The brisk winds blowing through Ko Olina Golf Club Thursday morning frustrated Michelle Wie for much of her second round in the LPGA Lotte Championship.

But those same breezes inflated enough of the afternoon scores to allow her to squeeze under the cut line and into the field for the tournament’s final two rounds.

Wie’s hopes of playing on the weekend were put in jeopardy with a rough front nine. She steadied herself late in the round and a sand save on her final hole of the day proved to be the difference in earning a tee time today.

Wie began Thursday’s round at 2 under par but didn’t see a red number next to her name the rest of the morning after a double bogey on the 10th hole, her first hole of the day. She scuffled through a 4-over-par 76, leaving her at 2 over for the tournament.

"I just kind of got started on the wrong foot today, just ball-striking wasn’t good and in this wind I kind of got thrown around a little bit," Wie said. "Overall it just didn’t go as well as I wanted to."

After punching out of the sand and tapping in for par on her final hole, Wie harbored faint hope of playing in the third round with the cut line (the top 70 plus ties) at even par at that point. Enough players faltered in the afternoon to push the cut line to 2 over as dusk approached.

When all of the cards were counted, Wie was part of a group of 10 players tied for 68th.

Fellow Punahou graduate Stephanie Kono began her round at 8:20 Thursday at 1 over par. But she also double-bogeyed No. 10, and the surge she needed to advance to today’s play never materialized. She posted a 5-over 77 to end her week with a two-day total of 6-over 150.

After playing in mild winds on Wednesday, the players dealt with strong trades blowing through Ko Olina much of Thursday morning, creating more challenging scoring conditions.

"It’s really difficult," Kono said. "When the wind blows like this you really want to just stay patient and par on every hole is a good score, so it’s difficult to try to make birdie."

Wie shot a 70 on Wednesday, but gave back four strokes in the first three holes Thursday, with the double bogey on No. 10 followed by bogeys on the next two holes.

She drained a birdie putt from the fringe on the par-5 14th hole, but bogeyed Nos. 16 and 18 while shooting 41 over her first nine holes. Her total at the turn might have been higher if not for a 12-foot putt for par on No. 17.

Another putt of more than 10 feet gave her a birdie after making the turn. But any momentum dissipated with back-to-back bogeys. She averted further damage when her drive off the fifth tee stopped just short of the water to the right of the fairway. A well-struck wood from the rough and an approach to within 7 feet led to a birdie to get her back to 3 over for the tournament.

But consistency remained elusive.

Wie carded her final birdie of the day on the par-3 eighth, and her approach on No. 9 drifted left and into a greenside bunker. She managed to get up-and-down from the sand, and her tap-in for par ultimately kept her in the field.

Kono’s lone birdie of Thursday’s round came on the par-3 16th hole, when she hit her first shot to about 25 feet and drained the putt. She finished with six consecutive pars and resumes her Symetra Tour schedule next week with a cross-country trip to Sarasota, Fla.

"Today was honestly really disappointing for me," Kono said. "Yesterday and today I feel like I played better than what I scored. … But it felt good to be back out here, so hopefully I can play a few more this year."