Jeev, Michelle Wei join fray in Korea

Seoul, Apr 25 (UNI) Volvo China Open winner Jeev Milkha Singh will be eying for further glory at the 600,000 dollar SK Telecom Open, which will also see teenaged Hawaiian sensation Michelle Wie vyeing for top honours.

Jeev, current leader of the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit, finished tied 16th in the Asian Open and will tee off hoping to continue his good run after becoming the second Indian, after Arjun Atwal, to win an European Tour title.

Menawhile, the 16-year-old Wie, still in high school, will be bidding to make her first halfway cut against the men in eight appearances.

''I'm happy with the way I played in my first major as a professional. I wish I would have played a little better like the last nine holes. But, I'm still happy with the way I finished,'' said Wie, who finished third in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA's first major of the year, earlier this month.

Wie will be the third high profile woman golfer, after Laura Davies of England and Japan's Ai Miyazato, to feature on the Asian Tour against the likes of defending champion and three-time US PGA Tour winner KJ Choi of Korea at the Sky 72 Golf Club in Incheon, on the outskirts of the capital city.

Davies played in the Korean Open in 2003 but missed the halfway cut while Miyazato finished last after two rounds at the Okinawa Open last December.

Two other lesser known women golfers from China and Chinese Taipei have also played recently against the men on the Asian Tour but without any success.

Though born in Hawaii, Wei's parents are from Korea and this will be her second appearance here after featuring in an LPGA event on Jeju Island three years ago.

The six-foot tall Wei came close to making the halfway cut against the men at the Casio World Open on the Japan Tour last November but two closing bogeys saw her exit by an agonising one shot.

She was invited to play in the US PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii in January but played only two rounds.

During her visit, Wie will also make donations to several hospitals here to help children with incurable diseases.

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