ASSOCIATED PRESS Michelle Wie shot a 78 during yesterday's opening round of the European Masters, a men's event.

Wie misses the cut in Switzerland

Honolulu's Michelle Wie almost accomplished something today in Switzerland she hasn't done as a professional before -- be in last after the opening two rounds.

The only man who saved her in the 153-player field at the Omega European Masters in Crans-Sur-Sierre, Switzerland, was amateur Sandro Tan-Piaget, who finished 16 over par after the opening 36 holes of this European Tour event.

Wie was only one shot better at 15-over 157. She missed the cut by a wide margin, and that's something she has done nine times in 10 men's events. She continues her brief fall fling next week at the PGA Tour's 84 Lumber Classic Farrington, Pa.

The 16-year-old senior at Punahou School will try to become the first woman in 61 years to make a cut at a PGA Tour event. But if she's to manage that feat, she'll have to play better than she did the past two days. Wie opened with a 7-over 78 yesterday and followed that poor round of golf with another today.

Her 8-over 79 left her at 15-over 157. She began the day on the back nine with a pair of bogeys and it only got worse from there. Wie posted back-to-back double bogeys at the par-5 14th and 15th holes, before bogeying the par-3 16th to go 5 over on only three holes.

Wie birdied the par-4 17th, her only one for the day, en route to an opening nine of 41. She faired only marginally better on her back nine where she shot a 2-over 38, missing the cut by a wide margin.

Last May, the 16-year-old survived the cut at the men's SK Telecom Open in South Korea en route to finishing in a tie for 35th.

Disastrous first round for Wie in Europe

She's 12 shots behind 3 players tied for the lead

CRANS-SUR-SIEREE, Switzerald » Michelle Wie's chances of making the cut at the European Masters took a severe hit yesterday after she opened with a 7-over 78.

This is Wie's 10th tournament against the men -- where she has made the cut only once -- and her first on the European tour. Wie was tied for 146th on the Alpine layout, with only five players shooting worse.

Wie was 12 shots behind leaders Anthony Wall, Robert Coles and David Carter, who shot 66. Defending champion Sergio Garcia, who has a summer home near the course, fired a 68 to contend in a relatively weak field.

Wie made her only cut against the men this year in South Korea, finishing 12 shots off the lead. She withdrew from the John Deere Classic in July because of heat exhaustion. Laura Davies is the only other woman to play on the European tour, finishing next to last in the 2004 ANZ Championship in Sydney.

Wie's worst round in a men's tournament came this year in the Sony Open in Hawaii, where she opened with a 9-over 79. She had a 68 in the second round but still missed the cut.

"I didn't really have my rhythm today in my short game," Wie said. "Hopefully, it will come back to me tomorrow. It sure didn't go the way I wanted it to.

"I think it was very difficult for me after taking time off, go home, start school and come back and play a tournament. It was very difficult for me to do that. But I grinded out there. I tried my hardest right to the end."

Bright sunshine greeted Wie on the tee with playing partners Nick Dougherty of England and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain, winner of the 2006 Asian Open, whom she knows from Japan. Huge crowds lined the fairways to get a glimpse of Wie.

Wie's opening drive buried in the right rough, but she managed to save par after a poor first putt. On the second she was putting for birdie and lipped out for an eventual bogey.

A birdie opportunity on the fourth slid past. Wie scrambled on the sharp dogleg fifth to make par with two loose approach shots. A pulled iron off the tee on the tight tree-lined sixth forced her to punch low and up in the green-side bunker for another bogey.

She birdied the par-4 seventh with a 28-foot putt. The eighth (par 3, 176 yards) brought calamity with a double-bogey five after driving into the green-side bunker. She blasted through the green into the rough, duffed the chip and two-putted. The par -5, 632-yard ninth also resulted in bogey with three more putts.

The back wasn't any easier for Wie. She struggled on the par 3s with bogeys on 11 (206 yards), 13 (200 yards) and 16 (236 yards) on the way home.

"The par 3s ate me alive today. Five over on them. I am off to work on my bunker shots now. It was a grind out there today."

She did manage to birdie the par-5, 519-yard 15th, but gave it back with a bogey at the 18th. Wie appeared restless all day, not her normal carefree self.

"It didn't go the way I wanted it to at all," said Wie, who was also put on the clock for slow play. "My partners were great and the crowds were fine.

"I don't see too big a difference here on the European Tour vs. the PGA, except that they allow me to wear skirts," Wie said. "Now I have one round under my belt. I know exactly what I need tomorrow, and tomorrow I need to make a lot of birdies."