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HONOLULU - PGA Tour players at the World Series of Golf used to gather around the TV after their rounds and watch a teenager named Tiger Woods compete in the U.S. Amateur.
The talent was awesome. The potential was unlimited. No one knew how good he would be or how long it would take him to win. But they saw him coming.
Just like Michelle Wie.
"Everything that you guys have been writing about her is pretty much true," Ernie Els said after playing a practice round at Waialae Country Club with the 14-year-old.
Vijay Singh saw it last year during the Pro-Junior Challenge at Waialae. He could not believe such a pure swing belonged to a such a young girl. "She's going to be a star," Singh said that day.
Few would have expected her to be playing on the PGA Tour so soon. Wie, a ninth-grader, plays today in the Sony Open on a sponsor's exemption. She is believed to be the youngest to play on the PGA Tour.
"She's playing on the PGA Tour and she still needs adult supervision to drive a golf cart," said Paul Azinger, shaking his head after playing with Wie in the six-hole Pro-Junior.
Azinger said Wie reminds him of Woods, for no other reason than the hype.
Word started spreading in Hawaii when Wie shot 64 at Olomana Golf Links at age 10 and qualified for the match-play portion of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links.
A year later, she beat U.S. Women's Open champion Hilary Lunke to advance to the third round of the Public Links, and in June won the Public Links at age 13, the youngest to ever win a USGA event for adults.
She qualified for an LPGA Tour event when she was 12 (missed the cut), but last year made six cuts in seven LPGA events, including two majors.
Players figure to learn a little more about Wie over the next two days. Els is the defending champion, and the field is strong with seven of the top 10 players from last year's money list.
"I really want to make the cut, no matter what," Wie said. "There was this poll that 70 percent think I'm going to miss the cut. So if I miss the cut, no one is going to be sad."
Annika Sorenstam missed the cut by five at last year's Colonial, and Connecticut club pro Suzy Whaley missed by 13 at the Greater Hartford Open. No one is sure what to expect from Wie.
"A lot of what (Wie) did (Wednesday) reminds me a lot of what Tiger used to do," Els said. "As a (female) golfer, she's going to take it to the next level."
Els and Wie - the Big Easy and Big Wiesy - didn't play a match during their practice round, but Els said she shot 3 under on the front nine. "It would have been a good match," he said with a smile.