Michelle Wie shot 65 today in the State Farm Classic, following up a first-round 67, is 12-under and one off the lead of Christina Kim. Can she hang on and finish Top 5? Can she earn enough money here and in her one remaining exemption to secure some kind of status for 2009?

I'm moved to post about Michelle because of that 65. Coming from where she was in 2007, on the heels of an up-and-down, but generally solid and unremarkable 2008, that 65 is special: It's the lowest round Wie has ever posted on the LPGA Tour.

Yep. She's shot 65 once before, at the 2005 Samsung World Championship - her first pro event, the one from which she DQ'd. Does her 65 in the second round there count as an official round, given that she DQ'd? Not sure. Perhaps somebody can provide the answer in comments. If it doesn't, then today's 65 is a new career low.

Wie has posted 66 on numerous occasions, first at the 2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship, at age 13, in the third round, to get into the final group on Sunday (where she shot 76 to fall back to ninth).

But her most recent 66 was in the second round of the 2006 Evian Ladies Masters - her last really good tournament - where she finished second.

That's something that always surprised me about Wie, back when she was the Michelle Wie: That she never seemed to go really low. Back when she was the Michelle Wie, her talent was in almost always posting good scores. Rarely great ones, but almost always good ones. No 63s or 64s or - with the exception of the 2005 Samsung - 65s. Probably because her putting was so suspect. Another reason is context: Back when she was a great, she was playing only the top tournaments, which are usually contested on tougher courses.