Kapalua's Mark Rolfing, an NBC golf analyst who has followed Michelle Wie's career, is at this week's Samsung World Championship. Rolfing provided The Advertiser with this account of Wie's round yesterday:

TURNING POINT

"If you look at her record, she hadn't finished strong and today I was really worried, particularly at the seventh hole. When she hit the ball in the bush at No. 7, I knew it was unplayable. I wasn't sure we could find it. ... I thought, 'Holy mackerel, this is going to be a turning point, a real bad one.' They found the ball in the bush. She took an unplayable lie which she had done yesterday on the same hole, hit a fair shot and had a really tough 13- or 14-foot par putt and made it. That changed the whole day. That was the momentum changer."

LESSON LEARNED

"Her demeanor was really good. I still think she's probably a little more disappointed than she would have been just because Annika finished so strong. Annika birdied four of the last five holes, and it looked at one point the lead might be 12- or 13-under, but it turned out to be 15-under. Even though Michelle made a great comeback, she's still five behind. ... I think she — in some ways — is actually proud of herself because she told me she made a huge mistake at No. 3 (with a double bogey). It was a rookie mistake — a stupid mistake she called it — and has learned a lesson from it, and won't do it again."

WINNING ATTITUDE

"The last eight times Annika has led going into the final round she has won. I had an exclusive one-on-one sit-down with Michelle at the end of the day that is going to air on NBC (today). The last question I asked her was, 'Can you still win?' And her answer definitely was, 'Yes.' ... I liked asking her that question because I wanted to see how immediately she reacted."

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

"I think if she wins, it will be great. But I don't think it will be exponentially great only because I don't think the media and anybody here expected her to win. I think they expected her to come out and be nervous, and they were hopeful for a good performance. I think the performance she's given has been better than good. It's exceeded everybody's expectations."

EXCEPTIONAL PLAY

"I think Annika's performance has been exceptional. Keep in mind, Annika is a member of this course. This would be like, Michelle playing at Waialae — she's not member there — or Ko Olina or Turtle Bay. I think Michelle's in a little difficult situation. But does she need to win to make this a major media spectacle? No. I think she's already done it (and performed well). I think she did it before she even got here and I think she's now backed it up. I think the 65 on Friday cemented in peoples' minds just what kind of a talent she has."

CRITICS OUT OF BOUNDS

"It's hard to judge because the star players sort of tend to stay to themselves. This is only a 20-player field. I've read the criticisms of Michelle not going to the locker room much, or not going out to dinner with other players, and stuff like that. But when you get to the superstar level, that doesn't happen. Annika doesn't go to the locker room very much. ... Annika doesn't go to dinner with the other players a lot. Tiger is the same way. ... Would a 16-year-old girl go out to dinner with two other 30- or 35-year-old women in any other social situation? No. That's why some of the criticism is unfounded."

REACHING HER GOAL

"At the turn, the front nine was extremely difficult and I happened to get in the cart because it's a long drive from the 9th green to the 10th tee. So players get transportation. Her mom, Bo, was in the cart with her. I was right next to them. Her mom looked at Michelle and didn't say anything. Michelle said, 'I need to get to 10-under.' At that point she was 7-under. Her goal was to shoot 10-under. That's exactly what she shot."

WHO'S YOUR CADDY?

"There's a lot of talk this week that she's hired caddies and fired caddies. That not true. This is (caddy Greg Johnston's) fourth event with her. He has only caddied for her on situations where he was off, or either Juli Inkster (whom Johnston usually caddies for) withdrew or there was an off week, or something like that. Greg Johnston has done a great job. But the criticism that has been leveled at Michelle about hiring and firing caddies is totally unfounded."