She faced the challenge of putting Friday's golf etiquette controversy with Danielle Ammaccapane behind her while deciding this was the day to challenge the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course during the third round of the U.S. Women's Open.

Wie, of Honolulu, used the driver far more than she had over the first two days, but spent most of the round fighting through the dense rough and occasional sand traps that her shots seemed to find with regularity. Wie would finish with a 5-over-par 76, and 9-over-par 222 for the tournament, tied for 39th.

Hilary Lunke was at 5-under for a one-stroke lead heading into today's final round. Wie will tee off at 8:40 a.m. (5:40 a.m. Hawai'i) with playing partner Stephanie Louden.

After Wie's round yesterday, Wie's father and caddie, BJ Wie, spoke for his daughter, who was not made available to the media. He spoke of Thursday's run-in with Ammaccapane and the media attention it brought, as well as their desire to move on.

He also hinted that something happened yesterday morning before his daughter's round to add to the distractions.

"Actually, something happened this morning, but I'm not going to tell," he said. "Since then my emotions have changed. I'm not going to say anything beyond that, but something happened this morning that really stirred a lot of things internally and emotionally — for Michelle and myself."

BJ Wie did have some thoughts on his daughter's round.

"This course is in perfect condition and if you underestimate the strength of the rough, you'll be in trouble," he said. "Michelle's mistake today was that she underestimated the strength of the rough and some very nasty lies."

Going after Pumpkin Ridge yesterday's was Wie's gameplan, according to her coach Gary Gilchrist.

"The biggest goal coming in was to simply make the cut," Gilchrist said. "Having done that, we decided to change our strategy today and become more aggressive on the course. Unfortunately, Michelle started to pull the ball. Even when she recovered she would end up in a place that was impossible to get up and down from.

"In the first nine holes, she had seven up-and-down opportunities and only converted three of them."

Wie was offered few opportunities to build momentum, which her coach said is key to her game.

After opening with a bogey on No. 1, Wie would par the next three holes. She then sandwiched bogeys at Nos. 5 and 7 around a par at No. 6.

Her early struggles didn't dim her gallery's enthusiasm. Hundreds lined the fairways and around the greens to get a glimpse of women's golf's next possible prodigy.

"I've never seen anyone like her," said Bill Sanderson, a retired teaching pro from Seattle. "She just plays with a smoothness and rhythm that is exciting to see. She's struggling right now, but you can tell there's a lot of game there. She just gives me the feeling she's capable of something special at any time — regardless of how she's playing at the moment."

Sanderson's assessment would prove accurate as the Punahou School freshman-to-be would give her gallery something to cheer about on No. 8.

Wie drove left on the 378-yard par 4. Facing 121 yards to the pin from the deep rough, she fired a high, arching 9-iron 20 feet past the hole, then watched the ball back down a hill to within five feet.

"See what I mean," said Sanderson amid the approving roar of the crowd. "I'd have given her no chance at that shot."

Wie tapped in the short putt for her first birdie of the day.

However, a shot at building momentum was short-lived.

On the 427-yard No. 9, Wie uncorked a 270-yard drive right into the fairway bunker. She blasted out, but again found the rough, this time on the right side, some 40 yards out. Three shots later she had her fourth bogey on the front nine.

"Golf is all about momentum and it was tough for Michelle to get any momentum today," said Gilchrist, who followed his pupil throughout the day. "She birdied No. 8, then came back and made bogey on Nos. 9 and 10. Basically what it came down to was poor driving of the ball."

After hitting 13 and 12 greens in regulation the first day, she slipped to just eight yesterday.

Wie would give those following her another glimpse of her potential on No. 13, a 387-yard par 4. Again she drove the ball long, but left and into the fairway bunker. From 180 yards out, with her head barely visible above the bunker's lip, she launched a rocket out of the trap that touched down in the heart of the green and rolled to within 10 feet. Moments later the gallery erupted as she drained the putt for her only other birdie of the day.

"She doesn't hit it like most women," said Claire Johnson, a golf instructor from the Portland, Ore., area. "The ball just jumps off her clubs like it has been shot out of a gun. I wasn't going to come, but after reading about her the last two days I thought I'd see for myself. For all the power people talk about, I think it's her touch and ability to hit irons with feel that make her really special. That shot right there is big-time good."