DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Actor Adam Sandler pointed down the fairway, calling his shot before teeing off on the first hole yesterday at Waialae Country Club.

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Gusts and guffaws at Sony

It was a big day at Waialae yesterday, featuring the Big Easy (Ernie Els), the Big Wiesy (Michelle Wie) and Big Daddy (Adam Sandler).

But the biggest star was the big wind.

Practice-round day gusts of around 30 mph in the morning had some competitors preparing for the Sony Open scratching their heads.

"Big Kona winds, a little different than what we're used to," 2001 champion Brad Faxon said. "The fairways played long, and the ball wasn't rolling. It's playing different. I think you'll see some bigger scores, but you still have to shoot under par to win."

Even Wie -- the 15-year-old local phenom who has more experience dealing with Waialae's temperamental breezes than many of the pros -- was challenged by the wind.

Wie played a practice round with two-time defending champion Els as a gallery of nearly 100 tracked them.

"We had a lot of fun and Ernie, I learned a lot of things from him, but the course was playing really hard today," Wie said. "The winds were completely different. It wasn't even Kona wind; it was strange wind."

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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Adam Sandler and Michelle Wie shared more than one light moment during the Pro Junior Golf Challenge yesterday.

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One of Wie's many goals is to become the first female to make a PGA Tour cut in 60 years -- a feat she nearly accomplished in this event last year -- as well as the youngest player of either gender to do so (she was born Oct. 11, 1989, and the youngest to make it to a third round was Bob Panasik, who was 15 years, 8 months and 20 days old when he did it at the 1957 Canadian Open).

"I hope she makes the cut," Els said. "The way she handles herself, people can be proud of her."

Els, who had played with Wie before, said the Punahou sophomore's short game has improved markedly.

"She's even more mature than last year," Els said. "Her swing is nice and compact. Her putting is much better, and she'll need it this week. Her short game looks very sharp."

That was evident as she chipped to within 1 1/2 feet of the pin on the 18th hole.

The wind died, and Wie was also sharp in the afternoon at the six-hole First Hawaiian Bank Pro Junior Golf Challenge. That was an accomplishment, with funny men Sandler and Rob Schneider in the near vicinity.

Wie was matched up with Sandler as her "pro," while other juniors got the likes of Jerry Kelly or Tom Lehman rather than Happy Gilmore -- minus his 400-yard drives and hockey-stick putter.

"My goal is try not to laugh while I'm over the ball," she said.

Mari Chun, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion, will surely count this as one of her most memorable wins, as she teamed with Retief Goosen to shoot 1-under in the alternate-ball format.

"She hit the ball unbelievably well," Goosen said of his teammate, a Kamehameha senior. "She kept it in play and gave us the chances we needed to win. She did very well under the pressure."

Sandler's shots weren't the danger to the folks behind the ropes some thought they would be, but the comedian wasn't quite Tiger Woods, either.

He was impressed with Wie's poise.

"Michelle Wie is a great girl," Sandler said. "She's a dedicated golfer and I wish her all the luck in the world."

She has an experienced caddy this week, veteran Jimmy Johnson.

But Team Wie had an equipment problem yesterday. Her smile disappeared briefly at the end of her practice round; one of the world's most popular teenagers didn't have a pen in her golf bag so she could sign her name for eager autograph seekers.

Other than that, it was nearly a perfect day for Michelle Wie, crazy wind and all.

"She's done her homework," Els said.