Wie Leaves ‘Em Dangling at Mission Hills

It’s difficult to say what was more impressive Thursday at Mission Hills Country Club: that Michelle Wie shot a two-under 70 and was one shot from the lead, or that she did it wearing earrings that looked like Christmas tree ornaments.

Or maybe the most impressive part of the first round of the $1.8-million Kraft Nabisco Championship was that 45-year-old Rosie Jones earned a share of the lead even though she acted as if she’d rather own a time- share.

Jones shot a three-under 69 and was tied with 5-foot-1 Mi-Hyun Kim and British Open champion Karen Stupples after the first round on a cool and breezy day at Rancho Mirage.

Jones’ first professional year was 1982 -- seven years before Wie was born -- and she’s a 13-time winner on the LPGA Tour. Here at Mission Hills, Jones has been third twice and tied for eighth last year when she spent a lot of time talking about retiring.

“I still am,” she said. “I do want to retire. I don’t want to be out here. It’s a lot of hard work and my body is wearing out.”

Jones has played this tournament for 20 years, beginning when it was the Nabisco Dinah Shore.

That’s part of history, but so is Annika Sorenstam’s quest for her fifth consecutive victory. The search began decently enough, even though she described the greens as “moody.”

Sorenstam is tied with Wie, Juli Inkster, Carin Koch and 16-year-old Morgan Pressel, who opened with 70s.

Sorenstam, who said she was bothered by a tricky breeze after making the turn, had no trouble early and was three under after four holes.

Meanwhile, Wie had no trouble staying out of the way of her dangling earrings, though she did experience some problems making putts.

But none of that happened in the first 10 holes, when she was three under par. She didn’t have another birdie, but made a bogey at the par-three 17th when she missed the green, chipped to four feet and two-putted.

Wie says her putting is much better as a 15-year-old than it was the last two years here, when she tied for 10th and was fourth. Her swing coach, David Leadbetter, followed Wie as she played her round, his close ties to his prize pupil made clear by his choosing Wie over attending the PGA Tour’s Players Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

In her brief career in the midst of the pros, Wie, still an amateur, says she sees a great deal of improvement in her short game.

“My putting feels a lot better,” she said. “I feel more confident. I work really hard on it, but I have to get better.”

Wie, who is studying Japanese as a high school sophomore in Honolulu, was in the same group as 19-year-old Ai Miyazato, playing her first round in the U.S. Miyazato struggled to a three-over 75, although she parred every hole on the back nine.

That was enough to keep her smiling.

“I am happy, but I need some luck,” she said.

So, too, would Kim, who has won five times on the LPGA Tour, but not in the last three years. Kim, seventh here last year, decided her best chance this week was to change putters, which she has done three times so far. She had a good explanation for the revolving-door putter policy.

“It was bad in a couple of tournaments before this week,” she said.

Also in the mood to change equipment was Stupples, who put a new driver in her bag and wound up missing only one fairway.

Sorenstam has been nothing but good lately, with two victories in her two tournaments this year, plus two wins in her final two tournaments last year. So when she hit a four-wood to seven feet on the second hole and made the putt for an eagle, Sorenstam was off and running.

She dived to three under at the 380-yard No. 4 when she hit a nine-iron to three feet and made the birdie putt.

Birdies at the 13th and 14th offset a couple of bogeys, but Sorenstam dropped another shot at the par-three 17th when she missed the green with a six-iron that she thought was fine when she hit it.

“I’m still a little baffled about it,” she said.

The best explanation she could think of was to blame the wind.

“It was just swirling and that makes it tougher,” she said. “You hit it high and it goes nowhere, you hit it low and the wind won’t touch it. It made it a lot tougher than I thought.”

Sorenstam’s start was one stroke better than last year’s when she followed with a second-round 76 and was fortunate to tie for 13th.

“I’ve got to deposit it away, three more days, and if I’m hitting the ball good, it should all be fine,” she said.