The LPGA Lotte Championship is only halfway through its windblown third appearance at Ko Olina Golf Club, but Thursday’s surge by Angela Stanford and Michelle Wie brought back rollicking memories of the 2009 SBS Open in Hawaii.

Stanford, burying birdie putts in bulk, shot a ridiculously low 8-under-par 64 in Thursday’s continued and constant gusts. She is a shot ahead of Wie, whose 67 left her at 7-under 137 heading into Friday’s third round.

Four years ago, Wie took a one-shot lead over Stanford into the final round at Turtle Bay. The Hawaii native was then a Stanford sophomore making her debut as an LPGA member — in the 48th LPGA start of a historic "junior" career that included stops on the PGA Tour and an appearance in the 2009 U.S. Open Sectional.

After 10 holes that day, Wie’s advantage was three. She hit into a hazard on the 11th and Stanford ultimately triumphed by three.

"The more good players I play with, the more game experience I get," Wie, who would capture the first of her two LPGA victories later that year, said back then. "I can learn different stuff from different players. And I learned a lot from Angela today."

Stanford is now 36. She has won once more (in 2012) and is ranked 17th in the world. Wie has worked her way back to 23rd after a frustrating and perplexing past few seasons dropped her to 91st a year ago.

Stanford remains one of the best at articulating what Wie has gone through.

"I’ve always been a big fan of Michelle," Stanford says. "I think she does things to the golf ball that 95 percent of the tour can’t do. I’ve always said that. I think she had to figure it out on her own.

"I think you can be over-coached and over-managed and over-everything. It’s obvious she has talent. Sometimes it takes the player to figure out how to find it. I think she’s figuring out how to control her ball. She’s figuring out how to play. It’s not always about how you swing, it’s how you play. So I’ve been impressed."

Wie also finished second to Jennifer Rosales in 2005 at Turtle Bay, and took third at the 2006 Fields Open at Ko Olina. She would desperately like to win one for the home team here, and validate a resurgent 2014 start that includes three top 10s in six events.

Maybe she can learn a little bit more from Stanford over the next two days, about golf and perspective.

The 1999 WAC Player of the Year, who grew up in Texas and played for TCU, fired her 64 despite "re-tweaking" a right forearm injury Wednesday night.

"I was just trying to make contact and get it around," Stanford admitted. "Sometimes that helps because your expectations go way down. I was really just trying to navigate my way and not be out there any longer hitting more shots than I had to."

The same year Stanford beat Wie at Turtle Bay she started her Angela Stanford Foundation, with a mission to serve children and young adults in Texas, "particularly those whose families have been affected by cancer." Her mother is a breast cancer survivor.

Stanford’s perspective, at 36, is much different than it was when she was Wie’s age. She is also akamai enough to know that she will never experience what Wie has gone through in her 24 years.

"I think, as bad as this sounds, sometimes failure helps you start to figure out what makes you happy and who in your life makes you happy," Stanford says. "So many times these young players come out here and they don’t know what it is to fail yet.

"Michelle and I aren’t extremely good friends, but if I were one of her good friends, I’d be the most proud of her for always getting back up."