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Michelle Wie participated in the Mercedes Championships pro-am Wednesday.
Wie’s big week ahead
KAPALUA, Hawaii >> Like most other 14-year-old girls, Michelle Wie listens to underground music, watches the Disney Channel and loves to go shopping. Give her some good news, she bounces on her toes, taps her hands together and smiles wide enough to show her retainer.
Put her on the golf course, she doesn't act her age.
Not even close.
How many other ninth-grade girls can hit a golf ball 300 yards?
Tom Lehman played with her in a junior pro-am two years ago and thought her swing compared so favorably to Ernie Els that he called her the "Big Wiesy."
"She probably has one of the best golf swings I've ever seen, period," Davis Love III said. "She's got a lot going for her. Plus, she's tall and strong. No telling what she's going to do when she gets a little older."
The PGA Tour is about to get a sneak preview.
Wie, who played in the final group of an LPGA Tour major last year and twice teed it up against the men on developmental tours, takes her awesome potential to the highest level this week when she plays in the Sony Open.
And she's not treating this like recess at Punahou School.
"It will be really sad if I mess up," Wie said. "I really want to make the cut, no matter what. Because I think I can. I think I should."
A slender 6-footer, Wie looks older than her 14 years. She is believed to be the youngest player ever on the PGA Tour, and that's what makes her appearance at Waialae Country Club so compelling.
It's not just her gender -- Annika Sorenstam at the Colonial was the first woman in 58 years on the PGA Tour, and six other women played against the men last year.
It's her age.
While she is playing the Sony Open against Els, Love and Vijay Singh, her classmates will be taking their final exams (Wie took all her exams -- except Social Studies -- last week).
"I wanted to get a spot in the Greater Seattle Junior when I was 14," Fred Couples said.
Not even Sorenstam can appreciate what Wie will face at the Sony Open.
Sorenstam already had won an NCAA title, more than 40 events on the LPGA Tour and four majors and played on four Solheim Cup teams when she accepted an invitation to the Colonial.
Unlike Sorenstam, who said the Colonial was a one-time challenge, Wie views the Sony as only the start.
She tried to Monday qualify for the Sony Open last year, but her 73 was off by six shots. For the past two years, she has talked about wanting to play both tours -- PGA and LPGA -- and some day in the Masters.
"If I keep on working, and keep improving every year, I think I can get that high," she said.
The Sony Open gave her a sponsor's exemption after a whirlwind season.
Wie played seven times on the LPGA Tour, missing the cut only once. She missed the cut on the Canadian Tour and Nationwide Tour, and her only victory in any event came at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, making her the youngest winner of a USGA event for grown-ups.
She has big dreams for the Sony Open and her career.
"Keeping the goal high is our family policy," said her father, B.J. Wie.
When she was 7 and just starting to play golf, her father asked Wie to watch the end of the '97 Masters, where Tiger Woods won by 12 shots.
"I saw him walk down the fairway of Augusta," Wie said. "My dad was a really big fan of Tiger. He'd say, 'Watch how he swings.' He put posters from Golf Digest all over my room. My whole room was filled with Tiger, Tiger. I get mad at my dad because my dad doesn't have a picture of ME in his wallet. He has two pictures of Tiger."
B.J. Wie pulled out his wallet and showed the only two pictures he carries. One of them is Woods at the top of his backswing, the other is Woods at the end of his swing.
"I show them to her all the time," he said with a smile.
Woods met Wie for the first time during the pro-am round at the Mercedes Championships.
"I didn't realize she was taller than I am," he cracked.
Woods thinks the experience will be invaluable, but there is no substitute for winning.
"I learned the art of winning," Woods said. "(Phil) Mickelson did the same thing. He won at every level. When he came out here, he knew he could win. I felt the same way."
B.J. Wie considers the Sony Open an opportunity that cannot be ignored. His philosophy: The only way to get better is to play against the best.
He thinks his daughter can make the cut and has nothing to lose.
"She's competing with PGA players, the best players in the world," B.J. Wie said. "If she doesn't make the cut, that's natural. She's competing with Ernie Els. There's no way she can beat Ernie Els. But she will meet the best players in the world, have a practice round with Ernie Els. What can you ask more than that?"
