SILVIS, Ill. — It was a rookie mistake, something she probably should have learned to avert in junior golf.

Michelle Wie's bid at the John Deere Classic to become the first woman in 61 years to make a cut in a PGA Tour event started to go wrong on her second hole. Wie backed off her tee shot three times on the par-4 11th hole before hitting her ball into the hazard, to the dismay of a large gallery.

Maybe the 16-year-old phenom from Hawai'i didn't use enough insect repellent. Wie, who opened with a 6-over-par 77, was bugged by those little pests that populate Midwest golf courses.

To say they were the main source of her problems yesterday would be a wild exaggeration, but they didn't help matters. She never seemed comfortable on the tee at Deer Run.

"I mean, literally I had like five of them on me," said Wie, who is playing on a sponsor's exemption and shot 68 in Wednesday's pro-am. "As soon as I got on the ball — I mean, it's OK if the bugs are like around the ball. I can handle that. But they were crawling on my arm, they were on my hand, they were on my head. It was just ridiculous. I had to step back like five times. It was just very unfortunate.

"I would like to say it didn't, but it bothered me a little bit. Bugs on me, I hate bugs, and I was starting to get a little aggravated like the fifth time I stepped out. I was a little aggravated, but I felt like I shook it off. Obviously I didn't hit that tee shot the way I wanted to, but I don't think it was because of the bugs."

Wie, who missed the Deere Classic cut by two shots last year, will have to go very low to have a chance to make it now.

J.P. Hayes, John Senden and local favorite Zach Johnson of Grand Rapids, Ill., share the first round lead at 7-under 64. Johnson, starting on the back nine, bogeyed the 18th and then birdied seven holes on the front to shoot 28 and thrill the second-largest gallery on the course.

After missing the cut here by two shots a year ago as an amateur, Wie put herself in a tough spot if she wants to replicate Babe Zaharias' feat at the PGA's Los Angeles, Phoenix and Tucson tournaments in 1945.

Wie, who tees off today at 8:44 a.m. Hawai'i time, was 13 strokes off the lead and tied for 140th place.

The low 70 and ties will make the cut after today's second round and 70 players were at 2 under or better, with three still on the course when play was suspended because of darkness. Mike Springer's 80 was the high score of the day.

Wie went out in 5 over, in part because of four penalty shots. Wie hit just two fairways on the front nine and only one green. Still, she found some positives.

"It was very uncharacteristic of me to do that, but considering I had the water-hazard penalties, considering I had to call (an) unplayable, considering I hit my driver 50 yards right, I played really well," she said. "I made a lot of great up-and-downs, I putted great, my irons were good.

"You know, on the last couple of holes during the back nine, my driver was working very well. I have a lot of confidence going into (Friday)."

There were some front-nine highlights that gave the large gallery following her a glimpse of the player who has three straight top-five finishes in women's majors. She followed up bogeys on 11 and 12 with a long drive, excellent approach and a 12-foot birdie putt on 13.

Bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes put her 4 over, and a pushed tee shot on the par-3 16th hole, which sits on a bluff above the Rock River, had the look of a bogey. Instead she hit a beautiful low, skidding chip that rolled into the cup for a birdie, delighting her fans, including a pontoon boat full of them with a "Wet 'n' Wild Fore Wie" banner.

"It was pretty amazing after I made that chip," she said. "The applause was really loud. That's why I play, to have those moments. It's so wonderful, you can't really put it in words. You just feel really good."

Kane'ohe's Dean Wilson was in a group of 11 at 4-under 67, four strokes behind.