PALM DESERT, Calif. — For Michelle Wie, it was another bad day in a mostly bad year.

The Stanford freshman from Hawai'i sprayed shots into the brush and water on the way to her second consecutive 79 yesterday in the Samsung World Championships.

She remained in last place in the 20-player elite field, 23 strokes behind leader Lorena Ochoa.

"I obviously had a tough time today," Wie said. "I made a couple of putts, but there is tomorrow, so I'm going to play better tomorrow.

"I just have to work on my tee shots, but other than that, I think that my irons have been stroking well and are pretty solid. I just have to keep the ball in the fairway and go from there."

Her shot into a bush on the par-5 seventh and a drop led to a double-bogey 7, and a shot into the water at No. 14 cost her another double bogey. Her first 7 didn't look quite so bad, however, compared with the quintuple-bogey 10 playing partner Bettina Hauert of Germany had to write on her card.

Wie finished 17th in the tournament last year. She made her pro debut in the event in 2005 but was disqualified after the final round for signing an incorrect scorecard for the third round.

CABRERA OUSTS CASEY

U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera ousted titleholder Paul Casey, 4 and 3, yesterday in the second round of the World Match Play Championship at Virginia Water, England.

Six-time champ Ernie Els kept his bid for a seventh title alive by ousting Andres Romero, 6 and 5, while Henrik Stenson and Hunter Mahan also advanced.

Stenson had an impressive, 7 and 6, victory over Anders Hansen, who beat British Open champion Padraig Harrington on Thursday.

Mahan trounced Soren Hansen, 6 and 4.

In today's semifinals, Cabrera plays Mahan and Stenson meets Els.