By Dave Shedloski

Newport, R.I. – Michelle Wie played textbook U.S. Open golf Friday. She was rewarded accordingly with a 1-under-par 70 at Newport Country Club that placed her in the hunt at the 61^st U.S. Women’s Open.

The 16-year-old phenom from Honolulu drew huge galleries on a sunny and increasingly windy day at Newport Harbor and she put on a solid if not spectacular display of golf, recording 15 pars, one bogey and two birdies. The second of those birdies came at the home hole when she knocked in a 10-footer to finish her day under par, just her third sub-par score in 13 Open rounds.

Michelle Wie celebrates her birdie putt on the 18th hole Friday, which no doubt helped her lunch go down better. (Steve Gibbons/USGA)

"I felt like I had a very solid round, lots of pars. That’s what the U.S. Open is," said Wie, who is in this year’s field thanks to a special exemption. "I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. I know that it’s going to get better and better. I think that’s a good opening round."

Wie hit eight fairways and 12 greens, though she was on the fringe a couple of other occasions to make her round relatively stress-free, a far cry from a year ago when she began the final round in a three-way tie for the lead at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver but skied to an 82. That dropped her into a tie for 23^rd and would have made it necessary for her to qualify before she was granted the exemption.

If any part of her game was less than stellar Friday, it was her putting, which has plagued her most of the year. She needed 28 putts, officially, at Newport Country Club, but used the flatstick a number of other times.

Still, she walked off with a decent score with her only slip coming at the par-4 ninth when she missed the fairway and had to pitch out. The birdie at the last provided a lift, however.

"I think making birdie on the last hole will make my lunch taste a lot better," she said. "I felt like I could have made a lot of putts out there. I had a lot of solid putts. I hit them where I wanted to. Unfortunately, they didn’t all go in. The putt that I made on the last hole really boosted my confidence for tomorrow."

Wie has played consistently well in her few appearances this year after turning professional last October. She finished third at the Fields Open in Hawaii, tied for third at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and tied for fifth at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship. Her major record also includes runner-up finish at Kraft Nabisco and fourth at the Women’s British Open last year.

Like most ambitious players, she’s gearing her game toward grand slam tournaments, although she tries to approach them as something other than big events.

"When you practice, you hype yourself up that it’s a major," said Wie. "But once you’re actually in the tournament, in a major, a major is just another tournament. It’s not like you’re playing any other sport. You’re still playing golf, and you’re still playing on a golf course. There, obviously, is that extra thing, because it is the U.S. Open, but when I’m out there, I’m just playing golf."

Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.uswomensopen.com.