If you had a dollar for every time Michelle Wie has proclaimed, "I think I’m getting closer," you, too, might have a house overlooking Waialae Country Club.

No matter how deep her struggles, how ragged her putting or how many cuts she missed, Wie always seemed able to talk about closing the gap on winning as if it was right around the corner even, when her body language said otherwise.

Part of it, you suspect, was dialogue fed to her by her handlers, and her uninspired delivery hinted as much.

But Sunday’s second-place finish in the Kraft Nabisco Championship suggests there might finally be truth to Wie gushing, "it’s a sign. I think I’m getting close."

More important, she actually seems to genuinely believe it.

Though Wie finished three strokes back of Lexi Thompson, it was her top finish in her past 60 LPGA appearances and best showing ever in a major.

It might be of only slight consolation, but Thompson did more to win it with a 68 than Wie did to lose it with a 71 — and that hasn’t always been the case.

The most encouraging aspect is that the performance comes amid a lengthening string of solid efforts, not an out-of-the-blue surprise. In six LPGA starts this year, Wie has three top 10 finishes. In none of them did she do worse than a tie for 16th place.

Moreover, it follows up a sturdy finish to 2013, a year in which her frustrations had seemed to hit bottom in mid year with a controversial withdrawal during the U.S. Women’s Open.

This all comes as the LPGA’s next stop is the LPGA Lotte Championships next week at Ko Olina, long Wie’s "home" course in Hawaii.

Just how much Wie has struggled since joining the tour in 2009 was driven home two years ago when she missed the cut in the inaugural Lotte, one of 10 in 2012. In 2013 she tied for 28th.

Wie is 24 now, no longer deemed the next big thing or burdened by the weight of such expectations. That mantle, and all that goes with it, is being conferred on Thompson, a four-time LPGA winner at age 19, and Lydia Ko, a 16-year-old with two victories.

Wie, who played her first Kraft at what seems like eons ago at age 13, has two LPGA wins and none since 2010.

But she seems to have been refreshed and refocused and, for the first time in a long time, exhibits a real joy in her play.

"I think I’m getting close. I think I can get a lot of confidence from this week," Wie said her press conference. "I think I’m improving and improving, and I think getting second at a major, I think it means that I’m close, and I’m really proud of myself, and I’m really excited for the upcoming events."

Ko Olina pro Greg Nichols said he hoped Wie could have achieved a breakthrough at Kraft, where the winner ritually dives into Poppie’s Pond, but texted her Sunday, "’hey, save that jump in the lake for Ko Olina.’"

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.