Michelle Wie finishes first round at Kia Classic at even par

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Michelle Wie’s week didn’t get off to quite the start she wanted as she battled a balky putter and shot an even-par 72 in the first round of the Kia Classic. Wie was fine on the front nine at La Costa and made the turn at one under par and got to two under with a birdie on No. 11 before the putter went awry.

She missed putts from inside of 10 feet on Nos. 12 and 13, 14, 16 and 18 and made three bogeys during that stretch. She needed 32 putts to finish the round and blamed greens that got bumpy as the day went on.

“It’s just hard putting in the afternoon here, especially on the poa annua,” she said. “Some of these putts just go in 10 different directions.”

Wie is six shots behind leader Na On Min, but said she’s still within striking distance.

“I think there is a lot of improvement to be done, but hopefully I can shoot a really low score [Friday],” she said.

--Peter Yoon, reporting from Carlsbad