Michelle Wie is not the only woman to have entered the hitherto men-only US Open, writes Douglas Lowe. The 15-year-old from Hawaii will be joined by 14-year-old Carmen Bandea of Snelville, Georgia, and 26-year-old Isabelle Beisiegel, an LPGA Tour player who entered the men's PGA Tour qualifying school but did not advance beyond the first stage.

Wie will play at the Turtle Bay resort in Hawaii on May 13, and Bandea and Beisiegel at Planterra Ridge, near Atlanta, on May 23 as the record 9048 entrants are cut down to size at 107 venues. If successful, they will play a 36-hole sectional qualifier for a place among the 156 starters at Pinehurst.