Unlike a year ago at Cherry Hills, when she stumbled to an 82, Wie stuck around to the very end.

She ended 21 holes without a birdie by making a 15-footer on the 12th to bring her back to 1 over for the tournament, tied with Hurst and Sorenstam. But on the par-3 13th, her stinger 5-wood leaked into the muddy bunker and led to bogey. The best she could manage were pars the rest of the way, her hopes ending on the 549-yard 16th when she tried to reach the green in two and came up short in a bunker.

Wie has finished a combined five shots out of the lead in the first three majors this year.

“A shot here and there,” Wie said. “I’m just getting closer and closer. I’ve got to work on a couple of things and I’m right there.”

Despite the heartbreaking miss, Sorenstam was plenty happy.

She was in control after birdies on her first two holes of the final round gave her a two-shot lead, but it came undone quickly. First, she pulled a short iron from 132 yards into the water on No. 7 to make double bogey and slip back into a tie. Then came two tentative par putts from 5 and 3 feet on the next two holes, both missing badly.

And when Hurst chipped in for birdie on No. 8, Sorenstam was three shots behind.

“I kept telling myself, ’It’s a long way to go, just be patient,”’ Sorenstam said. “The back nine is tough, especially with the wind, especially playing 36 holes in one day. You cannot give up.”

For all the birdies Hurst has made this week at Newport, it was a par that meant the most.

“The feelings that you get, it’s indescribable,” she said of her par putt. “To have that chance to make that putt and make it to go into a playoff, it’s something you dream about.”

She’ll wake up in the morning and face 18 holes against Sorenstam, with $560,000 on the line.

Along with that grand prize, Hurst can score a rare trifecta — joining Joanne Carner as the only players to win the U.S. Junior Girls, U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Open.

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