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It’s back to school for
Hawaii’s Cinderella

SO this is how it ended this year. A foregone conclusion. Midnight for Cinderella.

No mad run at the finish. No national headlines. No PTI time.

Michelle Wie is 9 over, and out.

It was a different story, this Sony Open in Hawaii. Last year, every putt went in. This season, it seemed like none of them did.

"I think it was all about momentum today," she said.

And she had none of it.

"Not gonna watch history," a lady on the ropes said.

"Ohsheezahcryinoutloud!" a man said.

Sometimes, a crowd can lift an athlete. This one did its best to ... comfort.

"I think I just tried too hard," Wie said yesterday. She went 4 over for the day, saving some grace with a birdie on her very last hole of the tournament, 18. She finished strong, and the gallery responded with emotion.

But it was a very different scene from the previous year, in which Wie challenged for the cut, finishing just a stroke short of making it a long teenage weekend.

This time there were empty seats in the grandstand on the last two holes.

This time there was no drama.

No magic. No buzz.

Reality had long set in.

"You know," she said, "missing putt after putt after putt, it was kind of like your shoes get heavier."

Her gallery knew the feeling.

The bandwagon was a pumpkin. Michelle's Militia was feeling the pain.

The ESPN postgame interviewer even asked if she was OK, before the cameras rolled. In the press interview room, PGA officials left a box of tissue on her seat.

But Michelle Wie is tougher than that.

That's what this year's Sony was about, for Wie. She's tougher than that.

Even if the rest of us are disappointed, that was what she showed herself.

"You know, I kind of enjoy that," she said of getting through it, of fighting back. "Kind of -- how do I explain it -- it's not very fun, but it's kind of grueling and I kind of enjoy that."

For the second day in a row she learned lessons the hard way, which might not be such a bad thing for her already brilliant career.

Last year everything fell into place. This time we saw Wie for what she was: a player of incredible skill and unheard of potential, but nonetheless, still a 15-year-old with lots to learn and a long way to go.

She unleashed several of her trademark can't-touch-this swings. Along with an alarming number of multi-putt greens.

The former was breathtaking. The latter frustrating.

"One out of 10 times, I can do that too," a gallery hack said after another brilliant demonstration of ball-striking.

He was lying, of course, but you get his point.

Those are great, but you've got to back it up.

You hit for show.

And show is no longer enough for Michelle Wie.

A flash of potential is nice, but she's past that.

"You know," she said, "if the putts went in, it would have been a lot better. But I learned a lot of things this week, more (than) last year, I think."

She wasn't as ready for this as she thought. But now she's tougher. Now she knows more. You have to think these past two days have added some steel.

This year's Sony appearance wasn't pretty, but it's going to pay off.

So what now? "Work harder," Wie said. But who knows if she can do more than she's already doing? Are there that many hours in the day?

Not in high school. Not at 15.

She's brilliant. Her swing teacher, her regimen, her schedule are world-class. But she's still 15.

Maybe that's another lesson from this year's showing. Maybe the great Diana Ross was right.

You can't hurry love.

You just have to wait.

But that's not all bad. Not at all. "You know," Wie said, "it's a fresh new start (next week) because it's a whole new semester. So hopefully it will be better."

That's the good part about being young. Oh, and she has one more thing to nurse her through the pain of this disappointment.

"Retail therapy," Wie said.

Ah, to be young, and have the rest of the weekend off.

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