RENO, Nev. — Michelle Wie put herself in contention to make her first cut in eight tries on the PGA Tour, shooting a 1-over 73 in yesterday opening round of the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open that left her eight strokes behind leader Jeff Overton's 65.

Playing on the men's tour for the first time since January 2007, the Punahou alum and Stanford student had three birdies, four bogeys and rallied to save par on several holes at the 7,472-yard mountain course at Montreux Golf & Country Club on the edge of the Sierra Nevada.

"I shot a pretty decent round today," she said. "I felt like I grinded really well. I've just got to shoot low tomorrow."

Wie, playing on a sponsor's exemption, has failed to make it to the weekend in her seven previous bids on the PGA Tour. The cut has averaged even par in the nine previous years of the Reno tournament.

Wie hit one pin on the fly from 65 yards and another on one hop from 85 yards, the latter leading to a 6-foot birdie putt on the 616-yard, par-5 ninth that brought a smile to the 18-year-old and a fist pump as the crowd cheered.

Wie bogeyed the first and fifth holes before she hit her approach 160 yards to within 5 feet of the pin and sank the birdie on the par-4 sixth. She saved par on the difficult 220-yard, par-3 No. 7 after hitting out of the sand to within 13 feet and did it again on No. 8 with a two putt from 50 feet.

On the back nine, she bogeyed the par-3 12th after hitting her tee shot in a bunker and averted another on the next hole with a 10-foot putt to save par. She missed the green on the par-3 16th and failed to convert a 10-foot par putt.

But she came back with a birdie on the par-5 17th after she drove the ball 316 yards and hit her third shot 57 yards to inside 2 feet of the pin. On the last hole, she made another sand save, again hitting inside 2 feet of the hole from a bunker fronting the green.

Wie said she wouldn't worry about making the cut today. She said she has paid no attention to criticism from some LPGA Tour players and others for teeing it up again with the men.

"Whether it was the right decision or wrong decision, it is a decision I made," she said. "I'm not going to think about what other people think about me. All I'm going to think about is how I'm going to shoot a better score tomorrow and how I'm going to shoot a low number and I think a low number will take care of everything."