Wie makes most of second chance

In what amounted to a mulligan, Michelle Wie turned in a solid round of 3-under-par 69 in the third round of the LPGA Lotte Championship on Friday.

Wie left the course on Thursday on the wrong side of the cutline at 2-over par. The line moved back far enough to get her into the weekend and she turned in her best 18 holes to date in two appearances in the tournament.

She’ll begin today’s final round tied for 40th place at 1 under for the tournament.

Wie started on the 10th hole and played Ko Olina Golf Club’s back nine at 3 under. She dropped to 4 under for the day with a birdie on No. 3 and was bogey-free until the par-3 eighth hole.

Her start on Friday was in stark contrast to Thursday’s round when she played the first three holes at 4 over. This time she managed her way to pars on that stretch and got a 7-foot birdie putt to fall on the par-5 13th hole.

On No. 15, she hit her approach above the hole and spun it back to about 5 feet from the cup to set up her second birdie. She gave herself another short birdie putt on No. 18 to make the turn at 3 under on the day and 1 under for the tournament. She might have made an even bigger move on her first nine if not for another two birdie putts that stopped one revolution short of the cup.

"I was hitting the ball real well and just missed a lot of birdie opportunities out there, I could have made a lot more," Wie said. "But I think that definitely gave me a confidence boost for tomorrow. Hopefully I can keep being patient and hopefully I’ll make a move up the leaderboard."

As in her first two rounds, Wie kept her driver in the bag for most of the day, relying primarily on her woods to hit 11 of 14 fairways on Friday.

"No need to hit driver when the wind starts blowing," Wie said. "Just need to hit that low shot."