RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — There were miracles at Mission Hills Country Club yesterday, but not for Michelle Wie. This bit of history will just have to wait.

Hawai'i's 16-year-old golf prodigy had a chip to win and a 10-foot putt to get into a playoff on the final hole of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA's first major of the year. She missed both and shot a 2-under-par 70 to tie for third with Natalie Gulbis, who also missed a birdie putt on the final hole. Both finished at 8-under 280.

Both were not so much victims in this one as innocent bystanders. Wie led after 67 holes, but had LPGA Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, 31, and Lorena Ochoa, the 24-year-old darling of Mexico, steal her sprint into history in an astonishing end.

Webb finished a spectacular closing-round 65 by eagling the 72nd hole from 116 yards to get to 9-under.

"I think my heart just about jumped out of my chest," said Webb, who shot 76 playing with Wie and Ochoa on Saturday. "It was aching for about five minutes after."

Ochoa, down but definitely not out in the final group with Wie, lofted a 225-yard approach shot over the water on 18 and got it to stop eight feet from the hole. "She hit that 5-wood perfect," Wie said. "It was pretty cool."

Ochoa drained the gutsy eagle putt to salvage 72 and force a playoff, which Webb won with birdie on the first extra hole. "On 18, I'll never forget that," Ochoa said. "I know I'm doing good under pressure when I need to. I think I lost the tournament with my driver on the back nine. I had the lead ... I didn't take advantage of opportunities."

All Wie could do was watch, and begin plotting her next miracle. She came out of the scoring trailer punching the air and grinning.

"Feel like hitting someone?" a reporter asked.

"Yeah," Wie joked. "Good thing you're in the front row."

Her voice wavered as she answered questions, but she never faltered.

"Karrie holing it out, eagling it out on the last hole, me not making that putt, maybe it's not meant to be," Wie said. "But I played my hardest out there."

Webb was gracious in agreement.

"You've got to remember she's 16," the 1999 and 2000 LPGA Player of the Year said. "She shot 2-under today. She went out there and played well. She should take confidence from that. Last time, when she had a chance to win at the U.S. Open (Wie shot a final-round 82) ... she would have been pretty disappointed with that. All but one shot she did what she needed today. She should be proud of herself that she played well."

It was Webb's 31st LPGA win and seventh major, including two titles here. It was also a spectacular comeback beyond her 65. Webb has just two wins since 2002 and her last came in 2004.

"But in practice," she said, "I was seeing such unbelievable stuff, like stuff that I've never been able to do before hitting the golf ball. I saw a lot of it this week. I didn't see it on every hole and sometimes there wasn't a lot of trust there. That's the thing that was so hard — to be patient. ... that is what I had to do, just hang in there."

Webb's success is what Wie has envisioned since she became the youngest in LPGA history to Monday qualify (age 12) and make a cut (13). A U.S. Women's Public Links championship at 13, appearances on men's tours, a riveting quarterfinal run against the guys at last year's U.S. Public Links championship and multi-million dollar endorsement contracts signed just before she turned 16 have only fueled the firestorm of worldwide interest that surrounds her.

Yesterday's gallery numbered in the thousands, and went seven and eight deep at points. The presence of Ochoa, Gulbis and Wie gave it a wonderful diversity. There were "Lorena" shirts, sombreros and Mexican flags. There were lots of kids and many people more interested in personalities than golf games. The crowd had clear favorites, but pulled loudly for all three with few exceptions.

This was Wie's 27th LPGA tournament. The Punahou junior has six top-three finishes — half in majors — in the last nine. A win is the logical next step, but it has proved wildly elusive.

That might sound strange for someone who is 16, but if Wie has proven anything over the past six astonishing years, it is that she is far from your average kid, and average golfer.

A win would have made her the youngest — by 1 1/2 years — to win on the LPGA tour; the youngest — by more than 2 years — to win a 72-hole LPGA tournament and the youngest — by 3 1/2 years — to win an LPGA major.

Wie was not just in contention this time. She fired four birdies at the front nine to chase down Ochoa, who had held the lead since Thursday's 62. Wie seized the lead at 8-under on the 67th hole, which Ochoa bogeyed in the midst of her driving problems.

Wie bogeyed the next hole, saying later that tee shot into the bunker was the one she would like back. She nearly had her miracle eagle on the 16th, hitting her wedge within inches.

Then her caddie broke the Webb news.

"He said, 'Just so you don't get shocked, Karrie holed out on the 18th hole.' I said, 'Do you think it's going to help telling me that on this hole?' " Wie recalled with a laugh. "But I wish mine would have gone in on the 16th hole. That would have been sweet.

"I couldn't believe she made it. She did awesome. She didn't play as great yesterday, but she came back. It just shows how good she is. She's awesome."

Gulbis caught Wie at 8-under with birdie at the 17th, but hit her drive too short on the par-5 18th (485 yards) to go for the green in two. Ochoa and Wie hit perfect drives. Ochoa's second shot might have been even better.

Wie's 5-iron approach landed on the green and rolled off into the fringe. She opted to chip and the ball peered into the hole while it rolled 10 feet by.

"I thought I had a little more chance making it chipping (rather than putting)," Wie said. "I had no idea that I was going to leave that shot. I hit it the way I wanted to. I guess it wasn't meant to be."

She missed the birdie putt for the playoff coming back. "I thought it was going in as soon as I hit it," Wie said. "I hit it the way I wanted to. The whole day I was missing it on the low side, but this one I felt so good when I hit it. I guess I'll just win later on."

Webb would not be surprised.

"It would be great if she won," Webb said. "She is confident enough to win out here all the time. It's just a matter of time before she wins."

NOTES

Michelle Wie won $108,222 in her fourth appearance here, and first as a professional. She has won $181,097 in two events this year. She was also third, one shot out of a playoff, in the Fields Open in Hawai'i in February.

Wie was disqualified in her first event as a professional, the Samsung World Championship, played down the road last October. That wasn't forgotten yesterday.

"If I don't get disqualified in the next five minutes," Wie said, "I think I'll get some money here."

Wie hit 83 percent of the greens in regulation in the tournament (60 of 72), best by far of anyone in the Top 20. But — not coincidentally — she had 127 putts, also the most in the Top 20. In contrast, Webb had 113 putts, Ochoa 110 and Gulbis 119.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.