Up and down day for Wie

Michelle Wie’s third round in the Lotte Championship fluctuated like the gusts at Ko Olina on Friday.

The defending tournament champion alternated bogeys and birdies for much of the afternoon to finish at 1-over 73, and slipped into a tie for eighth place at 4 under for the tournament.

Wie dropped back with bogeys on the third and fourth holes. After three of her five bogeys, Wie came back with a birdie to pump the brakes for the round. She birdied from off the green on No. 14, then stuck her approach on No. 15 to about 2 feet to set up another birdie to get back to even for the day. But a mis-hit out of a fairway bunker on 17 led to her fifth bogey.

"It was one of those days where in the wind you have to hit it really solid for the wind not to move it so much," Wie said. "If it was not windy conditions I feel I could have gotten away with a lot of shots, and they were just not hit solidly enough where the wind took it a little bit.

"Up and down day, I feel like I made a lot of birdies, just made a couple stupid errors, so hopefully tomorrow I can just go out there and shoot lights out."

Wie, who came back from a four-shot deficit to win last year, will tee off at 11:29 a.m. on Saturday in the final round.

Pettersen withdraws

A back injury kept Suzann Pettersen from defending her title at last year’s Lotte Championship. A shoulder ailment prevented her from finishing this week’s event.

Pettersen withdrew from the tournament about 90 minutes before her scheduled 11:05 a.m. tee time on Friday. Pettersen was tied for 16th at 3 under for the tournament after an even-par 72 on Wednesday and a 69 on Thursday.

"It’s just a flair in my left shoulder and after consulting with my physio and medical team we have decided to give it a couple of days of rest," Pettersen said in a statement posted on the LPGA’s Twitter account. "I want to thank Lotte for another great event and look forward to competing here again in the future."

A 14-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Pettersen won the 2013 Lotte Championship in a playoff with Lizette Salas after finishing regulation at a tournament-record 19 under.

Pettersen is the third player to withdraw from this year’s tournament, joining Vicky Hurst and Christine Song.

Kerr bounces back nicely

A chip-in birdie on No. 18 finished off a wild turnaround for Cristie Kerr on Friday.

A day after struggling to 76, Kerr tied for Friday’s low round with a 67 to get to 4 under for the tournament, carding her sixth birdie of the day with her chip on the closing hole.

"Especially in the spot I was in. I was lucky to have missed the bunker. It was just really tricky," Kerr said. "My caddie helped me make a good decision on the type of shot to hit and I just pulled it off."

Kerr said quieting her mind was the biggest factor in her swing in fortunes. "Mentally I was so good today," said Kerr, who birdied four straight holes from Nos. 8 to 11.

"I just tried to be good with myself, tried to say it’s tough conditions every day, tried to be good with my mind and let the rest take care of itself," she said.

"I just don’t think yesterday I was keyed into that. There was a lot of thinking over the golf ball yesterday. When you have this much wind you have to be quiet-minded over the ball and I just did much better with my mental game today."

Alison Walshe was in an early group and also shot 5 under to move to 2 under for the tournament.

