PALM DESERT, Calif. — Michelle Wie waited until the 18th hole to get her first ruling of yesterday's round at the Samsung World Championship.

Her tee shot came within a foot of going out of bounds, but she got free relief from a large scoreboard in her line of sight, hit her approach up to 25 feet and made the birdie putt for an even-par 72 that left her 14 shots behind at 2-over 218.

Annika Sorenstam has a three-shot lead over Lorena Ochoa after a 6-under-par 66, the best score of the week.

Sorenstam, who is going for her sixth straight win in this elite tournament, was mildly angry at herself for letting her attention waver in the third round, a fault that has kept her from being her best this year.

"I was trying to get myself going a little bit," Sorenstam said. "My mind was wandering. I can't focus long enough."

Wie said that she's not playing her best now.

Yesterday was the seventh straight round on the LPGA Tour that the 17-year-old from Honolulu has failed to break par, her longest drought since she went 10 straight rounds at par or worse in 2003 at age 13.

"I'm not playing my 'A' game," Wie said. "I'm really grinding out there."

Wie will end her fourth year playing the LPGA Tour without a victory, although she has never played more than eight events and started when she was 13. Her driving has been erratic, and she had to work far too hard to make par on a calm, mild afternoon in the foothills of the Santa Rosa Mountains. She played the par 5s in 2 over in the third round, and one of her birdies came on the 14th, when she hit off the cart path for the third time this week, went into a bunker and holed out.

"It was a really hard three days, a day in the bushes and the trees, but I think I'm having fun," Wie said. "It's interesting. Golf is a messed-up game."

Sorenstam finished off her round with a 12-foot birdie on the 18th and was at 12-under 204, reviving her hopes of winning LPGA Player of the Year for the sixth straight season.

Leading the points-based race for player of the year is Ochoa, and she still holds all the cards.

The Mexican star rattled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 67 to finish at 207, giving her a spot in the final group with Sorenstam today.

"I'm going to need everything I have tomorrow," Sorenstam said. "Lorena is having a fantastic year, a lot of momentum on her side. I know tomorrow I have to earn it, I have to post a low score."