Wie lassie in big trouble

Women's British Open:If Lorena Ochoa, the world's best female player, reaffirmed her status as the one to beat yesterday, then Michelle Wie, the world's most talked about female golfer, confirmed only that the gulf between youthful brilliance and major championship victory cannot be bridged by hype and wishful thinking.

After a level-par first round, the 17-year-old American spoke of rediscovering the form that once made her the second-most famous golfer on the planet after you-know-who. What a difference a day, and a North Sea breeze, makes. A five at the par-four first hole, supposedly a gentle introduction to the Old Course, was bad enough for Wie, but worse was to follow as she racked up four more bogeys and a triple-bogey over the next 14 holes.

Wie cut a forlorn figure as she headed towards the closing stretch of holes at eight over par, 15 shots behind the leader. A birdie at the last still left the teenager signing for an 80 to miss the cut by a couple of shots.

It is the fourth time in 13 competitive rounds this season that Wie has failed to break 80. In all, she is more than 90 over par in six tournament appearances. No doubt her entourage will point out that she is recovering from a wrist injury, but, equally, critics of those guiding her career, a growing community in the world of women's golf, will argue there is little to be gained in allowing her to play at the highest level when it is quite obvious she cannot compete, not least because it runs the risk of crushing her spirit for good.

What a contrast Wie and her troubles made with Ochoa's orderly progress through her second round. The 25-year-old Mexican, who carried a two-shot lead overnight, eked out a level-par 73, including a birdie at the first and a bogey at the last, to stay at the top of the leaderboard, one shot ahead of the US Solheim stalwart Wendy Ward and the European Solheim Cup player Catriona Matthew, who produced the golf of the day as she covered her first 16 holes in five-under par.

"It was a good day in tough conditions. I am happy, though not with the three-putt on the 18th," Ochoa said. "It was a totally different course today because of the wind direction, which kept changing all day. We were playing into the breeze at the start but by the end I didn't know which way it was blowing."

The world number one is not the complaining kind, but she must have departed the recorder's hut more than a little disappointed with the return on her effort.

She put on a ball-striking exhibition on a day when, as the unfortunate Wie found out, anything less than beautiful hitting was exposed, but she was let down by her putting. She ended the day with a total of 140, six-under par.

Ochoa was unlucky in that she started her round just as the wind began to blow, while several of her main rivals were out early.

Ward was one of them. And so, ominously for the leader and anyone else who might be harbouring hopes of becoming the first woman to win the event at the home of golf, were Sherri Steinhaurer, the defending champion, who shot a two-under-par 71 to finish on three-under, and Annika Sorenstam.

The former world number one has yet to win this year but her 71 suggested she might be ready to break the losing habit.

For Ireland's Rebecca Coakley, who had opened with a fine 74, a three-hole stretch on the back nine yesterday ended hopes of surviving for the weekend. She bogeyed the 13th and 14th, then ran up a double bogey at the 15th to sign for a 78 and a six-over total of 152, just outside the cut.

Amateur Danielle McVeigh also doubled the 15th on her way to a 78 to finish on eight over par.