Wie shoots 69, despite those elusive birdies

The gallery doubled in size. The wind behaved most of the way. The putts were there for the taking and making.

Michelle Wie capitalized on those elements with a stellar front nine, but the Punahou product was left wanting after the turn as she settled for a 3-under 69 Thursday to move to 5 under overall — five shots off the lead and tied for eighth — going into the third round at the 2015 LPGA Lotte Championship.

Wie seemed at ease afterward, despite the ground to make up. After all, she surmounted a four-stroke deficit on the final day last year to win her "home" event at Ko Olina Golf Club.

Wie will tee it up at 11:41 a.m. with Jenny Shin and Ai Miyazato.

"It’s exciting, yeah. You know, I definitely feel like I have a good chance," Wie said. "You know, I’m close, so I just need to go out there on the weekend and try to make something happen."

She certainly did in the early going, holing out from the fairway for eagle on the par-4, 353-yard No. 15, her sixth hole of the day. Upon realization that her yellow ball rolled all the way across the green and in, she did a little dance.

"I had about like 117 yards (to go), a little gap wedge. I kind of saw it roll over the hill and I was like, ‘Oh, OK. It’s disappearing.’ Then everyone went crazy. It was pretty fun."

That moved her to 5 under. She would go to 6 under by the turn, but got derailed on the 365-yard No. 2 hole.

Her tee shot found the rough and she couldn’t restore the momentum, save for a 15-foot birdie putt from the fringe on No. 6 that elicited a shout from her gallery of more than 200.

Birdie attempts of more than 10 feet on 7, 8 and 9 broke wide.

"(No.) 2 tee shot would be just really it," Wie said of the shots she wanted back. "Just lost a little momentum there. I gave myself a lot of good birdie opportunities. Just didn’t go in."

Wie found just five of 14 fairways off the tee, but still managed to hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation.

There were numerous birdie opportunities within 12 feet on both Wednesday and Thursday.

She said it wasn’t frustrating; it’s what she expected.

"I mean, these greens are tricky," Wie said. "I feel like I’m doing everything I can to try to make the putts. I’m hitting good putts, good speed, and there is really nothing you can do when the wind blows it offline or the grain takes it.

"It gets tricky. I try to make the best decisions. I made a lot today; yesterday as well. … I just got to keep giving myself these opportunities and then just try to make the most advantage of it."

Tour veteran Suzann Pettersen didn’t seem overly impressed by anything that took place in the "past champions" group of Miyazato (2012), herself (2013) and Wie (2014) over the first two days.

"It’s a good group. We all know each other very well," Pettersen said simply.