Wie, in second, off to good start at major

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- The first sign Michelle Wie got that this wasn't just another LPGA major came when she registered for the Kraft Nabisco Championship on Monday.

The 16-year-old from Hawaii was handed a tax form. "What's that?" she asked. Answer: An official welcome to her first major as a professional by the Internal Revenue Service.

Wie threw out her own welcome mat Thursday, celebrating her first major since turning pro last October with a 6-under 66 at Mission Hills Country Club. The bogey-free round, after a five-week layoff and only her third tournament of the year, left her in second place, four shots behind Lorena Ochoa. Wie got another reminder that this was a special day on the first tee, where the starter announced this was Wie's first major as a pro.

That, Wie said later, got her adrenalin pumping. "I thought, 'Oh my God, this is it.'" Driver's license one day. Tax forms another. Life is full-speed ahead for Wie, who is growing into a young woman by the hour and a tour-tested veteran player by the tournament, even with homework thrown into her lap every night.

She acknowledged excitement in reaching another milestone Thursday. "I'm enjoying every part of it," she said.

But not butterflies. This was the perfect coming out venue for her. This is where she cut her golfing teeth playing in the majors. In 2003, Wie became the youngest player to compete in the tournament, at 13 years, 5 months, 17 days. She played in the final group that year but ballooned to a 76 and ninth-place finish. In 2004, she posted the tournament's lowest score for an amateur to finish fourth. She was 14th last year.

This is Wie's ninth major, but she feels most at home here. She even has one here; Wie bought a house at nearby Bighorn shortly after turning pro and is staying there this week.

She showed her comfort level in the first round, even with a throng of Japanese media following Ai Miyazato in the high-profile pairing and even with a funky left wrist that occasionally bothered Wie. "Nothing serious," she said, "just a little uncomfortable."

With her father, mother and swing coach, David Leadbetter, among the huge gallery, Wie hit every fairway and green on the front nine and had three birdies, one with a 25-foot putt on No.7. She missed her first fairway at 10, hooking into the rough, but salvaged par.

On the backside, she added three more birdies but, more heroically, saved par twice after hitting into the trees. "There were a couple of holes where I didn't feel that comfortable, but I just survived on those holes and came back," she said.

It was after hitting into the trees at No.12 where she reminded everyone she's no longer an amateur. She hit a fade around the tree onto the green, a shot out of a professional's bag. "I kind of saw the shot," Wie said.

Ochoa showed her own comfort with the course as the 24-year-old Mexican broke the tournament record and tied the lowest round in an LPGA major.

"I do like this course a lot," Ochoa said. "Everything was easy, and everything was so clear." Her round equaled Minea Blomqvist's mark in a major, set in the third round of the 2004 Weetabix Women's British Open.

Wie returned to the desert as a pro, a year older and smarter. On 18, a par 5 reachable in two at 526 yards, she had only 220 yards left after her drive. But she laid up. Asked why, she said, "I was already 6-under at that point, so I didn't feel like I needed to go for it."

Wie, who will play in all four LPGA majors among her eight tour stops this year, is still looking for her first LPGA victory. But she's not looking ahead. Even to Sunday.

"I'm not really thinking about that right now,"' she said. "I'm just thinking about tomorrow, what am I going to shoot tomorrow."

Sounds just like a pro.

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