RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Michelle Wie watched her 20-foot birdie putt roll into the cup on her final hole, pumped her fist and waved to the gallery.

After spending almost all day yesterday scrambling to save par around Mission Hills Country Club, the Punahou graduate opened the Kraft Nabisco Championship — the first major of the year on the LPGA Tour — with a 1-under-par 71.

The way Wie was missing fairways, particularly early on, she could have been four or five over. But her short game saved her and gave her confidence in her first appearance in this tournament in three years. Wie made a string of putts between 6 and 8 feet during her round. She had three birdies and two bogeys, and needed just 25 putts.

"I feel very confident and grateful that they went in," Wie said. "Hopefully, tomorrow they'll be for birdie."

Wie is five shots behind leader Brittany Lincicome, whose 66 was her best score in nearly two years. Angela Stanford, who chased down Wie to win the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay, is tied for second with Ji Young Oh and Brittany Lang at 67. Defending champion Lorena Ochoa opened with 73.

Wie shares 18th with an illustrious group that includes LPGA Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak, U.S. Women's Open champion Cristie Kerr, Inbee Park, Natalie Gulbis and amateurs Tiffany Joh and Azahara Munoz.

Wie is back at Kraft for the first time since 2006, when she had a chance to win with a 25-foot eagle chip from just off the 18th green. It went 10 feet by the hole, and she missed the birdie putt that would have got her into a playoff.

The 19-year-old Stanford sophomore, still seeking her first tour victory, is making her third start since earning her LPGA card and admitted she was nervous at her first major in nine months.

"It was a little sketchy in the beginning, but I felt confident with my putts," she said. "You always get that same jittery feeling when you play in the majors."

Wie tees off at 9:48 a.m. Hawai'i time today with Ai Miyazato. TV coverage starts at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.