The North Carolina weather has finally broken and the long delayed second round was finally completed today. After the suspension of play yesterday and a three and a half hour weather delay in the first round, many of the players were glad to finally get a day of full play in.

South Korea’s Ji-Yai Shin methodically worked her way up the leader board with a second round of 69, and posting a score of -2 through 10 holes on her third round before play was called due to darkness. However, Lorena Ochoa, Cristie Kerr, and first round leader Angela Park are just one shot behind. The big, albeit semi-expected, news from the third day of play was Michelle Wie’s withdrawl during the second round while on her way to another score well over par due to pain in her wrist.

 Shin is another representative of the LPGA’s youth movement that is on full display at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open. Shin is just 19 years old and is playing in only her fourth event on the LPGA. However, to win the championship tomorrow, Shin will have to fend off the world’s best player who is just a shot behind and hungry for her first major championship. Lorena Ochoa finished her second round at even par 71, coming in with back to back bogies on 15 and 16 which cost her dearly. But Ochoa finished strong birdieing the 17th and 18th to get back to even par. Ochoa carried over her stellar play right onto the front nine of her third round. Ochoa birdied the first and third holes and dropped in back to back birdies on nine and ten before ending her round with a par on the eleventh before darkness set in. She is in perfect position for tomorrow and with her very recent experience in the final round of majors, Ochoa is reay to capitalize on her opportunity tomorrow, "I’m just really happy to be there. It was what I wanted to do, to make sure on Sunday I’m close to the lead, if not in the lead, and have a chance to win the tournament."

Defending Champion, Annika Sorenstam struggled early in the day turning her second round from even par to a +6 score of 77. Through twelve holes on her third round, Sorenstam is at +4 and is well behind the leaders, and a repeat of her title will require help from the rest of the field. While Sorenstam was able to make the cut, the weather delays and difficult Pine Needles course took their toll on the field. Major champions and experienced players such as Karrie Webb, Suzann Pettersen, Meg Mallon, and Julie Inkster all failed to make the cut.

However, despite the great play and fantastic course conditions, the media circus has once again been focused on Michelle Wie. In an eerily similar chain of events from the Ginn Tribute, Michelle Wie has once again withdrwan from a tournament citing a wrist injury. After carding an 82 on her first round, Wie began her second round today on the back nine and repeated much of the same poor play, struggling to hit greens and fairways on her way to a score of 44. After hitting a shot out of the rough, Wie called her personal physical therapist over who gave her wrist some attention. After finishing the 18th, Wie withdrew from the tournament. Wie said, "I just kind of woke up and it was really sore. But it was okay. It held up. I just hit a drive off the 7th tee and I was just, you know, I tweaked it. And then after that it kind of went downhill. I don’t remember hurting this much again." Wie will travel to Florida to have physicians examine her wrist early next week.