The way things are going for Michelle Wie lately, would it surprise anybody if she barely missed her flight to New York by minutes? If somebody in front of her got the last taxi? Or, if they shut the doors to Saks Fifth Avenue as she arrived?

Call her golf's Near Ms.

Once again she was good enough to be 72 holes deep into the hunt for an LPGA Tournament championship. Good enough to stir imaginations and bring the gallery to its feet with a length-of-the-green putt that flirted with the miraculous. But not able to pull it all off, yet.

Yesterday, it was the McDonald's LPGA Championship in Havre de Grace, Md., where she tied for fifth. But it is a familiar script. Just the name of the tournament keeps changing.

In February it was the Fields Open at Ko Olina. In April it was the Kraft Nabisco Championship in California. In all three tournaments she was one shot out of a playoff or had an opportunity to win.

Perhaps no other 16-year-old in the country knows more about being a bridesmaid. For sure none who brandish a putter for pay can be as frustrated by the ongoing experience. Golfweek's Wie cover this week blaring "Almost" was agonizingly familiar.

Yesterday, overlooking the Susquehanna River, Wie was one of six hopefuls with an opportunity to either win the thing or step into a playoff. But there much of the commonality ends for she is the one with the burden of having to prove she can win. The one with the expectations that come with having millions in endorsements and tons of hype.

Which is why, you suspect, she started to celebrate prematurely, cocking her fist and poised to give it a vigorous pump, when it looked like a 50-foot putt for birdie might actually fall on 18.

After 27 LPGA Tournaments and 10 LPGA majors, she has a remarkable record of consistency. Even the critics must give her that. Since 2005 she has finished tied for third or better six times. She is money in the bank, but as her detractors remind, nothing in the pro trophy case, yet.

Those critics might want to get as much mileage out of that one as they can because it won't be too long before she puts together the missing pieces. From the looks of it yesterday, they were her wedge and putter. Each responsible for her squandering ample opportunities to win.

When the breakthrough comes — and don't put it past her this summer — it will likely be with Wie winning on a lights-out round, not an odds-challenged 50-foot putt, either. The time is coming and it looks more like months than years even for one so young.

Her game is improving and her experience deepening. Wie's showing in the U.S. Open qualifier last Monday was eye-opening proof of that. With school out, golf is her focus and achieving that breakthrough is her mission.

"Because even though I didn't play my greatest today, it kind of showed that even though if I don't play my greatest I'm still in the top five," Wie said.

On a day that comebacking stars Se Ri Pak and Karrie Webb dueled for the championship in a playoff won by Pak, Wie was reminded of the huge gulf that separates contending from winning. And what must be done to close the gap.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.