"It's a back pin and you don't want to go long," said her opponent, Will Claxton, a graduate of Auburn University. "She punched a 6-iron in there — that was an incredible shot."

It was the shot of a champion. If Wie wins this event, she'll never forget that shot.

The 15-year-old appeared relieved more than anything else in the post-round press gathering. After each of the first two rounds of medal play Monday and Tuesday, she was a bit more curt in her responses. But Wednesday she was at ease, almost as though, "OK, there, I did it. Now bring on the rest of the tournament."

The 64 match players were down to 32 after Wednesday's round. One of the 32 non-survivors was Danny Green, who after his co-low medalist round of 65 Tuesday had said he didn't think a female — no matter how good — had any place playing in a what previously had been an all-male tournament.

"I don't care," said Wie, in her high-pitched voice.

And then, a twinkle came to her eyes. "But I have good news for him. If he really wants to play with a woman, he can. He just has to get a sex change."

Touche.

Advantage, Wie.

A lass with some salt, as Danny Green might say.

Green had said Tuesday that he felt women belonged on the women's tour, and shouldn't be playing in men's tournaments, because men aren't allowed to play in women's tournaments.

The golf wasn't always great in the Wie-Claxton match, but it was good see-saw action, up and down and even. Because of the rain, the gallery was only a few hundred as the day began, then progressed to about a thousand. It was pro-Wie from the start. In the gallery were Wie's parents.

"I can hear them," Wie said. "It's kind of embarrassing sometimes, because they're so loud!"

The steady drizzle kept the crowd size down.

"It was constant, just enough to make you mad," Wie said. "But, I'm pretty used to (all conditions) now."

Thursday, the real grind begins: 18 holes of match play in the morning, and if you win, 18 more in the afternoon. Same thing Friday. Saturday is 36 holes of match play for the top two players.

The winner gets a spot in the Master's Golf Tournament in Augusta, Ga., next spring.

Wie plays C.D. Hockersmith of Richmond, Ind. Thursday in the morning. If she wins, her next match is tentatively scheduled for early afternoon.

Would it be strange to see a woman teeing it up at the Masters?

"Yes it would," said Claxton, smiling. "But I don't have any problem with it."

Will he get any grief from his buddies back home about "losing to a girl"?

"I'm sure I will," he said, smiling. "But, that's all part of it. I'm all right with it. I know I'm going to catch it."

Wie was two-down after eight holes, but never felt any sense of panic.

"I felt like the holes I had lost were pretty stupid (mistakes on her part)," she said. "I just felt like I had to fight, and I think I did that pretty well."

Going into the 16th hole, Wie had a one-hole lead, but Claxton sunk a 40-footer to tie it up.

"Obviously, (Claxton) is a very good match player," Wie said. "Still, I was quite surprised he made that (40-footer)."

On No. 17, Wie pulled her drive left and immediately thought of her double-bogey seven with a similar type of drive Monday — "I hit the same tree; I thought I was long gone (again)," she said — but unlike Monday, this time the ball bounced off the tree and back into play. She chipped out, hit a 5-wood into a green-side trap and made a par save, prompting a roar from the crowd.

She and Claxton halved the hole to set the stage for No. 18, a picturesque 420-yard par-4 over-and-then-along-the lake-to the-left. The lake also tucks behind the green, meaning you don't want to be long on your second shot.

Claxton had out-driven Wie by 20 yards — he had only 156 yards to the hole — and he thought, "I'd better just punch this thing, with all the adrenaline I have going."

Wie said she "felt really confident" standing over the 15-footer because "I'd made a lot of birdie putts before that."

Wie said she was a "very rusty" going into the round, because she hadn't played match play since last year's U.S. Women Amateur.

"I almost forgot what was going on in match play," Wie said.

At the U.S. Women's Amateur, Wie said she wasn't the underdog.

"A lot of the gallery was pulling for the underdog and that wasn't me," she said. "I guess in some ways I was the underdog (Wednesday) and in some ways I wasn't. It's really nice when the crowd supports you."

Claxton said his worst case of nerves came Tuesday night when he learned he was playing Wie, but that when he got to the first tee he was surprised at how calm he was and ready to play.

"I was proud of myself for that," said Claxton, who had played on the Southeastern Conference Champion Tigers as a freshman.

He tried to make some small talk with Wie as they walked off the first tee — "I asked her, 'Do you have to deal with this (the crowd) every day?' but all that she said was 'Yes' and kept right on walking."

Was it a "game-on-leave-me-alone" type comment?

"Not, not really — I didn't really think about it that much," said Claxton, an easygoing, freckle-faced 23-year-old from Swainsboro, Ga. "I didn't really read that much into it. She just wanted to play golf."

Wie said she learned a lot by watching Claxton's short game, because that is the part of her game which needs the most work.

Claxton's advice for his male brethren the rest of the way?

"Just hang in there, do your own thing, and don't pay it (the crowd) a whole lot of attention," he said.

In matches involving other Hawai'i golfers:

Royden Heirakuji of Makawao, Maui, defeated Sihwan Kim of Fullerton, Calif., 5 and 4.

Zack Byrd of Calabash, N.C. ousted Sean Maekawa of Paauilo, Hawai'i, 3 and 2.

Garrett Jones of Rewey, Wis., defeated Hilo's Jacob Low, 3 and 2.