Golf-Charging Stanford holds off Wie to win LPGA Tour opener

LOS ANGELES Feb 14 (Reuters) - Angela Stanford held off rookie Michelle Wie to win her fourth LPGA Tour title by three shots at the season-opening SBS Open in Hawaii on Saturday.

Tied for the overnight lead with fellow American Wie, Stanford trailed by three strokes with eight holes remaining before taking control with a spectacular burst of three consecutive birdies from the 13th.

Ice-cool over the closing stretch at Turtle Bay Resort Golf Club in Kahuku, Stanford parred the last three holes for a two-under-par 70 and a 10-under total of 206.

Teenager Wie, making her first start as an LPGA member, saw her title chances fade with a double-bogey at the 11th and had to settle for second place after carding a 73.

South Korea's Choi Na-yeon birdied three of the last six holes for a 69 and a tie for third with Brazil's Angela Park (75) at four under.

"I didn't think she was going to make a mistake," world number eight Stanford told reporters of Wie in the final round.

"She played really smart for about 10 holes. She does a lot of things right and she's going to be around for a long time."

Stanford said she had gained a confidence boost by sinking a 24-foot birdie putt on the 13th green.

"I needed to see a ball go in so that was huge because I was starting to wonder if I was going to make another birdie," she added.

"Then I started to get back to what I am trying to do with the ball, just hitting the shot in front of me."

The final round on the wind-swept Palmer Course at Turtle Bay came down to a head-to-head duel between the 31-year-old Stanford and the 19-year-old Wie.

EDGED AHEAD

Stanford, who finished no worse than tied for sixth in her last six events on the 2008 LPGA Tour, edged in front when she got up and down from a greenside bunker to birdie the third.

Wie immediately levelled, rolling in a 15-foot birdie putt at the fourth and pumping her right fist in celebration.

Stanford made her first bogey of the week at the par-three eighth, missing a three-footer, before Wie rammed in an 18-foot birdie putt on the ninth green to move two ahead.

Stanford again stumbled to trail by three with a bogey on 10, pulling her drive into an unplayable lie, but Wie's lead was then cut to one after her mishap on 11.

Stanford took advantage, knocking in a 24-footer to birdie 13 and then rolling in putts from four and nine feet to pick up further shots at 14 and 15.

Two strokes adrift, Wie squandered a golden opportunity to birdie the 16th when she lipped out from three feet.

She bogeyed the par-four 17th after finding bunkers off the tee and with her approach before signing off with a par on 18.

"It's disappointing," said Stanford University student Wie, who earned her LPGA Tour card in December by tying for seventh place at the tour's qualifying school.

"It's not what I wanted but, at the same time, I had a good week. I will take a lot of positive thoughts from this.

"It's taken me a long time to get in this situation," added the Honolulu native, who has struggled for form over the last two years mainly because of wrist injuries.

"Now I know what it feels like again and I think I can do a lot better next time."

Wie had been bidding for her first victory since claiming the 2003 U.S. women's amateur public links title aged 13. (Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Peter Rutherford)