Lydia Ko and playing partner Michelle Wie at one under after nine

RANCHO MIRAGE -- Lydia Ko, a 15-year-old from New Zealand who won a tournament on the LPGA Tour last year, is paired Thursday and Friday with 23-year-old Michelle Wie, who once contended at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the tour’s first major, when she was 13.

Wie, whose dark ponytail is died red near the bottom, birdied the ninth hole and is one under par, same as Ko. Wie has made only one cut this season and earned a little over $6,000.

While Ko, who is still an amateur and unable to keep her prize money, spoke to the media in a big tent on Wednesday, Wie, who is now a Stanford graduate, has refused all media requests this week.

Wie and Ko have interacted little during their first nine holes at the Mission Hills Country Club course, where temperatures are well into the upper 90s.

Four players, including Suzann Pettersen, are tied for the early lead at three under par.

Jessica Korda, daughter of former tennis star Petr Korda, is among those tied for fifth at two under par. Petr Korda won the 1998 Australian Open, so he is one major ahead of his daughter.

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