ASSOCIATED PRESS Michelle Wie seems to be over her wrist injury.

Wie avoids last place at Samsung

Michelle Wie might be back.

Wie finished the Samsung World Championship with her best round of the tournament, a 71 for an 18-over total.

She was 19 over after the first three rounds, but her finish jumped her over Bettina Hauert into 19th place in the 20-player event. Hauert shot a 76 to finish at 19 over.

Wie, who received an exemption into the tournament, believes that her injured wrist is healed and that she shouldn't have played in the past year.

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PALM DESERT, Calif. » Michelle Wie, who received a special exemption to join the field at the Samsung World Championship, finished with by far her best round of the tournament, a 71 for an 18-over total. She was 19 over after the first three rounds, but her finish jumped her over Bettina Hauert into 19th place in the 20-player event. Hauert shot a 76 to go to 19 over.

A Stanford freshman who turned 18 on Thursday, Wie earned $13,125 for her 19th-place finish, $626 more than Hauert.

Wie, who made only two cuts in seven tournaments this year and had earned only $9,899, was pleased to finally get her game going.

"I didn't play for a while (because of wrist injuries) and it took me a lot longer than I thought to get back into the game," she said. "Definitely this was a lot better. I was really proud of myself for not giving up the whole week, that I just fought through.

"And today I just fought through the round. Obviously, I had a couple of missed shots, but I made a lot of putts and today helped me to think very positively."

Wie said she is looking forward to a fresh start after battling the wrist injuries this year.

"In my mind, I didn't play bad because I played bad; I played bad because I shouldn't have played," she said. "The decision was on my part. But it wasn't really my fault either, because I really wanted to play."

She finished 17th at Big Horn last year. She would have finished fourth in 2005, when she made the tournament her pro debut, but was disqualified after the final round for signing an incorrect score card following the third round.