Wie’s Trouble Is on Doubles

Someone asked Michelle Wie to go over her round Friday afternoon. She began, then she halted abruptly.

“Everything’s a blur,� she said.

For the record, it was a two-over-par 74, made blurry by her two double bogeys in the second round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage.

Take away those double bogeys and she’s one shot behind Annika Sorenstam. They don’t let you do that, though, so Wie is tied for 14th, five shots back.

It’s possible that’s not too far behind to catch up, according to key members of her support group.

“Two more days,� said Wie’s father, B.J. Wie.

Said David Leadbetter, Wie’s swing coach:

“Like I told her father, she’s going to win a lot of tournaments coming from five shots back on the last day.

“The key is that it’s very easy to be tentative at times, and her natural instinct is to be aggressive. We don’t want to take that away from her. We have to remember, she’s 15.�

Wie was one under for the day until the seventh, where she made her first double bogey after a bad drive -- Leadbetter blamed a tentative swing -- followed by a three-putt. Wie picked up one shot after making a birdie at the 15th, but she knocked her drive out of bounds on the next hole, the ball landing in somebody’s backyard at Mission Hills Country Club.

“I just pulled it,� she said. “Today my bad shots were just really horrible.

“I feel good about my game, but I just need to get better.�

Maybe she can rebound and come up with something like the 66 she produced in the third round here two years ago.

“I’m trying to shoot for that.�

After expressing disappointment about her round and failing to recall much about it, Wie pulled herself together to sign autographs for a long line of fans who waited near the scorer’s trailer. Then she took off for the driving range, where she met Leadbetter.

“She’s actually swinging well,� he said. “Obviously, double bogeys thrown in there a couple of times doesn’t help it look like it.