updated 6:51 p.m. ET Sept. 15, 2008

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - Michelle Wie’s untraditional path to a professional golf career will take a decidedly traditional turn Tuesday when she tees off in a sectional qualifying tournament, the first step toward earning her LPGA Tour card.

Wie will play the first stage at Mission Hills, site of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, where she first rose to fame at age 13 by playing in the final group of the LPGA’s first major.

The 18-year-old Stanford student is among 164 players in the 72-hole tournament who are competing for about 30 berths into the final qualifying tournament in December.

Stacy Lewis, who finished tied for third at the U.S. Women’s Open in June, is also in the field.

Golfers will play both the Dinah Shore Course and Palmer Course the first two days before the cut. The final two rounds Thursday and Friday will be played at the Shore Course.

Wie was unable to earn her card this season through sponsor exemptions, not having made enough money to finish the equivalent of 80th on the LPGA Tour money list.

She turned pro in 2005 and a year later had at least a share of the lead on the back nine of three majors. Her career went into a tailspin shortly after that, partly because of wrist injuries. She has not won any tournament since the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links in 2003, at age 13.

Wie has played well at Mission Hills, where she was ninth in the Kraft Nabisco in 2003, fourth the next year, then 14th in 2005.

In 2006, playing the event for the first time as a pro, she missed a 10-foot putt on the 72nd hole that would have put her in a playoff with Lorena Ochoa and eventual winner Karrie Webb.

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