Wie a Teeny Bit Over Par With a 72

The worst thing that happened to Michelle Wie wasn’t the two-over-par 72 she shot Thursday in the first round of the Sony Open that put her in a tie for 105th place. No, the worst thing was Wednesday afternoon’s storm that knocked out the electricity at her house and meant she couldn’t watch television.

Missing the cut at a PGA Tour event is one thing; just don’t mess with a 14-year-old girl’s TV time.

The first teenage girl to play in a tournament on the PGA Tour didn’t blow away the field and neither did she mess up, although Wie certainly caused a stir at Waialae Country Club simply by showing up.

Afterward, Wie said she had learned something.

“I think I learned that I can play here,” she said. “I think I could play here, but I have to work harder on my game to be in the winner’s circle. I never felt like I was out of place.”

Carlos Franco took the lead in the $4.8-million tournament after he opened with a seven-under 63. His reward was to go virtually unnoticed on a day that belonged to a ninth-grade girl.

Wie had five bogeys and three birdies, and if she could have coaxed a few more putts to drop, her chances of making the cut would look a lot better.

Wie averaged 281.8 yards off the tee (89th place). She hit 11 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens. But she had 31 putts, mainly because she couldn’t consistently put the ball close to the hole.

Craig Bowden, who played with Wie and Kevin Hayashi, said he was impressed.

“She hits it long enough to play any golf course,” Bowden said. “Other than a few putts that could have gone in, she played an excellent round of golf. If she plays like she did today and makes a few more putts, she has an opportunity to make the cut.”

There is room for discussion on the subject of whether Wie’s groundbreaking appearance here is a welcome trend, too trendy, or a problem, but neither her play, her behavior nor her clothes expressed anything other than star quality.

Wie was dressed to kill, or at least make the cut. Black cap, tan shirt, black slacks with a brown belt adorned with a silver buckle, black and white shoes. If she were three years older, she could have been on the cover of Seventeen.

At 9 a.m., when Wie began her round at the 10th tee, proof of her popularity was very much in evidence. Spectators lined up for 30 yards down the fairway and stood four-deep behind a hedge at the back of the tee.

There were eight TV mini-cameras, two dozen still photographers, the same number of reporters, and the smell of suntan lotion hung heavy in the air as Wie swung a three-wood and sent the ball down the middle of the fairway.

“After I hit my first shot, the nervousness just went away,” she said.

Hayashi, who shot a 75, is Hawaii’s player of the year in the Aloha Chapter of the PGA of America. He said he had a great time.

“I’m not the only one she’s going to beat,” Hayashi said. “She’s really good. But the only thing we have in common is our age. I’m 41, she’s 14, so we have the same numbers.”

Hayashi and B.J. Wie, Michelle’s father, wore buttons that read, “Michelle No Ka Oi,” Hawaiian for “Michelle is the best.”

Bowden, 35, called Wie a “class act” after he signed his scorecard for an even par 70 .

“We don’t have anything in common,” Bowden said. “I tried. I asked her when she was going to get her driver’s license. It’s been a few years for me.”

Wie’s task today is to make the cut, post a score that is among the lowest 70 players and ties. Last year, the cut was at even par 140, so Wie figured that she needs at least a 68 to get in, maybe lower.

B.J. Wie said he has tracked his daughter’s last 15 rounds at Waialae and figured her scoring average at 71.9.

“This is her type course,” he said. “We’re very, very proud of her.”

Wie birded her third hole, No. 12, after she outdrove Bowden by 30 yards and wound up sinking a 12-foot putt. But she made bogey at the next two holes, the first after finding a greenside bunker and the second after she drove into the right rough and then went right again into a bunker.

Wie started her back nine at No. 1 and made a bogey when she missed the green. She nearly birdied the 423-yard 12th when she just missed a 40-footer and saved par at the par-three No. 3, her 13th hole, by making a 25-foot putt. Wie made a three-putt bogey at her 14th hole to fall to three over but got a stroke back on the next hole, the 459-yard No. 6, when she drove into the left rough, then put her three-iron from 200 yards on the green and made a 25-foot putt for birdie.

She missed the green at the next hole, a par three, and made a bogey. But Wie closed with a birdie at the 510-yard No. 9, her 18th hole, and that left her in good spirits and optimistic about making the cut.

“I think I can do it because I think I can shoot under par,” she said.