ASSOCIATED PRESS Michelle Wie was two strokes back after yesterday's second round of the U.S. Women's Open.

Wie perseveres

The Hawaii teen avoids calamity and is just two shots behind the leaders going into the final 36 holes today

NEWPORT, R.I. » Michelle Wie danced with disaster all afternoon. She finished as its master after yesterday's second round of the U.S. Women's Open.

In a round choppier than the adjoining Atlantic Ocean during a Nor'easter, Wie played tug-of-war with breezy and still muddy Newport Country Club. She shot a 1-over-par 72 that kept the 16-year-old Punahou School student in the hunt for her first tournament victory as a pro.

Going into today's 36-hole marathon caused by Thursday's first-round fog out, Wie was tied for third at even par with Jane Park and Shi Hyun Kim. They were two strokes behind Annika Sorenstam and Pat Hurst.

At times, Wie seemed bent on butchering her way out of contention, like when she double-bogeyed her eighth hole of the day. Later, at the par-4 No. 7 (she played the back nine first), Wie appeared to be on her way to just as bad or worse.

Her tee shot landed in deepest, darkest Rhode Island, way to the left of the fairway and buried in wet weeds about 4 inches high.

All the ensuing unplayable-lie drop did was put her in a spot that featured slowly drying soil and a clump of thick grass that wasn't going to make anything easier.

Wie had a direct line to the green, but this was clearly a shot only a mudder could love.

"I dropped my ball in the worst place ever," Wie said.

"I was not happy with it. It was like in the middle of the mud, there was like a weed behind my ball, and Greg's (caddie Johnston) face was priceless after he saw where I dropped the ball."

Wie could've just chipped onto the fairway and probably have gotten away with a bogey at best. But something told her she could reach the green from this terrible lie, 140 yards from the pin.

"I was hoping it wouldn't do anything funny," she said.

Wie whacked more wet dirt than ball with her 8-iron, but you could tell from the sound she hit through the mud and struck the ball solidly. Whatever might have been left on the ball didn't affect its flight in a bad way. It landed on the green, leaving her a 10-footer for par, which she made.

The recovery amazed even those closest to her, those who have seen her make crazy, improbable shots for years.

"I could hear my heart beating when she hit it," said her mother, Bo.

"Some pars are better than others," said her swing coach, David Leadbetter. "She basically turned a 7 into a 4 there."

Wie said she found the whole thing amusing.

"Right after the ball went into the hole I kind of laughed at myself," she said. "It was pretty ridiculous."

So was the double bogey at the par-3 17th. She hit her 6-iron into a puddle of water in a bunker. She was allowed to move the ball out of the water. But Wie needed two shots to get out of the bunker before two-putting for a 5.

"It was very wet and I just didn't know how hard to hit it," Wie said. "Obviously, I didn't hit it hard enough. I came back to the puddle, dropped it almost in the same area and didn't hit it hard enough again. But I made a very good two-putt from off the green."

At the end of the first round on Friday, Wie complained of soreness in her left wrist. It's nothing new, but it did force her out of the Pearl Open last year. She said she received treatment for it, and although the wrist is "a little bit weak," it didn't affect her yesterday.

Stamina is as important as swings today.

Newport Country Club is very flat, but 36 holes will be a lot in the hot sun. Wie, who was set to tee off for the third round at 2:09 a.m. Hawaii time, said she isn't worried.

"I've played a lot of 36-hole match play, played 36 holes in the U.S Open qualifying, but it's going to be the first time playing 36 holes in a U.S. Open," Wie said. "Obviously, it's going to be a very long day, but it's going to be interesting."