2005 Sony Open in Hawaii Big Easy Shares Billing with Big Wiesy By Associated Press - January 12, 2005 HONOLULU - Ernie Els has played before the largest galleries this week at the Sony Open, in part because he is trying to become the first player in its 40-year history to win three straight times. And also because the Big Easy has been hanging around the Big Wiesy. In the first full-field event, with the No. 1 player (Vijay Singh) at Waialae Country Club for the first time, 15-year-old Michelle Wie remains the star attraction as she pursues history of her own. She will try to become the first woman to make the cut on the PGA Tour since Babe Zaharias in the 1945 Tucson Open. Impossible? A year ago, Wie shot 68 in the second round ?the lowest score by a female competing against men ?and finished at even-par 140 to miss the cut by one shot. "To me, the two stories are: Can Ernie win three in a row? And Michelle Wie, how is she going to play?" David Toms said Wednesday. "I think it's good for this golf tournament." It might be a little tougher for Wie this time around. She now has a performance to measure herself against. And while expectations are high, so is the rough. Add in some heavy rain in recent weeks, and Waialae Country Club is playing every bit of its 7,060 yards. Wie headed to the practice range late Wednesday afternoon, searching for a spot between Zach Johnson and Jesper Parnevik as she tried to control her driver. She was to tee off Thursday at 8:59 a.m. HST, playing with 31-year-old Brett Wetterich and 23-year-old Matt Davidson, who graduated from Furman last year and will be playing his first PGA Tour event. Els wasn't willing to offer any predictions, only that he is no less astonished by her game. "It's amazing what she is doing ?a 15-year-old girl playing in a PGA Tour event," Els said. "She's doing a hell of a job, and she believes she can play with us, which is great. I think from last year to this year, I could see her developing as a person now."