KAHUKU, Hawaii — Michelle Wie has been playing LPGA Tour events for the past seven years, starting when she was just 12.

With an effortless swing, tremendous poise and limitless ability, Wie was heralded as the future of women's golf with many believing it was just a matter of time before she would win. In her 49th LPGA start, her time might have finally arrived.

Making her rookie debut as an LPGA card-carrying member, Wie was in contention for her first LPGA Tour victory heading into the final round of the season-opening SBS Open Saturday.

Wie shot a 2-under 70 in difficult conditions in the second round and used a three-birdie run to surge to the top of the leaderboard and finish with an 8-under 136, where she was tied with Angela Stanford (71).

She entered the tournament just wanting to leave her past struggles behind. She's been able to do more than that.

"I'm starting with a clean slate," she said. "I earned my way here. I'm a rookie. ... And I've been through a lot, so I'm just going to start fresh, start new and just have a great year."

The 19-year-old Wie will be in the final group for the first time since the 2006 Evian Ladies Masters, where she tied for second and picked up the biggest tour paycheck of her career.

The last time she led going into the final day was at the 2006 U.S. Women's Open where she was tied with Annika Sorenstam and Brittany Lincicome. Wie finished tied for third.

There's no question that Wie is hungry for a win. She hasn't hoisted a trophy since claiming the USGA Women's Amateur Public Links Championships at age 13 to become the youngest USGA champion in history.

"There's still a day left. I just want to do the same thing and play as hard as I can," she said. "Obviously (a win) would mean a lot, so I'm just going to try and have fun out there."

Pebble Beach Pro-Am

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Retief Goosen didn't find this to be a cause for celebration, but he turned 40 last week. He had a quiet dinner with his coach and caddie and was in bed by 9 p.m.

"Felt a bit depressed about that," he said with a laugh.

But there is no correlation between a milestone birthday and the 36-hole lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where he took only 24 putts in the second round at Pebble Beach on his way to an 8-under 64 and a two-shot lead over Dustin Johnson.

Goosen was taking stock long before he was blowing out candles.

It began early last year when he looked in the mirror and saw a slightly expanding waistline, and looked at the world ranking and saw a rapidly shrinking number attached to his name.

Once part of the "Big Four" in golf, Goosen nearly plunged out of the top 50 in the world last year. And even now, with two victories on smaller tours during the winter in Asia and Africa, he arrived at Pebble Beach at No. 42, in the company of Aaron Baddeley and Oliver Wilson, not Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh.

"I would like to somehow turn my game around a little bit and just start playing a bit better," Goosen said. "When you've been struggling, you don't feel like going out there anymore. So I needed to try and turn everything around and get a bit more motivated."

He has lost 16 pounds and gained immeasurable strength.

And he brought a number of changes to the Monterey Peninsula, starting with the fact that he's playing the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for the first time in his career.

He decided to play four in a row out west, starting last week at Torrey Pines and ending with the Accenture Match Play Championship. Goosen has struggled the most mightily with his putter, so he brought a belly putter to Torrey Pines.

It started to take hold this week, and he has 52 putts through two rounds on spongy, soft greens that really get bumpy with 360 players spread over three courses (half the field being amateurs).

The other change was a pair of prescription sunglasses that bring him into focus in overcast and cool days.

"Especially with the cold weather, it helps my eyesight a fraction," he said. "This week is the first time I've played with them. I can see the greens a little better. It's just a little sharper."