Kaneko makes cut, while Wie and Kono miss out on weekend

CARLSBAD, Calif. » For the first two days of the Kia Classic, Michelle Wie, Stephanie Kono and Ayaka Kaneko fought to find fairways, which forced them to fight back with their finesse games.

Only Kaneko will fight on this weekend. Of Hawaii’s three LPGA members, she alone could convert on La Costa Resort and Spa’s small and increasingly bumpy greens.

The Sacred Hearts alum made the cut despite four bogeys on the back nine Friday, shooting 73 for a two-day total of 4-over-par 148. The cut (top 70 and ties) came at 149.

Kaneko was in the top 30 after an eagle — she spun the ball back and in from 99 yards out at No. 2 — and three birdies on the front nine.

By the time she reached the 18th tee, she was among 78 players at 3 over or better. Then she bogeyed the final hole, but stayed upbeat.

"I think it’s going to be just enough to make the cut," Kaneko said after finishing her round. "Half the field hasn’t teed off yet and I think the green conditions will be really bad, really bumpy. Toward the end of our round it was getting bumpy."

Two hours later, the cut line was 4 over. Two hours after that, it rose another shot to five.

Wie, the world’s 20th-ranked female golfer, and Kono, an LPGA rookie, did not come close. The Punahou graduates both shot 79 Friday and finished far back at 156.

Kono has yet to play on the weekend in five LPGA starts. Her next try comes back home, at the inaugural LPGA Lotte Championship, April 18-21 at Ko Olina.

Last time she was home, friends got together to raise more than $20,000 for Kono’s new career. Friday, a few of them walked with her and reminded her that Japanese star Ai Miyazato didn’t win in the U.S. until her fifth year on tour.

Kono promised to stay patient and soak it all in. She played with Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall the first two days. Hedwall was rookie of the year on the Ladies European Tour in 2011 and hasn’t finished worse than 12th this year on the LPGA.

"It was fun watching her," Kono said. "She just kind of goes after it. I need a little bit more of that assertiveness."

Kono played her first (back) nine in 1 over Friday, but she needed 32 putts for her round — most during a front-nine 42 that upped her LPGA scoring average to just over 78.

Wie will play next week at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the year’s first major. Her focus between now and then is … "everything."

"I feel really close, that’s the most frustrating part," Wie said. "Unfortunately when you play like this you shoot 12-over-par, but it feels good for next week. I just have to keep doing what I’m doing and not change anything at this point. It’s trusting myself and feeling confident."

A year ago, Wie, Kia’s golf ambassador, finished seventh at her sponsor’s tournament, then followed with a sixth at Kraft Nabisco. She didn’t win in 2011, for the first year since she became a member in 2009, but had seven top 10s, including a pair of seconds.

Her scoring average in three starts is 75.5, about the same as what she shot at her first three LPGA starts — as a 12-year old. Her best finish this year is 38th. This was just the sixth cut she’s missed in 62 starts as a member.

Wie went back to a regular putter after needing 33 swipes of her belly putter Thursday. She cut that by four Friday, but hit just six fairways and five greens in regulation.

"Today it was the long game," Wie said. "In the rough every single time. Putting … I hit solid strokes today, just over-read them a little bit. That felt a lot better today."

Kaneko needed just 28 putts each day, a 20-footer for birdie at the ninth Friday returning her to even par for the tournament.

"I had the momentum going," Kaneko said. "Then, bogeying the par-5 (No. 12) killed the momentum. I’ve been doing it a lot. I keep making the same mistake and it’s getting really annoying."

The key for her this weekend is to hit more fairways — she has missed nearly half the first two days — and "really be smart."

"Be safe when I have to," Kaneko said, "and be aggressive when I have to. Know the right time. Today I putted great. I felt really confident."

Notes

Monday’s episode of "Feherty," which airs at 4 p.m. on the Golf Channel, will feature Wie. The show’s first female subject was interviewed on the Stanford campus. … Wednesday’s Pro-Am was played over nine holes and the combined scores of Wie’s team, along with Sandra Gal’s, won low gross honors with a 58. Wie’s amateurs included Byung Mo Ahn, CEO/president of Kia Motors America.