Wie may have faltered, but this was no failure

	Michelle Wie shot a two-under 68 in the first round but had three straight bogeys in a second-round 75. AP
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Ooh Wie!

For a good portion of a long day, the unimaginable appeared downright possible. A 16-year-old female nearly made the U.S. Open field against 152 talented men in a final sectional qualifier.

The hopes of wunderkind Michelle Wie, along with some 3,500 in her gallery and countless fans around the globe, flew high when she shot a bogey-free 68 on the shorter 6,625-yard South Course at Canoe Brook Country Club in New Jersey, including a 60-foot chip-in birdie on the 18th hole. The crowd went berserk as millions of eyes widened in amazement.

In fact, only six of the 75 players who started on the South Course bettered her score.

The unthinkable was looking like anything but.

Wie stood 13th overall after the first round, but the second 18 would be a stronger test. The North Course is 7,066 -- some 500-700 yards longer than the typical LPGA track. Going into the 31st hole she was still two-under -- a scant two shots from the final qualifying number. But two blown gimme putts led to three straight bogeys, squashing any momentum and ultimately her lofty goal. Wie finished one over and five back from the top 18, yet the margin doesn't illustrate how close the brass ring hung to her grasp.

Wie hit nine of 14 fairways in each round. Her approaches were decent enough, especially around the greens. It was the putter that morphed into a rebellious snake. Her first 18 holes required 30 putts, although several makeable birdie chances lipped out or grazed the edge. The final 18 weren't nearly as kind, as Wie took 35 putts, including the killer three-putts on the 31st and 32nd holes.

It continues a frustrating trend of rough putting in crunch time.

When told that her father, B.J., said she's bored with putting, Wie replied, "Well, if my dad says so. Seriously, putting used to bore me a lot. But now I know putting is the real key." She added, "I hit some very solid putts and some barely missed, so maybe it wasn't meant to be. I know it's important on the men's tour, but I need to work on it for next week."

The putting prevented her from building a cushion heading into the pressure-cooker of the second round. Instead, she had to grind just to keep up, allowing no room for error, which ultimately led to her downfall.

That faulty putter made one pause over her possible qualifying. If she couldn't handle these greens, imagine the catastrophe of navigating the fiendish U.S. Open carpets under additional stress at Winged Foot. It's said that Winged Foot has six difficult holes, six very difficult holes and six impossible ones. Add the hayfield rough, and any euphoria of making history might quickly dissolve into humiliating doom. It would be like succeeding only to meet the ferocious Mike Tyson in his prime.