SCOREBOARD

Sei Young Kim	67-67-70—204
I.K. Kim		65-69-71—205
Inbee Park		67-70-69—206
Jenny Shin		68-70-70—208
Chella Choi		70-68-71—209
Ai Miyazato		70-69-71—210
Paula Creamer		69-69-72—210
Cristie Kerr		69-76-67—212
Hyo Joo Kim		69-73-70—212
Morgan Pressel		69-72-71—212
Beatriz Recari		69-71-72—212
Michelle Wie		70-69-73—212
Mirim Lee		69-69-74—212
Sandra Gal		70-72-71—213
Mika Miyazato		71-71-71—213
Xi Yu Lin		69-72-72—213
a-So Young Lee		71-69-73—213
Brittany Lincicome		73-67-73—213
Haru Nomura		69-70-74—213
Alison Walshe		74-73-67—214
Lee-Anne Pace		72-71-71—214
Pornanong Phatlum		71-69-74—214
Minjee Lee		72-72-71—215
So Yeon Ryu		70-74-71—215
Shanshan Feng		70-73-72—215
Danielle Kang		71-71-73—215
Belen Mozo		73-74-69—216
Wei-Ling Hsu		74-71-71—216
Tiffany Joh		70-74-72—216
Brittany Lang		73-70-73—216
Jennifer Johnson		72-70-74—216
Sakura Yokomine		74-68-74—216
Na Yeon Choi		67-73-76—216
Ryann O’Toole		71-75-71—217
Pernilla Lindberg		71-74-72—217
Mo Martin		72-73-72—217
Mi Hyang Lee		76-71-71—218
Kelly Tan		75-72-71—218
Catriona Matthew		77-69-72—218
Ji Young Oh		76-70-72—218
Jenny Suh		73-73-72—218
Felicity Johnson		73-72-73—218
Jennifer Song		73-71-74—218
Yani Tseng		74-70-74—218
Kim Kaufman		72-71-75—218
Angela Stanford		72-71-75—218
Mi Jung Hur		73-74-72—219
Karin Sjodin		78-69-72—219
Caroline Masson		73-73-73—219
Hee Kyung Seo		77-69-73—219
Sue Kim		71-74-74—219
P.K. Kongkraphan		73-72-74—219
Natalie Gulbis		70-74-75—219
Jane Park		72-69-78—219
Jee Young Lee		74-72-74—220
Min Lee		75-71-74—220
Danah Bordner		72-70-78—220
Ji Ram Kweon		73-74-74—221
Sandra Changkija		76-70-75—221
Sophia Popov		73-72-76—221
Ha Na Jang		72-75-75—222
Ayako Uehara		74-73-75—222
Jing Yan		70-77-75—222
Jaye Marie Green		75-70-77—222
Rebecca Lee-Bentham		76-71-76—223
Cydney Clanton		75-72-77—224
Thidapa Suwannapura		74-73-77—224
Min Seo Kwak		78-68-78—224
Hee Young Park		77-67-80—224
Sydnee Michaels		73-74-78—225
Alena Sharp		73-74-78—225

SATURDAY’S TEE TIMES

7:29 a.m.

Sydnee Michaels

Alena Sharp

7:41 a.m.

Thidapa Suwannapura

Min Seo Kwak

Hee Young Park

7:53 a.m.

Jaye Marie Green

Rebecca Lee-Bentham

Cydney Clanton

8:05 a.m.

Ha Na Jang

Ayako Uehara

Jing Yan

8:17 a.m.

Ji Ram Kweon

Sandra Changkija

Sophia Popov

8:29 a.m.

Jee Young Lee

Min Lee

Danah Bordner

8:41 a.m.

Sue Kim

Natalie Gulbis

Jane Park

8:53 a.m.

Caroline Masson

Hee Kyung Seo

P.K. Kongkraphan

9:05 a.m.

Angela Stanford

Mi Jung Hur

Karin Sjodin

9:17 a.m.

Jennifer Song

Yani Tseng

Kim Kaufman

9:29 a.m.

Ji Young Oh

Jenny Suh

Felicity Johnson

9:41 a.m.

Mi Hyang Lee

Kelly Tan

Catriona Matthew

9:53 a.m.

Ryann O’Toole

Pernilla Lindberg

Mo Martin

10:05 a.m.

Jennifer Johnson

Sakura Yokomine

Na Yeon Choi

10:17 a.m.

Wei-Ling Hsu

Tiffany Joh

Brittany Lang

10:29 a.m.

Shanshan Feng

Danielle Kang

Belen Mozo

10:41 a.m.

Pornanong Phatlum

Minjee Lee

So Yeon Ryu

10:53 a.m.

Haru Nomura

Alison Walshe

Lee-Anne Pace

11:05 a.m.

Xi Yu Lin

a-So Young Lee

Brittany Lincicome

11:17 a.m.

Mirim Lee

Sandra Gal

Mika Miyazato

11:29 a.m.

Morgan Pressel

Beatriz Recari

Michelle Wie

11:41 a.m.

Paula Creamer

Cristie Kerr

Hyo Joo Kim

11:53 a.m.

Jenny Shin

Chella Choi

Ai Miyazato

12:05 p.m.

Sei Young Kim

I.K. Kim

Inbee Park

BY THE NUMBERS

20

Scores in the red among 71 golfers who teed it up in Friday’s third round of the Lotte Championship, played in winds up to 30 mph at Ko Olina. 

4.423

Scoring average on Friday for the par-4 third hole, the hardest of the day. Only two birdies were recorded on the hole, which yielded 39 pars, 28 bogeys and two double bogeys.

4.592

Scoring average on Friday for the par-5 fifth, the easiest hole of the day. It allowed three eagles, 32 birdies, 27 pars and nine bogeys.