KAHUKU — It seemed all so fitting.

There they were, Stacy Lewis and Vicky Hurst, playing together in the first group off the 10th tee, just ahead of Michelle Wie's threesome.

Put their names in a golf hat, pick one and chances are pretty good that it could be the LPGA Tour's 2009 Rookie of the Year. It figures to come down to those three and South Korea's Jiyai Shin, ranked fifth in the world.

Except for Shin, who missed the cut, the rookie racing chart held true to form going into today's final round of the SBS Open at Turtle Bay as the three Americans got a jump-start in the LPGA's season opener at the windblown Palmer Course.

Wie, who is seeking her first LPGA victory, shares the lead with Angela Stanford at 136 after shooting a 2-under-par 70, while Lewis and Hurst are tied for fifth at 141 with Yani Tseng, 2008's Rookie of the Year.

"It's great for the LPGA," said Lewis. "We're all good players and we'll probably be all playing together a lot, hopefully towards the last groups. Everybody's really good, so you kind of have to play your best out here every time."

It was the case yesterday as Lewis and Hurst were near mirror images in playing together the first two rounds. Yesterday, it was Lewis' turn to shoot a 70.

"You can tell we were feeding off each other," Lewis said, "It makes your day easier, I guess, if you're playing with somebody who's playing good." But it was definitely a grind out there, according to Lewis.

"Obviously, you can tell by the wind, it was really hard out there. I'm pretty happy with the way I played. I had a couple good wedge shots on 18 and 7, both about 60 yards and down wind, so you had to have a good spin on it. I hit them close both times," said Lewis, describing two of her four birdies yesterday.

More of the same windy conditions are expected today but Lewis says she's up to the challenge. "I played well when the conditions are hard," said Lewis, who finished tied for third in the U.S. Women's Open and tied for sixth in the inaugural LPGA Kapalua Classic to earn $247,464 in unofficial money.

"Last year was really a roller coaster, finishing third in the Open and then finding out your money doesn't count. It's all official money now," Lewis said with a laugh.

Unlike Wie, who took the money and went straight to the pros while still in high school, Lewis and Hurst both took more conventional routes to get here to play in their first tournament as card-carrying LPGA members.

Lewis played collegiate golf, winning All-America honors all four years at the University of Arkansas. Hurst turned pro right out of high school, but went on the Futures Tour, winning five times to gain her LPGA card. Wie and Lewis got theirs through Q-School with Lewis winning medalist honors.

The Lady Razorbacks never came here when Lewis was on the team, so other than a family golf outing to Kaua'i, Lewis played at Kapalua on a sponsor's exemption. She loved everything about Maui, but no sushi please, she said. "I've tried it before and just haven't been a friend of it."

OK, so I guess poke is out of the question, too. But how about poi? "Never heard of it, but I probably wouldn't like it, too," Lewis said.

You can't blame Hurst if she doesn't remember the only other time she was here. "I was a baby when my dad was stationed here in the Air Force," said the 18-year-old, who grew up in Florida.

"Playing in Hawai'i is unbelievable. It's so much more than I expected, driving along the North Shore, seeing the waves," said Hurst, who's aware of the Hawaiian word, "hapa," meaning half. "That's what I heard," said Hurst, whose mom, Koko, is from South Korea where her father had been stationed.

Hurst's goals for the year are modest: "Play my best and having fun, learning every week."

Lewis has set higher standards: "I want to win tournaments and make the Solheim Cup."

Both, though, have their eyes on that Rookie of the Year prize and Hawai'i is a great place to start that chase, they said.