Michelle Wie shot a consistent round of 1-under 71 and trailed by four shots after yesterday's first round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

The Punahou alum and current Stanford student trails Suzann Pettersen, who shot a 4-under 67, in the LPGA's first major of the season. Former champion Lorena Ochoa, who missed birdie putts on her final two holes, shot 68.

Wie had 17 pars and one birdie in nines of 36-35 at 6,702-yard Mission Hills. She hit 14 greens in regulation with an average driving distance of 306 yards.

"There were a lot of pars out there, which was a good thing," Wie said. "I think I just have to capitalize on a couple more birdie holes. Today I just over-read a couple of putts."

Majors champions Karrie Webb, Yani Tseng and Karen Stupples were in a group at 69.

MORE GOLF

Two share lead in Houston: Kevin Stadler and Cameron Percy shot 5-under 67s yesterday to share the first-round lead in the Houston Open at Humble, Texas.

Hawai'i's Parker McLachlin, a Punahou alum, made three double bogeys and a triple bogey en route to an 84.

SOCCER

Ching hurt in Dynamo win: Brad Davis scored on two penalty kicks to give host Houston a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake last night in a game marred by an injury to United States forward Brian Ching of the Dynamo.

Ching, a Kamehameha alum from Hale'iwa and a candidate to start up front for the U.S. in the World Cup, went down in the 28th minute with a strained left hamstring after sliding while going for a loose ball with RSL's Nat Borchers.

TENNIS

Williams, Clijsters in Sony final: Venus Williams sashayed into the final at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. yesterday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Marion Bartoli.

In tomorrow's final, the third-seeded Williams will play 14th-seeded Kim Clijsters, who edged fellow Belgian Justine Henin, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6).

On the men's side, No. 16-seeded Tomas Berdych and No. 5 Robin Soderling won quarterfinal matches and will meet tonight. No. 6 Andy Roddick faces No. 4 Rafael Nadal in the other semifinal.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Dayton wins NIT, 79-68: Dayton denied last year's national champs another title and took home one of its own for the first time in 42 years.

Marcus Johnson scored 20 points and the Flyers handed North Carolina one more disheartening loss at the end of a lousy season, beating the Tar Heels, 79-68, last night to win the NIT at New York's Madison Square Garden.