ESPN Golf

LEBANON, Ohio -- Michelle Wie admitted she's thinking ahead about possibly playing in the Masters next year.

Wie won two matches on Thursday to advance into the quarterfinals of the men's Amateur Public Links, moving within three wins of an invitation to Augusta National next April.

"Obviously I'm thinking about that, but I'm taking it one match at a time," said the high school junior-to-be.

Wie, the first female to qualify for a men's USGA championship, beat Jim Renner 3 and 1 after earlier beating C.D. Hockersmith 6 and 5.

The 6-foot girl who nearly made the cut on the PGA Tour twice and was tied for the lead last month in the U.S. Women's Open might be on the verge of her most stunning feat of all.

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 believes she'll play in the Masters, sooner or later.

"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."

She next plays in the quarterfinals on Friday morning against BYU junior Clay Ogden, who defeated Andrew Black of Chattanooga, Tenn., 3 and 2. The semifinals are Friday afternoon, followed by the 36-hole championship on Saturday.

"I was kind of joking and I actually said that I hoped I play her," Ogden said. "And here we go."

Wie avoided an early deficit in her third match this week when Renner missed 6-foot birdie tries on his first two holes. She took over from there, going 3-up at the turn with an 18-foot birdie putt at No. 9.

Renner, a junior at Johnson & Wales University in Miami and the NAIA medalist, won two of the next three holes to cut into her lead. But then Wie hit a low 3-iron shot from 220 yards into 15 feet and made the birdie to go 2-up.

"I'd like to see another 15-year-old girl -- or a 15-year-old in general -- do that," Renner said. "There's not many guys in this tournament who can hit that shot."

If that wasn't enough, she holed a flop shot from heavy rough left of the 15th green for birdie after Renner seemingly had the hole won with an approach to 4 feet.

"That's not your typical up-and-down," Renner said, shaking his head. "She played it perfect. That was very impressive."

Wie closed out the match on the 17th when Renner hit his 8-iron over the green and into a lake.

Wie has left her three match-play victims intimidated and impressed.

"She's every bit the player I've seen on TV," said Hockersmith, who lost the first five holes. "TV makes you look a little taller; she's definitely tall."

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press