Michelle Wie, Christina Kim pursue Suzann Pettersen at LPGA Shootout

Michelle Wie had a blast when she and Christina Kim joyously and boisterously waved the red, white, and blue during the U.S. Solheim Cup 16-12 rout of the Europeans on home turf outside Chicago in 2009. If the two good friends and Cup partners continue the stellar play that put each of them one shot back of 18-hole leader Suzann Pettersen at the North Texas LPGA Shootout on Thursday, they may get to buddy up for a tee time come the weekend.

Wie, who ended a four-year winless drought two weeks ago, continued her comeback from irrelevancy by once again attacking the leader board with all facets of her game. Averaging 292 yards off the tee, the 24-year-old Stanford grad also rolled in putt after putt from long range, including one across the green at the par-5 10th for an eagle-3 and a closing three on the par-4 18th.

“My confidence level is way up from last year and I’m just having fun out there,” Wie, who carded her 15th consecutive round of par or better, told Golf Channel after opening with a 4-under 67.

Wie credited her long-time caddie, Duncan French, with shaping her current “just having fun” philosophy.

“Just hit it. If you don’t hit it well, you find it and hit it again. That’s really what golf is,” she said. “Sometimes you hit it well and sometimes you won’t and I think that I’m swinging it well enough that hopefully most of the time it’ll go semi-straight.”

Semi-straight was good enough, since Wie found only six of 13 fairways with her tee shots but made up for that by hitting 15 of 18 greens and needing just 29 putts.

“I think any under‑par round on this golf course is great,” Wie, one of the game’s most popular ambassadors, told reporters later, “and it’s nice that I made the putt on the last hole. I’m real excited for the next three days. Hopefully I can do more of those.”

Wie was not the only golfer at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving in the midst of a comeback. Kim has battled depression and other health issues but was fit and on target in firing a bogey-free 67.

“Just played steady. I don’t think I missed a green today,” said Kim, who was actually 17 for 18. “Really just find of focused on just getting healthier. And you know, it’s bound to happen. I’ve come off a couple of poor years, I’ve been stricken with injuries, and I’m finally healthy and happy again.”

Pettersen, whose back pain forced her to put on hold her chase of Inbee Park for the No. 1 ranking and skip the Kraft Nabisco Championship earlier this month, missed a few fairways on Thursday (she was 7 for 13). But the world’s fourth-ranked player outdrove Wie by an average of three yards) and her flawless 66 gave her the lead late in the day. Playing partner Cristie Kerr also made some noise, making eagle on the par-5 third and cruising in for a fifth share of second place at 4-under.

Kraft winner Lexi Thompson, playing her first tournament as a major champion, had her legendary long game (289.5 yards average driving distance) and tamed the greens (28 putts). Hitting just five of 13 fairways and 12 greens did not help, however, as the 19-year-old ended the day at 1-under and in a logjam with a gaggle of other golfers tied for 20th.