The Punahou sophomore trails Jennifer Rosales by five shots after yesterday's second round at the Palmer Course. It was only a two-stroke difference after Wie knocked in a nine-foot birdie putt on her final hole — closing with a second-straight 2-under-par 70 — while Rosales was just starting a rocky round.

Rosales finished with a fist-pumping flourish, birdieing four of her last five to shoot a 3-under 69 and reach 9-under 135. That shot her past Reilley Rankin, who fed off Wie's adoring galleries and a her own hole-seeking putter to shoot the day's best round, a 6-under 66.

Rankin is two behind Rosales, with Cristie Kerr (68) three back and Rosie Jones (69) four.

Then it's Lorena Ochoa (72), Hee-Won Han (70) and Wie, the 15-year-old phenom in her 18th LPGA start, who is impatient to fulfill more of the promise she has so spectacularly showcased.

Wie finished in the Top 20 in six of the seven LPGA events she played last year. Her best was fourth at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, a major tournament an ocean away and even further from the gusty wind and horizontal rain this child of the breezy 'aina embraces here as home-course advantage.

Today she plans to focus on the putting that failed her the final day at Kraft. She also is praying for more blustery winds.

"The perfect condition would be for it to blow really hard when other people play, but for it to quiet down when I play," Wie said with a grin. "But I know that is not going to happen. I think the harder the condition is, the better it is for me, so people don't run away."

Last month's Sony Open in Hawai'i disappointment, when Wie spoke of "my shoes getting heavier" as her struggles grew, is ancient history in her young mind. She trekked across O'ahu for this tournament "kind of mad at myself" for not winning in 2004.

Rosales teased the field with four bogeys yesterday, but ultimately willed herself back to the top. She blew through Turtle Bay without a bogey — or missing a green in regulation — during Thursday's 66. Yesterday she bogeyed the first hole, and "it kind of got weird."

She and caddie Donna Earley argued over club selection — joking about it after the round — and Rosales failed miserably with some putting adjustments inspired by watching the World Match Play on TV. She "almost lost it" after missing eight-foot par putts on the 10th and 11th.

Somehow she tamed her temper and game to turn herself into the favorite for today's $150,000 first prize.

"I was getting frustrated and the wind does not help at all," Rosales said. "I was not in my routine, so I told my caddy to give me a good yardage that I could trust, and I tried to just hit it there. It started on 14 when I made a birdie. That kind of kept me going."

She trusted Earley enough to hit her approach shot within three feet on the 14th, 12 on the 16th and six on the 17th. Rosales, who had just 26 putts, rolled all those birdies in, then closed with a 15-footer on the final hole.

Last year, she became the first from the Philippines to win on the LPGA Tour and finished 10th on the money list. Kerr won three times and was fifth. Jones — who at 45 is 28 years older than anyone else in the top eight — has 13 career wins and is seventh on the career money list.

Wie and Rankin chased their first victory in the same group yesterday, with winds of up to 35 mph whipping them on.

Rankin, winless in her second year on tour, drained pretty much everything she looked at. She needed but 24 putts, launching five in from outside 15 feet.

"She seriously made every putt," Wie sad. "It was very exciting to watch her."

NOTES

Clutch: Former Rainbow Wahine Cindy Rarick was 5-over par for the tournament when she made the turn yesterday. The Waikoloa Beach Resort representative played her final nine in 4-under 32, eagling the third hole, to shoot a 69 and make the cut by three shots.

MIA: The cut came at 4-over 148, with 75 players advancing to today's final round. Turtle Bay Resort representative Dorothy Delasin (75-146) made it by two shots.

Jump start: Nicole Perrot, 21, from Chile, had a hole-in-one at the 160-yard 13th hole, hitting a 4-iron. The ace helped her shoot a 69 and move into eighth place.

Oops: Rookie Beth Allen was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.