ASSOCIATED PRESS Michelle Wie salvaged a par on the par-4 first hole yesterday despite finding the green-side bunker.

Wie fails to qualify at Safeway

PORTLAND, Ore. » Michelle Wie missed the cut at the Safeway Classic yesterday after shooting a 75 to finish at 154.

Wie played a much more even round after opening with a 79, and she even eagled the par-5 seventh hole.

She played Columbia Edgewater Country Club conservatively, hitting fairway woods and irons off the tee.

Wie started off the round with a birdie on the 10th, rolling in a 9-footer. But she bogeyed three of the next eight holes and doubled No. 3. She left a 9-foot par putt sitting on the lip on the final hole.

"A lot of holes were like that," she said. "I felt comfortable off the tee today but I couldn't covert it into scores."

Wie has missed cuts in four tournaments this year and has withdrawn from two others. She was 84th at the LPGA Championship and tied for 69th at the Evian Masters. Now, she's off to school.

Wie, 17, begins classes at Stanford University on Sept. 24. She doesn't plan to play in a tournament again until October. Her agent, Greg Nared, said that Wie just needs to rest a sore wrist that has bothered her and that there are no plans for her to take an extended break from golf.