RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. » Michelle Wie walked off her 18th hole looking like she'd just shot 81.

Fact is, the Honolulu resident could have posted a big number yesterday at the $2 million Kraft Nabisco Championship, but kept it together well enough to manage her second consecutive 71 to sit in a tie for 10th, trailing front-runner Song-Hee Kim by five shots entering the weekend of the first major on the LPGA Tour.

The Punahou School graduate missed a 2-footer for birdie, almost hit a drive onto Gerald Ford Avenue, which runs along the par-4 15th, that led to her only bogey, barely kept it out of the water at the 18th and was practically in someone's back yard at the first.

Despite all her travails, Wie still carded a couple of birdies down the stretch to remain close to the leaders. Granted, she only has three birdies to go with 32 pars over her opening 36 holes. She's not creating a lot of excitement, but she still has a chance to win the first major of her career.

“;I definitely think it has been a struggle,”; Wie said of her first two days on the famed Mission Hills Country Club course. “;I've been fighting a lot. But also I feel like I'm at a good place. I feel like I'm not far off. Obviously, I'd want to be a lot lower at this point, but there's two more days to go, 36 more holes, and hopefully during that 36 holes I can make a lot more birdies.”;

  Wie teed off the back side with defending champion Brittany Lincicome. Her first hole was a microcosm of her round. She hit her drive in the bunker, hit a brilliant iron shot to within 8 feet and missed the putt to settle for par. Over the first two days, Wie has had a half-dozen putts of 10 feet or less for birdie and made only one; an 8-footer below the hole yesterday at No. 6 (her 15th) to bring her round back to even.

Despite hitting off the tee as far as anyone, Wie didn't birdie a par 5 yesterday and only has one birdie on the long holes the first two days. It's something she has noticed as much as anyone.

“;I think I'm doing a good job of parring good holes, and I just have to take advantage of the longer holes a little bit more and hit more fairways.”;

Wie hit only six of 14 fairways yesterday, a far cry from the 12 she found on Thursday. She did scramble well, finding 14 greens in regulation. But she often had long putts for birdie that left her tapping in for par.

She even turned her best shot of the tournament into a negative. After bogeying the 15th (her sixth hole), thanks in part to an errant tee shot and a chunky-monkey chip in front of the green, Wie hit a 7-iron to within 2 feet at the par-3 17th. She described her missed putt that lipped out of the cup this way:

“;It was a short one. It was stupid. I pushed it.”;

The Stanford University sophomore punctuated the word stupid in that sentence with deep disgust. She nearly found the water with her drive at the 18th, hit her second shot within 100 yards and her third into the par-5 hole within 12 feet; then missed that putt as well.

She parred the first five holes on her back nine before finally sinking an 8-footer at No. 6 for birdie and an 18-footer at the par-3 eighth to get her to 2 under for the tournament.

“;I feel like the back nine from six, I really felt like I knew what I was doing and my head was in the right place,”; Wie said. “;I just kind of wish coming off nine that that was my front nine and that I would have nine more. But you know, I feel like I'm getting better and better, and hopefully tomorrow I'll hit more fairways and sink more putts.”;

Hilo native Kimberly Kim shot a 75 in her second tour of the course but missed the cut by six strokes after shooting 81 in the first round. Only six golfers had higher scores than the amateur, including 2005 U.S. Women's Open winner Birdie Kim (+16).