She had every reason to after a round of 2-over-par 73 yesterday that left her at even after two rounds, in second place, two strokes behind leader Nicole Perrot of Chile.

Perrot, a 21-year-old from a country of just 58 private golf courses, shot her second straight round of 1-under 70 by saving par with a 10-foot putt on the 14th and staying clear of trouble down the stretch. At 2-under 140, she was the only player under par after two rounds at Cherry Hills.

"I have to have fun out there," said Perrot, an LPGA Tour rookie. "I have to stay focused out there and play one shot at a time."

Wie, coming off a runner-up finish at the LPGA Championship, has not played in the final group of a major since she was 13 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship two years ago.

Nicole Perrot

She spent the next five hours trying to hang on, and it was nearly as impressive.

"I could have shot some ridiculous numbers today, but I kept my head and I made a couple of good par putts, and I think that kept me going," Wie said.

She opened the day hitting driver on No. 10 and wound up with a bogey. After hitting driver on No. 11, she didn't touch the club again — save the fifth hole, when she put her hand on it on the tee box but thought wiser and hit an iron.

The kid might have come of age on a sunny day that turned gloomy, causing another delay by storms. This was a round that could have gotten away from her, and frustration was evident after missing four straight putts inside 12 feet at the beginning of her round.

But she saved par with putts of 5 and 8 feet, twice lagged putts from across the green to tap-in range, and kept herself at even par, enough to get into the last group at a major.

Annika Sorenstam's pursuit of a Grand Slam gave way to frustration as she tried to make up ground, but instead went backward.

First came a tee shot into the rough and a dubious decision to go for the green. That was followed by another bad tee shot into rough so deep she had to lay up twice on the par-5 17th. Her shocking finish ended with a conservative play off the 18th tee, leaving her 4-wood up the hill toward the green.

Three holes. Three bogeys.

When the damage was done, Sorenstam found herself six shots behind Perrot.

"Sometimes you just can't analyze things," Sorenstam said after a 4-over 75. "You've got to drop it and move on."

Lorena Ochoa, who didn't make a par on the back nine until the 17th hole, closed with a bogey for a 3-under 68 and joined Wie at 142. Rachel Hetherington (69), Angela Stanford (74) and 18-year-old Paula Creamer (69) were another shot behind.

No one had a day quite like Creamer.

She was 6 over through four holes when she played her next nine holes in 8 under par, including an eagle-2 on the par-4 10th by holing out from the fairway. Despite playing with an upset stomach, she found herself tied for the lead.

She gave it back with three straight bogeys — two of them three-putts that nearly brought her to tears — and only avoided a fourth bogey by making a 25-foot putt on the 18th hole.

"If someone told me I'd be in this position after two rounds, I'd take it," Creamer said.

Next month, Wie will compete in the men's U.S. Amateur Public Links tournament, the winner of which traditionally gets an automatic entry into the Masters. She has played on the PGA Tour twice with another appearance set for next month's John Deere Classic. She has been criticized by some, including Nancy Lopez, who said Wie should focus on trying to take down Annika Sorenstam before she focuses on the men.

Earlier this week, Wie deflected that criticism, saying "I still have a lot to learn and I am learning a lot from Annika."

And for the first two days of the Open, she was not only keeping up with Sorenstam, but ahead of her by four strokes.

Wie said she understands the magnitude of the tournament, but she's trying to have fun while she's here.

She said she and the girl carrying the scoring standard in her group, who is about her age, whiled away the time during Thursday's rain delay conjuring up a new club.

"We called it Club Delay," Wie said.

Part of being in Club Delay meant they both had to wake up at 4:15 a.m. to be at the course in time for the final three holes of the first round.

It's not the way most 15-year-olds like to start their day. Luckily for Wie, she has the last tee time today.

"Let's put it this way: My school starts at 8:30, I wake up at 7:10 or 7:15, so this was kind of early," Wie said. "I am a very big sleeper."

The junior-to-be at Punahou School when school starts in September showed a temperamental side when her chip on the par-3 eighth skipped 20 feet by the hole for a bogey, dropping her over par for the first time yesterday. She glared hard as she walked to the ninth tee, but the recovery could not have been better. After laying back with a 5-wood off the tee on the 418-yard ninth, she hit a 7-iron that never left the flag and brought the large gallery to their feet.

"I feel like I have a lot of improvement to make over the next two days," she said. "My goal was to shoot consistent, under-par rounds all four days. I didn't quite achieve that, so I will just make it up tomorrow."

Morgan Pressel, the 17-year-old who beat Wie at the U.S. Girls Junior Championship two years ago, also shot 73 to finish the day four strokes out of the lead.

"Four shots off with two days left?" Pressel said. "That's not bad. I could be higher, but I'll deal with it."