Wie is tied for 147th out of 155 players

R1 LEADERBOARD:
GB & Ire unless stated
-5 D Carter, R Coles, A Wall
-4 S Khan, S Little, M Tunnicliff, R Gomez (Arg)
Selected others:
-3 S Garcia (Spa)
-1 MA Jimenez (Spa)
level P Broadhurst
+7 M Wie (US)
+8 N Dougherty

Michelle Wie stumbled to a seven-over 78 on day one of the European Masters in Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland.

The 16-year-old, making her debut on the European Tour, carded seven bogeys, one double-bogey and two birdies.

English trio David Carter, Robert Coles and Anthony Wall share the lead after five-under-par rounds of 66.

Three more Englishmen, Simon Khan, Sam Little and Miles Tunnicliff, were one shot back while Ryder Cupper Sergio Garcia was in a group on three under.

Wie is only the second woman to play in a European Tour event, after Laura Davies finished second last in the 2004 ANZ Championship in Australia.

The teenager has so far made the cut in only one of the nine men's events she has competed in - in Korea earlier this year.

On my front nine I only missed one shot and only managed to hit three greens Sergio Garcia

Wie drew a massive gallery as she teed off alongside England's Nick Dougherty and Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, but after a par at the first she three-putted the second for bogey.

A bogey on the sixth was followed by a birdie on the next, but the Hawaiian schoolgirl then ran up a double-bogey five on the eighth after overshooting the green from a greenside bunker.

Another three-putt bogey on the ninth took Wie to the turn in 40, but after further bogeys at the 11th and 13th she recorded her second birdie of the day on the par-five 15th, only to drops shots at 16 and18.

"I had trouble on the par-threes today," Wie said. "That's what really killed me - five over on the par-threes.

"My tee shots were a little erratic - to the left a little bit. And I'll work on a few more bunker shots.

Coles is fighting to save his European Tour card

"It was just one of those days where your balls go left. I didn't really have my rhythm today in my short game. Hopefully it will come back to me tomorrow."

Defending champion Garcia, the only member of Europe's Ryder Cup team in the field, was happy with his round.

"The golf course is playing tough, quite difficult," said the 26-year-old.

"It's really firm and with these small greens which have a lot of undulations and fall off from the sides it is so difficult to get the perfect distance control with the altitude.

"On my front nine I felt I only missed one shot, where I pulled it on the 18th, and only managed to hit three greens. That tells you how difficult it is playing."

Coles has made just five cuts all season but clearly enjoys playing in Crans, his previous best Tour finish of third coming here in 2004.

"My first rounds have been appalling all year," admitted Coles, who is 183rd on the Order of Merit and has only three more events after this to climb into the top 115 and retain his card.

"To get a decent start and get into a tournament is great, I'm delighted. I haven't played well this year, full stop."