On Wednesday, the 15-year-old was 2-over after just four holes and finished with a 3-over 75. She was in 45th place, nine shots off the leaders, after the first round of this 78-player, 72-hole tournament.

On Thursday, Wie climbed up the leaderboard.

Teeing off in the morning, Wie recorded birdies on the par-4 No. 3 and the par-5 No. 9. She bogeyed the par-3 No. 8. Wie made the turn after nine holes at 1-under 35, four strokes better than she shot Wednesday.

The Punahou student then birdied the par-4 No. 10 to go 2-under for the day.

She then parred the final eight holes.

Her two-round total is 1-over-par 145, moving her in the top half of the field.

Unlike most four-round tournaments, there is no cut after the second round.

Annika Sorenstam shot a 6-under 66 to climb into contention, two strokes behind second-round leaders Paula Creamer and Christina Kim.

Creamer and Kim each shot 4-under 68s and share the lead at 8-under 136. Sorenstam stood alone in second at 6 under, with Laura Davies and Carin Koch another stroke back.

Wie hit 10 of 14 fairways and got her driver under control, a big improvement after hitting just two during the first round.

"I played great but all my putts, strangely, didn't drop," Wie said.

"I played so much better than yesterday. I could have finished at 9 under," she added.

Wie dropped only one shot and had three birdies, all from under 12 feet. At No. 9, her bunker shot for eagle rattled the flagstick but didn't drop.

She had her father B.J. on the bag Thursday, having parted from experienced Irish caddie Brian Smallwood.

"Brian was with me Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but the chemistry didn't really work," Wie said.

She said her father would caddy for her during next week's British Open at Royal Birkdale.

Wie has gone through several caddies during her short career.

"My caddie's not available," Sorenstam joked.

"It's important to have a regular caddie," the Swede added. "I've been lucky to have only two in 11 years. A caddie has to learn to adjust to you."

"If he only gets 24 hours to do it, that's pretty hard."