Michelle Wie seems to have found something in her golf game that is allowing her to perform at the level everyone has been waiting for.
She is tied at the top of the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic with Hee Young Park in Waterloo, Ontario after firing a solid six-under-par 65.
Her first round in the 54-hole tournament included three birdies and one bogey for a front nine 34. She posted four more birdies on the back side and came home in 31 strokes.
Wie won earlier this season at the LPGA Lotte Championship and has finished inside the Top 10 in seven of her 11 starts this season.
She is No. 2 on the LPGA Tour money list behind only Stacy Lewis and has moved to No. 10 in the world ranking. She has three career wins on tour and if she could hang on to win this week, it would be the first time she has multiple wins in a single season.
Wie also finished runner-up to Lexi Thompson at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in March, the LPGA Tour’s first major championship of 2014. There are four majors left this season for the ladies, including the U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst in two weeks.
Don’t be too surprised if you see Wie hoisting one of the big trophies soon.
South Korea’s Hee Young Park joined the LPGA Tour in 2007 and is the defending champion at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.
She has played in all 13 events this season and has yet to post a top-10 finish. She is No. 32 in the Race to the CME Globe and No. 23 in the Rolex Rankings.
Other players to watch this weekend include, China’s Shanshan Feng, who is just one shot behind the leaders at five-under-par. Christie Kerr and Xi Yu Lin also from China are tied at four-under-par.
So Yeon Ryu, Na Yeon Choi and Belen Mozo are in a 12-player group tied at three-under-par.
Newly crowned world No. 1, Stacy Lewis is in another large group at two-under-par along with No. 2 Inbee Park.
Suzann Pettersen is still trying to regain her world-class form after returning from a back injury and is in at one-under-par.
After taking a week off Lydia Ko is at even-par and will be looking to go low on Friday to move up among the leaders for the weekend.