RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Lorena Ochoa opened the LPGA's first major of the year en fuego. Michelle Wie sizzled right behind her yesterday at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Ochoa's 10-under-par 62 tied the tour record for lowest score at a major. If she was on fire, then Wie simply seared Mission Hills Country Club for a 66.

It is a familiar number for Wie, a Punahou junior playing her first major as a professional this week. Wie shot 66 in the final round of the Fields Open in Hawai'i five weeks ago, to finish one out of a playoff. She also shot a 66 here in her first appearance on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course in 2003.

Wie was 12 then, and her putting was beyond precocious that day. The next day, playing in the final group, she three-putted her way out of contention and finished ninth.

The paycheck-cashing, car-driving, 16-year-old Wie claims to be "a whole 'nother person," even from last year's worldly 15-year-old. "I feel like I'm older now. I feel a little more mature," Wie said, then broke into a grin. "I try to act like I'm a little more mature."

This 66 was in stark contrast to that round heard 'round the golf world three years ago. Wie had five more putts yesterday (31), but was practically flawless around the fairways. All but one of her birdies came from within 12 feet. She hit every green in regulation and didn't miss a fairway on the front as a gallery of about 200 followed her and a Japanese media contingent of some 30 tagging along with playing partner Ai Miyazato.

"I think she's in the zone and doesn't know it," said Ross Berlin, Wie's manager from the William Morris Agency. "She thinks she can hit it closer."

Wie missed her first fairway on the 10th hole, then hung drives out to the right at Nos. 12 and 13. She birdied the 10th, launching a 9-iron from the top of a mound to 12 feet, and parred the other two. On 12, she punched the ball under a tree before arcing it up and cutting it right. The ball rolled softly over the edge of the hole.

"I found out if you miss it that far right, you have a pretty good lie from the rough," Wie said, smiling. "Those are the holes where I just wanted to get par and I was really proud of that."

There was no real danger of bogey, for Wie or Ochoa, who got her third LPGA victory in June but has mostly been frustrated in the last year with five runner-up finishes. One came at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, where she lost in a playoff. A week later at Fields, Ochoa bogeyed the last two holes to finish one back of Wie.

What doesn't kill you in golf terms only makes you stronger, according to Ochoa, whose success her first three years has led to the creation of two LPGA events in Mexico. "It helps a lot, just experience," she said. "Whether it turns out to be good or it turns out to be bad, you learn a lot, especially from the hard times."

Wie has had hard times in what appears to be a charmed golf life. Her most challenging hurdle now is to win, something she has not done in 26 previous LPGA tournaments. Wie, limited to eight LPGA events a year as a non-member and full-time student, does have five top-three finishes in her last nine starts and cashed her first paycheck ($72,875) at Fields.

That was more than a month ago, but Wie believes her final-round charge at Ko Olina fueled yesterday's blitz. She birdied two of her first three holes, missing from 8 feet on the first. Her only long birdie putt came from 25 feet on the seventh, in slam-dunk fashion. A 12-footer on the 10th died in the hole and she slid a 9-footer into the right side on No. 15. Her tee shot on the par-3 17th stopped 8 feet below the hole and Wie slapped it in. For the day, she left just one putt short.

"I'm really glad I played well in the first round," Wie said. "Usually I have a little bit of trouble starting off real well. My game was really solid today. ... Hopefully, I will just get better and better every day."

She will have to if Ochoa doesn't cool off and the course remains as idyllic as yesterday. With essentially no conditions to deal with, it was surprising more of the 99 golfers did not shoot in the 60s.

Maybe Ochoa, who had her career low, made up for a few. "Everything was easy, everything was clear," she said, almost in awe of her accomplishment. "I'd see the pin and just hit it close. ... It was fun to be out there ... a very special time."

Ochoa wasn't alone. She calls this her favorite tournament because she likes the course so much and so many of her friends and relatives come from Mexico to watch. She would like to keep them happy, particularly her father, who told her while they practiced last week that if she could hit her approach shots close she would do well because she was in such good control of her driver.

Of Ochoa's nine birdie putts yesterday, only two were outside 10 feet. She chipped in at the fourth. "Today, on the first hole," Ochoa recalled, "I got it close and I thought, just like this, all day. It worked."

It worked for Wie as well, or at least nearly as well. "I'm not really thinking about, 'Oh, I have to be in contention on Sunday' right now," she said. "I'm thinking, 'How am I going to shoot the same or better tomorrow?' If I'm in contention, that's great. If I'm not, I'll try my hardest to be in contention. I'm not thinking I have to be in contention to win. I'm just out there trying my hardest to see where it takes me."

NOTES

Defending champion Annika Sorenstam, who has won three of the last five Kraft Nabisco Championships, birdied her final hole to shoot 71. Sorenstam started an hour after Lorena Ochoa posted her 62. It was enough to make the world's top-ranked player not look at another scoreboard. "I wondered what course Lorena was playing," Sorenstam joked.

Michelle Wie and Japanese rookie Ai Miyazato, who shot 70, were the seventh group out. The twosome finished in less than 4 hours, with Wie the clubhouse leader — two behind Ochoa, who had two holes left. Wie and Miyazato chatted as they walked down many of the fairways, with Miyazato, who is 5 feet 2, looking as if she was talking to Wie's shoulder. They play together again today, teeing off last at 11:23 a.m. HST.

Amateur Angela Park, an 18-year-old senior at Torrance (Calif.) High School, is fourth after shooting a 68. She is playing on a sponsor's exemption and plans to turn pro when the tournament ends, saying she wouldn't have received the exemption if she had turned pro earlier. Her first professional tournament will be in Texas on the Futures Tour next month. Park was born in Brazil and moved to the U.S. at age 8. She was the No. 2 ranked junior behind Morgan Pressel last year.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.