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Golf

Rosales wins; Wie ties in second

Associated Press
Published February 27, 2005

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KAHUKU, Hawaii - Michelle Wie made a strong run at her first LPGA Tour victory, finishing two strokes behind Jennifer Rosales, who went wire-to-wire for a victory in the season-opening SBS Open on Saturday.

Wie started the day five strokes behind Rosales and shot her third straight 70 to finish tied for second at 210. Playing on her home island of Oahu, the 15-year-old Wie was trying to become the youngest golfer to win an LPGA event. She had to settle for her best finish in 18 LPGA starts.

Rosales shot 1-over-par 73 and picked up her second win by finishing at an 8-under 208 on the wind-swept Palmer Course.

Cristie Kerr shot 72 to tie Wie for second.

The hometown favorite and only amateur in the event, Wie had trouble with her irons early but rattled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 eighth to make the turn at 37. She moved up the leaderboard to reach 5-under with birdies on Nos. 11 and 12 and tapped in for another on her 54th hole.

She had six top-20 finishes in seven LPGA events last year, including fifth-place at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the tour's first major of the year.

But it was Rosales who held off her competitors and controlled the pin-bending, hat-grabbing tradewinds that gusted up to 30 mph. The colorful 26-year-old from the Philippines started the day with a two-stroke cushion over Reilley Rankin and kept the pressure on the pursuers by birdieing two of her first six holes to reach 11-under.

She stumbled when her second shot got caught in the wind and fell short of the green, plopping into the water on the par-4 seventh. She carded double there and later bogeyed Nos. 13 and 15.

Rankin struggled to 75 and finished with a career-best fourth place.

PGA TOUR: Three weeks after tying Scott McCarron for second in Phoenix, Kevin Na is back in the hunt for his first title. The 21-year-old Californian - the youngest player on the PGA Tour - shot 7-under 65 to share the third-round lead with Geoff Ogilvy at 18-under 198 in the Chrysler Classic at Tucson, Ariz. He and Ogilvy (67) both stepped up when second-round leader Mark Calcavecchia (71) faltered. Ogilvy, 27, who has finished second three times, is another good bet to win his first title and seems to be in the right place - Tucson has produced 14 first-time winners, four in the past five years.

Seminole's Brittany Lincicome closed with 2-over 74 for 220 and finished tied for 40th. Valrico's Beth Bauer shot 78-223 and was tied for 62nd.

NATIONWIDE: Peter O'Malley closed with a 3-putt at No. 18 for 1-under 71 and slipped into a three-way tie for the lead heading into the final round of the New Zealand PGA at Christchurch. O'Malley led by three strokes at 14 under in the third round but slipped to 11-under 205 and was tied with Jeff Gove (70) and Johnson Wagner (68). The tournament, formerly the Clearwater Classic, is co-sanctioned by the Australasian PGA and the U.S. PGA's Nationwide Tour.

LADIES EUROPEAN: Ai Miyazato shot 2-under 70 to take a three-stroke lead after three rounds of the ANZ Ladies Masters in Gold Coast, Australia. The 19-year-old Miyazato, who had five wins on the Japanese tour last year after turning pro, is trying to win for the first time away from Japan.

[Last modified February 27, 2005, 00:13:19]

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