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Just on the constant bringing up of Wie's high number of high finishes.

Firstly they are all achievements. Finishing in the top 5 is much better than finishing 20th or missing the cut.

But the thing that is put forward by people is that because she has alot of high finishes that maybe that means she doesn't know how to finish tournaments well. There is no evidence of that in the vast majority of her high finishes.

For example:here are her high finishes in 2005 and how she did on the last round on each occasion:

Quick Summary of last rounds:
- SBS from 4 shots behind, finished 2 behind.
- lpga from 7 behind, finished 3 behind.
- evian from 11 behind, finished 8 behind.
- british from 6 behind, finished 6 behind.

So for her 4 top 5 finishes in 2005, on each occasion, she was not close to the lead. So just because she has high finishes does not mean that she lost those tournaments on the final round, like many people suggested.

So where were her chances to win on the final day? Surely most people agree 6 shots, 7 shots or 11 shots, doesn't look too hopeful, even 4 shots is a big task.

So on the US Womens Open then. That really was her only real chance, and even then, she was just joint leader and has about 15 players within a couple of shots of the lead.

Getting back to the tournament itself, there are alot of contenders. Most of the big names are right up there.

Pat Hurst -7
Christina Kim -6
Michelle Wie -5
Se Ri Pak -4
Karrie Webb -4
Cristie Kerr -4
Lorena Ochoa -4
Ai Miyazato -4
Annika Sorenstam -4
Morgan Pressel -4
Sarah Lee -3
Seon Hwa Lee -3
Hee-Won Han -3

After 2 rounds, this tournament is shaping up just great.

I tend to think that leads one to believe that she's putting a lot of pressure on herself in the early rounds of those events, meaning that when she's not really in contention, she can relax and go shoot a good number on Sunday to move up several spots. We've seen it from Tiger and Vijay many times in the past few years which is why they've garnered so many top 10s. In time she'll learn to loosen up a bit early and realize that you can't win a tournament on the first or second day, which will turn those big deficits into small ones...it looks like she's on her way to that this week.

FWIW, I don't think it's obvious that she'll become a consistent winner in a short period of time. How many here were gushing over Camilo Villegas, Bubba Watson and JB Holmes after their nice runs early this season...and how are those three guys doing right now? However, I do think that she will win sometime in the next two years.

Must be really tough conditions today. Lot's of great players over par like Annika at +3. Wie is doing great. Tied for 2nd place right now and only 1 behind the leader.

wies one back now.. from hurst.. cannot hit the fairway with the darn 3 wood.. but shes looking nice out there.. a little quick.. but some of the shots out of the rough shes hitting.. WOW, i hope she wins

PLUS: coverage starts at 2:30 tomorrow because of the terrible weather at the champions tour event.. so golf channel, 2:30 WATCH WIE

What is with the missed 2-footers though ? Just like that last week. Her putting really isn't that bad otherwise, but she missed 3 today 18" - 30". That must stop if she's going to win.

Round 3 was interesting.
It is also interesting how people noticed Michelle's short missed putts, but I don't think there was a mention of Pat Hurst's 4 putt.
Or how about that Morgan Pressel didn't make a putt outside of 5 inches through the round.

I guess that's what Wie gets though for being Wie.

I would also have like if there had been a mention of all the clutch putts Wie made from about 7-10 feet, when her 3 wood went awol, and she kept missing fairways. She made some good chips, and good recovery shots but she also made quite a few very good putts.

Also, in the coverage, Karie Webb, Lorena Ochoa, Annika, Christie Kerr, they were all missing lots of relatively easy putts.

The 4th round should be good, lots of interesting stories to come.

Before the third round, I mentioned quite a few contenders. Here are their scores before the 3rd round, and how they did in the 3rd round.

Pat Hurst -7 :: 72
Christina Kim -6 :: 75
Michelle Wie -5 :: 71
Se Ri Pak -4 :: 71
Karrie Webb -4 :: 72
Cristie Kerr -4 :: 74
Lorena Ochoa -4 :: 71
Ai Miyazato -4 :: 69
Annika Sorenstam -4 :: 75
Morgan Pressel -4 :: 79
Sarah Lee -3 :: 77
Seon Hwa Lee -3 :: 75
Hee-Won Han -3 :: 75

Other interesting scores:
Dorothy Delasin 81, from -6 to +3
Meena Lee 69, from -1 to -4

Alot of the contenders really fell by the way side on Tiger day. Err I mean moving day.

The 4th round should have be great. It is very difficult to call. Alot fell by the wayside in round 3, but there are still many contenders.
8 withing 2 shots. 13 within 3 shots. All to play for.

The odds make good sense. Wie is a better player than Miyazato and Hurst, so she should have better odds to win than they do. Any one of the 14 or 15 players within several shots of the lead could win, but the most likely would be Wie. The odds understand the statistics and her record.

The odds don't discount the fact that she's come in 2nd and 3rd frequently. These facts show that she's a better golfer than those that come in 15th through 30th in comparison to Wie's results. Some here say that all that matters is winning, but in REALITY, finishing in the top 3 is solid proof that a player is better at golf than players that do not regularly finish near the top.

Wie may not win today and at 3-1 the odds are actually against her winning. But, she has the best odds of winning and that is based on the fact that she is the best golfer. Wie bashers get used to it. Wie is not going away and she's going to start winning on a regular basis. Maybe not today, but soon.

Annika birdies 3 holes in a row.
With 7 holes to go, Annika is at -4, 3 off the lead.

I think -8 will win it, so Annika has a very outside chance, if she can keep her form going.

Wie seems relaxed and enjoying her round today. I think she likes the pressure. We?Wie, might see more of the Driver now.

I'm enjoying the Tournament. Thanks Rodney C!

Anyone watching closely will see that the greens are not very smooth - no wonder they are missing the short ones. Any putt they show on a close-up zig-zags and many bounce. Maybe not as bad as the local muni, but I bet the PGA boys would be griping BIG TIME if they were putting on these rags.

Rodney, is that Shi Hyun Ahn in your avatar ? If so, good eye. This is the first good look I've had at her game. She looks very good out there..oh and she can really play some too.