FARMINGTON, Pa. — Michelle Wie seemed to be describing a round that only she saw.

Maybe that begins to explain why the teenager's admirable but still-unsuccessful attempts to become the first woman to make the cut on the PGA Tour in 61 years are increasingly taking on the look of folly, rather than soon-to-happen reality.

A week after finishing last against men in the European Masters, which isn't a tour event, Wie had a 5-over 77 Thursday that bettered only nine others during the opening round of the 84 Lumber Classic. She was in a five-way tie for 125th, with only the top 70 moving on to weekend play following the second round.

Last year's cut was even par, so Wie probably had to shoot a 5-under 67 or better today for any chance to make the cut — something no female golfer has done in a PGA event since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945.

"I'm going to go out with the same mind-set I had today, just try my hardest and keep plugging away," said Wie, a Hawaii high school senior who skipped a week of classes to play in her third PGA tournament this year. "I think I'll be shooting a low score."

She didn't say if she meant low like first-round leader Nicholas Thompson, a 2005 qualifying school graduate who is only 181st on the money list but who shot an 8-under 64. It was the lowest round in the 84 Lumber Classic since eventual winner Vijay Singh's first-round 64 in 2004.

Thompson was two shots ahead of six tied at 66 and three up on the six who had 67s. The low scores partly were the result of 1Z\x inches of overnight rain that saturated the course and made the greens much friendlier.

While the 16-year-old Wie is among the longest hitters among the women, she outdrove only two others with her 259.3 yards average. That left her constantly facing long iron shots on the 7,550-yard Mystic Rock course, the third-longest on the PGA tour.

When she finally reached the greens, her putter let her down as she averaged 2.091 putts — the ninth-worst average in the field. That's a combination that won't win anywhere, short drives and too many putts.

For a golfer trying to compete against some of the best in the world, it wasn't nearly good enough, even though she said, "I felt I played really good."

No doubt the four others who had 77s didn't feel the same way.