind of urgency," she said. ''I'm just playing. Hopefully, I'll get in one of these days. It could happen this year, it could be next year, it could be 20 years down the line."

Wie would have to win two matches for a second straight day to reach the final. She next plays Brigham Young junior Clay Ogden, who defeated Andrew Black of Chattanooga, Tenn., 3 and 2, in the quarterfinals in the morning. The semifinals are this afternoon, followed by the 36-hole final tomorrow.