Wie & Pressel in last round showdown - Fields Open in Hawaii 2006

Wie sought out the best competition, which took her to professional tournaments from the time she was 12 years old. She has never won, but her feats are no less amazing.

Pressel dominated girls her own age, racking up 11 wins on the American Junior Golf Association circuit and winning three state high school titles in Florida before becoming the U.S. Amateur champion.

The 16-year-old Wie and the 17-year-old Pressel began Friday tied and ended the same way. They shot 70s and were tied for ninth at 7-under 137 with four others, six strokes behind South Korean rookie Seon Hwa Lee.

"I just really couldn't get things going," Wie said. "But I still feel good about my game. I still confident and I'll be ready for (Saturday)."

With the hometown crowd clamoring about Wie, Lee quietly shot a 6-under 66 on Friday to take the second-round lead, two strokes ahead of Natalie Gulbis -- who also had a 66.

The 20-year-old Lee, trying to win her first LPGA Tour title in her third career start, had a 13-under 131 total. She earned a spot on the tour by leading the Futures Tour money list last year after winning three times on the Korea LPGA.

Another tour rookie, 19-year-old Julieta Granada, surged up the leaderboard by birdieing five straight holes on her back nine. She finished with a 65, leaving her three strokes back.

First-round leader Lorena Ochoa scrambled to a 71 for a 9-under 135 total. The 24-year-old Mexican lost in a playoff last week at Turtle Bay in the season-opening SBS Open.

Aree Song shot a 67 to match Wendy Ward (71), Nicole Perrot (69) and Nicole Castrale (68) at 8 under. Song also turned in one of the best shots of the day. She holed a pitch shot from about 30 yards for birdie on the 18th.

Lee opened with a bogey but got back into the hunt with four birdies on the front nine, including a 15-footer on the ninth hole to tie Gulbis for the lead at 10 under. Gulbis sank a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 15 to reach 11 under, but Lee came on strong behind her short game, birdieing Nos. 14, 16 and 17 all with putts within 4 feet.

"I'm always confident. I'm always ready," said Lee, who tied for 13th at Turtle Bay.

Though she's an LPGA rookie, Lee has been playing pro golf for years. In 2000, at age 14, she became the youngest female to turn professional in South Korea. She won the McSquare Championship in 2001, becoming the youngest winner in the history of the organization.

Lee said she doesn't mind that other rookies get more attention.

"I just play golf and enjoy my game," she said.

The 23-year-old Gulbis had seven birdies and only one bogey to move into position for her first tour win. She set an LPGA record last year by becoming the first player to earn $1 million in a season without a victory. She had 12 top-10 finishes last year and tied for fifth at Turtle Bay last week.

Wie started on No. 10 and had the largest gallery. She is making her first LPGA Tour start since she was disqualified from the Samsung World Championship in October in her pro debut.

The outspoken Pressel, the U.S. Women's Open runnerup, caused a stir a couple weeks ago by saying Wie should have to qualify for the major instead of getting an exemption. The comments came a few months after Pressel's comment in a magazine questioning Wie's multimillion dollar endorsements.

Granted, much of the hype between the two has been generated by the media and Pressel last week defused some of the buildup heading into the Fields Open, saying she has nothing against Wie.