KAHUKU — While Angela Stanford reignited the fire that has made her the hottest golfer on the planet the past five months, the agonizing wait for Hawai'i's Michelle Wie to win goes on.

At this rate, Wie might be all of 20 before she finally joins Lenore Muraoka Rittenhouse as the only Hawai'i-born golfer to win on the LPGA tour.

Wie, 19, serenely shot to a three-stroke advantage with eight holes to go in yesterday's windblown final round of the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. Then she committed her only serious mistake in the tournament — taking double bogey at No. 11 — and could only watch as the torrid Stanford birdied three straight holes to break Wie's heart again.

"I think after what happened on 11, (experience) was huge," said Stanford, 31. "Because up until that moment ... You know, I talked yesterday about her talent. That front nine, she didn't make a mistake. I mean, she was doing everything she needed to do to win. And when she made the mistake on 11, she didn't rebound like I thought.

"That was the moment that I need to step up because it was my chance. You could just see her youth in that."

Stanford, the world's eighth-ranked female golfer, closed with a 2-under-par 70 at Turtle Bay's Palmer Course to beat Wie (73) by three shots and win her third tournament in seven starts. Stanford's final total of 10-under 206 tied the tournament record set by previous champions Annika Sorenstam (2008) and Joo Mi Kim (2006).

Those came in typically windy Turtle Bay weeks. This tournament was much worse — more like playing in a car wash, with rain squalls blowing through again and again while the wind was a constant terror with gusts up to 45 mph.

The wind, rain and season-opening status hardly fazed Stanford, and neither did it Wie with her huge hometown gallery, which included pretty much every age group and color of the rainbow, and speaking several languages.

This was not your normal golf crowd and, Wie found out much to her disappointment, Stanford is no longer any normal opponent. In the last five months, Stanford has finished sixth or better every time she has teed it up, winning $850,000 — a quarter of her career earnings in eight-plus years.

Stanford attributes her recent home in "the zone" to a new emphasis on the precise way she hits every shot.

"I'm just starting to understand how to hit the golf ball and why it does what it does and how do I make it do this or that," said Stanford after her fourth career win. "The last few months I just feel like a kid again, hitting the ball and having fun. It's been quite a ride."

It is the ride many thought Wie would be making when, at 13, she was playing in the final group on the final day of the first major of 2003. She has had immense success since, with 14 top 10s and $925,000 in LPGA winnings since turning pro — along with millions in endorsements.

There has also been immense disappointment and no wins since the 2003 U.S. Women's Public Links Championship. This was her fifth runner-up finish and it came in her first tournament as an LPGA member, after she earned fulltime playing privileges in December.

Wie's first runner-up finish was at the 2005 SBS, at age 15. Before yesterday, the last came at the 2006 Evian Ladies Masters, when she took a two-shot advantage into the final seven holes only to watch Karrie Webb chase her down.

Wie did not break par for a year after that, struggling with injury and confidence issues that she only recently seems to have overcome. Stanford believes her success is only a matter of time.

"She's got all the shots," Stanford said. "She controls her ball very well. She spins it ... I think her spin got her in trouble a little bit today. But once she figures things out, she is going to be just fine.

"It's just a learning process. And I hope that she uses what happened on 11 to her advantage. I hope when she gets in that position again, you know, she handles it differently. And I think she will."

Wie spoke as if she believed it, and certainly played like it for 53 holes this week, but her face told another story.

"I'd have to say my confidence is pretty high," she said, eyes lowered. "Every good shot that I hit I'm putting in the positive memory bank and gaining confidence a little bit by little bit.

"I feel pretty good with my game. Obviously, right now I am a little disappointed, but I can take a lot of positive thoughts from this week. ... And I think this is just going to ... just missing the trophy by a little bit is going to motivate me to work even harder for the next one."

When no one close made any kind of charge, this turned into match play and Wie was in control for 10 holes. Wie and Stanford matched birdies early and Stanford's first bogey of the tournament, at No. 8, put Wie one up.

It was two when Wie birdied the ninth while Stanford sank a 15-foot par putt after yanking her drive into a tree root.

"The putt on nine was huge," Stanford said. "I just thought, 'You've got to figure out a way to get this ball in the hole or this tournament's over.' "

When Stanford hacked through the 10th hole for another bogey, Wie's advantage was three. Then she showed her first hint of vulnerability at the 11th — "mis-hitting" her drive into the weeds, "duffing" her chip and needing a 9-footer for double bogey.

Stanford sensed her opening and blew through it.

"Standing on the green on 10 I thought, 'I don't know if I can make up three shots in this wind,' " Stanford recalled. "She was going to need to make a mistake. And I was really quite shocked when her ball went in the hazard."

Stanford birdied three straight holes — from 15, 4 and 12 feet — and suddenly, on the 15th green, Wie's three-shot advantage had been transformed into a two-shot deficit.

Wie's only realistic chance at cutting into Stanford's lead came on the 16th hole, when she hit her approach within 4 feet, but her birdie putt lipped out.

After 48 LPGA starts, Wie might be wondering if she will ever see a win. But clearly, she has made progress.

"I just feel people rooting me on, and it felt great," Wie said. "It was really fun to be in that position and to, you know, be playing that well again.

"And, you know, the more good players I play with, the more game experience I get. ... I can learn different stuff from different players. And I learned a lot from Angela today."