HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. — Golf and Michelle Wie are rarely this simple, but going into the LPGA's second major of the year today all the eyes on Hawai'i's prodigy might be focused on her putter.

Wie's inability to get the ball in the hole, despite a brilliant performance from tee to green, ultimately prevented her from becoming the first female to play the U.S. Open earlier this week. That happened just up the toll road at a sectional qualifier that will be remembered as Monday Mayhem for the madness Wie Mania provoked.

Wie missed six birdie putts from within 12 feet while shooting 68 in the morning. When a few more got away in the afternoon she grew so frustrated she missed two short par putts to fall out of contention. The mob following Wie that memorable day at Canoe Brook Country Club eventually was reduced to a "Make One Michelle" mantra.

"In the end you need to hole putts," said her coach, David Leadbetter. "It's just a matter of time for Michelle. Monday, obviously, those greens are tricky, very tricky, but she hit the ball great. It's all good for the summer, good preparation, good for the next few weeks."

This afternoon (7:43 this morning Hawai'i time), Wie tees off in the first round of the McDonald's LPGA Championship. In her first two LPGA starts this year she finished a shot out of a playoff.

It is an over-simplification in a game of infinite complication, but that shot was a putt.

Wie needed 127 of them at the Kraft Nabisco Championship — 14 more than eventual winner Karrie Webb and the most of any golfer in the Top 20.

Even her breathtaking charge on the final day of the Fields Open in Hawai'i ended with an anti-climactic missed 8-footer on the final hole.

It is not from lack of effort. Greg Nichols, Director of Golf at Ko Olina, where Wie often practices, says she "works harder on her putting than anyone I have ever seen, including Vijay Singh."

Nichols also feels Wie believes in her putting despite hearing so much negativity outside her circle.

"Her putting — or lack of making key putts — stands out only because her ball striking is so superior and she keeps putting herself in contention to win," Nichols said. "When it's her time to win, she will win big and often."

The Bulle Rock Golf Course, 25 miles north of Baltimore, is a relatively long (6,600 yards) LPGA layout with wide fairways and fast greens, which probably won't produce the 8- to 10-inch breaks of Canoe Brook.

Last year was Bulle Rock's debut as a major venue and Wie was the only player to break par all four days. She finished second to Annika Sorenstam, who has won this major a record three straight times.

Wie has five top-5 finishes in her past seven LPGA starts. This is her 28th LPGA event and she hasn't missed a cut since she was 13. She has basically done everything but win, and knows putting is what will get her to the final frontier. The rest of her game is beyond good, especially for a 16-year-old on summer break from Punahou.

But until she wins, people will wonder just how good. And precisely how well can she putt? Wie believes it is more a matter of how well can she read.

"I felt like I was stroking the ball very solidly (Monday)," she said. "It was just a matter of reading the greens. I was practicing on different speeds at home and here the greens are very different. Bermuda (grass) with the grain (in Hawai'i) and then you come here with the poa annua (grass) and it was really different.

"I just have to get used to these kind of greens and hopefully use the experience (Monday) to be able to read greens better. But I think that I just have to putt on them more because they are really different from Hawai'i."

Leadbetter also doesn't sound concerned. He characterizes putting as very "instinctive" and is happy with Wie's mechanics. He defines reading greens as "learning how to control pace" and insists Wie will "get there" with time.

She reads all her own putts because, according to father BJ, they want her to "make her own mistakes."

The University of Hawai'i transportation professor describes the putting process as "acquiring knowledge" and insists it will just take time. His daughter has lots of that.

"She's going to learn how to putt better," Hawai'i's David Ishii said. "She's 16 and played all these ladies' majors. Now she's trying to play men's. By the time she's 17 or 18 she'll know more than a college player who played all through college and on tour two or three years. She'll have the knowledge most get when they're about 27. She's going to figure out a way. And once they start going in then they'll keep going in."

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