NEWPORT, R.I. — All four Hawai'i golfers in the second round of the U.S. Women's Open made at least one birdie yesterday.

For two of them, the birdies made a difference in making the cut. For two others, they didn't.

Kimberly Kim, 14, will join 16-year-old Michelle Wie in the third and fourth rounds of the Open — to be played today at Newport Country Club — while 16-year-olds Stephanie Kono and Ayaka Kaneko both shot 78 and had to settle for an early exit.

Kim, who was 4-under through her first 11 holes, finished at even-par 71 and was 6 over for two rounds, allowing her to make the cut by two strokes. Kim actually scored better than Wie, who shot 72.

Kim started on the back nine and made birdies on Nos. 13, 17, 1 and 2. But a double bogey on No. 3 and bogeys on No. 4 and No. 7 brought her back to even. She finished with a pair of pars.

"I was really happy, but then I doubled," Kim said with a laugh.

It was too early for her to be happy about making the cut. When she finished her round at about 8:15 p.m., she said it hadn't sunk in yet. She had no expectations of making the cut.

"I was really unsure, I just wanted to do my best," she said.

Kim, a former Big Island resident now living in Mesa, Ariz., is the youngest player in the field. She was well aware of that fact coming in, and apparently feels pretty good about it.

"It makes me feel powerful," she said.

A superstitious player, Kim said she had a good idea about how her round would go after the first four holes. A par on her first hole was, in her opinion, the best possible start.

"If I birdie the first hole ... I'll screw up," she said. "I usually like to get past the first four holes, and if I do good the first four holes, I figure I'm going to do good."

With three straight pars and a birdie on No. 13, Kim was 1 under through four.

Kono, the state high school champion from Punahou School, followed an 82 on Friday with a 78 to finish her two rounds at 18 over. Kaneko, a junior-to-be at Sacred Hearts Academy, also improved a bit. Her 78 left her at 16 over for the tournament.

Kono made 11 pars, four bogeys, two double bogeys and a birdie on the par-4 eighth.

"I hit a good drive, and I hit a good 5-wood to about 25 feet," Kono said of the eighth hole. "The putt was pretty straight and I made it."

She was just 3 over heading to the 15th, but did not finish particularly well.

"I played OK. Not too good, but I was doing well until the 15th hole," Kono said. "I doubled that hole, and I bogeyed the next hole."

After a par on No. 17, she bogeyed 18.

Kaneko birdied the par-3 fifth and had 10 pars, six bogeys and one double bogey.

"I used a 3-iron, and it was 5 feet (from the hole)," Kaneko said of her birdie. "It was a slice putt (to the right). It's kind of hard to read the speed."

Even though their stay ended a bit early, both Kono and Kaneko said they enjoyed the experience of playing in their first U.S. Women's Open.

"It's tough, but it was fun," Kaneko said. "I just enjoyed playing at a U.S. Open and I had a great experience."

Kono, too, enjoyed her stay.

"It's been fun; I liked it," she said. "This golf course is great, the clubhouse is really nice and the people here are awesome. I had a really good time."