Wie boomed drives and attacked flags when she had the chance, but also showed restraint beyond her years by punching out of the 4-inch rough lining the fairways at Cherry Hills Country Club.

She was a shot behind Angela Stanford and 19-year-old amateur Brittany Lang and still has a chance to catch the clubhouse leaders when play resumes this morning, with a relatively easy chip left on 16 and the par-5 17th still ahead.

"I feel pretty good," Wie said. "We'll see tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Annika Sorenstam began her quest for the third leg of the women's single-season grand slam with an even-par 71. Sorenstam showed a bit of nerves as she stood on the 10th tee to start her round. She took a deep breath of mile-high air to steady herself, then promptly hit into the rough and made bogey.

Why the queasy feeling?

"U.S. Open, a lot of people, tough golf course, a lot on my mind," Sorenstam said with a smile. "I put a lot of pressure on myself. I really want to do well here. When you stand on the tee, you know you have to hit fairways. That's double pressure right there. I'm just happy I found the rhythm in the middle."

Karine Icher of France was also at 2 under with four holes left when play was suspended by storms in the area, with 48 players unable to complete their round.

The scorecard showed an even-par round for Sorenstam, who breezed to victories in the first two majors. But she worked hard to keep it from being worse, salvaging her round with nifty par saves along her back nine. Steeped in concentration, she twice made 6-footers without looking at the hole until she heard the ball rattle around the bottom of the cup.

"Around par is always good at the Open," Sorenstam said.

Cherry Hills didn't leave anyone with much chance to relax. Of the 108 players who completed the first round, only six broke par.

Michelle Wie said the key to her round was her putting, such as the one that brought a smile to her face after saving par on No. 4.

Natalie Gulbis went over the 18th green and made bogey to drop her to a 70, joined by former Women's Open champion Liselotte Neumann, Young-A Yang and Nicole Perrot.

Others at 71 were defending champion Meg Mallon, Sophie Gustafson and 17-year-old Morgan Pressel, who was at 5 under through eight holes, but dropped three shots on the last two holes and wound up in tears.

"You do get beat up out there," Stanford said.

Wie's front nine was a bit of a wild ride.

She opened with a par, then took a bogey on the par-4 second before the first rain delay. She dropped in a 15-foot birdie putt on the third hole right after play resumed, then gave it back when she hit her third shot over the par-5 fifth and hit her chip shot 20 feet past the hole and missed the putt.

Wie followed with a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventh to get back to even, then took another bogey on No. 9 when she pulled her tee shot under some trees in the left rough and had to punch out to the fairway.

Then things started clicking.

After just missing on two good birdie chances on 10 and 11, Wie curled in a 20-footer at 12 and dropped in a 12-footer to get to 1 under on the 13th. She had to punch out on the long, par-4 14th after pulling her drive into the left rough, but hit her third shot within inches of the cup for a tap-in par.

Wie's approach on the 16th landed in the right rough just off the green when the horn sounded.

"I was a little out of it (early), but momentum, that helped me a lot," Wie said.

The key was putting, especially after the first rain delay.

Wie made the first putt she looked at after the delay on No. 3 and one-putted her final four holes before the second round of storms hit.

"Putting, I felt really good," said Wie, who had 24 putts through 15 holes.

Sorenstam battled from the start. Her tee shot on No. 10 was gobbled up by rough so thick she had no chance to reach the green and missed a 5-footer for par. She found the left rough on the par-5 11th, and hit a long iron into the green for her third shot to take away a good chance of birdie.

She saved her round with three crucial par saves — an 18-footer after hitting into the bunker on No. 2, a 6-footer after missing the third green just long, and the best of all on the par-5 fifth.

Sorenstam hit 4-iron off the tee, clipped a branch and droped into the rough. All she could do was hack out short of a creek, leaving her a 4-wood into the green, which she deposited into the bunker. She blasted out to 7 feet, barely nudged the putt and watched it drop into the cup.