KAPOLEI — Michelle Wie had a meltdown but still had most of the gallery watching her putt out for a bogey and a disappointing 78 in the Fields Open in Hawai'i yesterday.

Meanwhile, at the scorer's tent nearby, Ayaka Kaneko, the other Hawai'i golfer who received a sponsor's exemption, was busy signing autographs after checking her score that was seven shots better than Wie in the final round.

It was the most autographs she has ever signed, Kaneko said.

Thus ended the tale of the two talented 18-year-olds in the second LPGA event of the year with Kaneko, a Sacred Hearts Academy senior, upstaging the multi-millionaire Wie.

Kaneko finished with a 54-hole score of 213 and a tie for 45th place, while Wie's 220 total tied for last among the 74 players surviving the cut. Wie got $2,531, while Kaneko couldn't collect $6,836 because she's an amateur.

Like their games, they're going in different directions from here.

Next for Kaneko is an American Junior Golf Association tournament at Texas A&M. She's ranked No. 2 behind former Big Islander Kimberly Kim in the latest GolfWeek ratings for junior girls.

For Wie, who knows? Even she doesn't. It depends on which tournament sponsor will give her an exemption.

Even her faithful yesterday were pained by two of Wie's errant shots — at the par-3 16th leading to a double-bogey and at 18 for a triple-bogey 7 — as she staggered to a 41 on her first nine.

Describing her misadventure at the hole, Wie said, "I pulled it (her second shot) left and I got into the water and stuff happened in between and it somehow got in the hole."

It didn't fall in the hole soon enough all day for Wie, who also had four bogeys to go along with three birdies.

"Obviously, I'm a little disappointed with today's round," she said. "But I have a lot of positive thoughts I can bank off for the next tournament. There's room for improvement, but I feel like I did a pretty good job for my first tournament."

It also was nice playing in her home state, according to Wie, a Stanford freshman, who hadn't been back since May.

Kaneko, too, was pleased by the support of local fans. "Hawai'i is my home and the gallery is nice, so I want to play well for them, to represent Hawai'i well.

She put on quite a show for them with three straight birdies at 11, 12 and 13 in playing the back nine first. After a bogey at the par-4 15th, her nemesis hole which she had double-bogeyed in the first round, Kaneko bounced back with birdies at 16, sinking a 17-footer, and 17 with another one-putt to make the turn in 4-under 32.

"I putted well," said Kaneko, who only had nine putts through her first eight holes.

Kaneko started the day with the goal of enjoying the first cut she made in four LPGA events and making "six birdies and one eagle."

She got the six birdies but no eagle. Instead, Kaneko double-bogeyed the par-5 first hole after making the turn, pushing her drive into a fairway bunker and pulling her third shot left. It took two more shots to make the green from where she two-putted from six feet.

"The back (second) nine was terrible, so I didn't enjoy," she said.

"That kind put a stumble in our stride," said her caddie, Clark Miyazaki.

Kaneko birdied No. 3 but bogeyed the two par-3s. "I had many birdie chances but I couldn't make it," she said.

"She played very well today," said Meena Lee, winner of inaugural Fields Open in 2006, who played in the same threesome with Kaneko.

Although Kaneko didn't have too much time to prepare for the tournament — she had two school exams and was trying to qualify for the SBS Open at Turtle Bay the week before — her Fields Open showing buoyed confidence in her game.

"I have confidence now and I can play against professionals," said Kaneko, who will play collegiate golf at Pepperdine next fall. At least for two years, Kaneko told Golf Channel, which might not please the Waves' women's golf coach too much.