By Doug Ferguson
The Associated Press

HONOLULU - The moment was Hoganesque, although it had more to do with curiosity than perfection.

Michelle Wie was on the practice range at Waialae Country Club before the Pro-Junior Golf Challenge at the Sony Open. She started with her wedges and worked her way through the bag until she pulled out a driver.

That's when PGA Tour players - five on each side of her - stopped what they were doing to watch. With her long, fluid swing, the Hawaiian teenager cracked one drive after another toward the back end of the range, some of them approaching 300 yards.

Why all the interest?

Wie is only 13, and she might be the biggest youth sensation in golf since a kid named Tiger Woods appeared on the "Mike Douglas Show" at age 2.

The pros murmured after each drive struck by the eighth-grader, who is nearly 6 feet.

"Just missed it a hair - 280," Jerry Kelly said sarcastically after one shot.

Wie already is one of the biggest sports celebrities in Hawaii. One day after playing in the pro-am at the Mercedes Championships with Shigeki Maruyama, she was stopped for autographs at Kapalua, and one marshal congratulated her for the drive she hit on No. 5.

"You watch her swing and say, 'That's normal.' Then you realize that she's only 13 and that's ... that's unbelievable," said Vijay Singh, who played in Wie's group during the Pro-Junior event. "She plays like an 18-year-old. She's going to be a star."

Asked if Wie drove it past him, Singh furrowed his brows and smiled.

"She's not that long," he said. "And I'm not that bad."

Still, the afternoon led to some comical exchanges, led by Paul Azinger. When they reached the 12th hole at Waialae, Azinger laid down the challenge.

"All right, Michelle, I'm going to give you a target. I'm going to roast this one," Azinger said to her.

He piped his drive long and straight. Wie pulled her drive into the rough, stopping about 40 yards short of Azinger's ball. He looked over at Singh and Kelly, sticking out his chest in mock triumph.

"I called her out," he said, and all three of them broke out laughing at the absurdity of a former PGA champion beating up on a 13-year-old girl.

Wie shot 73 from the championship ties at Pearl Country Club while trying to Monday qualify for the Sony Open, six strokes short of the playoff. Andy Miller won the qualifier with a 65 and said, "There's a lot of guys who got beat by a 13-year-old girl."

It might not be the only time that happens.

Along with trying to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open, Women's Amateur and U.S. Junior Girls Championship, Wie said she will enter the U.S. Amateur Public Links, which offers an exemption to the Masters for the winner.

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DUBAI

The European tour figures to take the spotlight away from the PGA Tour when the top two players in the world - Tiger Woods and Ernie Els - play the Dubai Desert Classic the same week as Doral.

A year ago, Els defeated Woods by two shots at Doral. This year, the tournaments are held the same week, March 6-9.

They are committed to play Dubai, located in the United Arab Emirates. That could change drastically if the United States moves closer to war with Iraq.

"I wouldn't say he's absolutely going to play or not going to play. He still intends to play," said Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent at IMG. "We are monitoring and critically analyzing the situation. We'll be talking to intelligent people. This will not be just a 'Tiger and Mark' decision."

Els, the defending champion at Dubai, is taking the same approach.

"Obviously, we'll wait and see," he said. "I'm not going in there with missiles flying around."

Els has a good source for information. He is friends with Tom Fargo, commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command. They played in the pro-am at Dubai several years ago, and Els visits each time he's in Hawaii.

What has Fargo told him?

"I can't tell you, man," Els said with a big smile. "Top secret."

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AUSSIE RULES

Nothing is ever too grandiose for Greg Norman, especially when it comes to yachts.

The Shark took delivery Tuesday of the latest version of "Aussie Rules," a 285-foot craft that was said to cost $70 million and is the world's largest aluminum motor yacht.

"There are many interesting and unique design features that will place Aussie Rules at the top of her category when she is seen in cruising destinations throughout the world," Norman said.

Unique might be an understatement.

The yacht has seven auxiliary boats, two hyperbaric chambers and a $1 million home theater. Optional extras include a gym, several jet skis, an outdoor span and a tackle room with 200 fishing rods.

Oceanfast in Western Australia built the craft, which required three years and more than 300 workers.

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WASTED TRIP

Carl Petterson of Sweden was hopeful of a glorious debut on the PGA Tour.

The higher-ranked newcomers on tour are usually assured of a spot in the 144-man field at the Sony Open, and Petterson was the first alternate.

Figuring he was a shoo-in, the Swede booked his flight from North Carolina (he went to N.C. State), then spend the next four days waiting - and waiting. Petterson was on the putting green until 1 p.m. Thursday, when it was clear no one was going to withdraw.

He flew home the next day.

"It was a waste of time," Petterson said.

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DIVOTS

The Byron Nelson Classic won't have Tiger Woods this year, but it will have one of the richest purses on the PGA Tour. Total prize money has been raised to $5.6 million, and the winner will get $1,008,000. It's the ninth straight year the Nelson has increased its prize money. ... Retief Goosen says he might skip the Match Play Championship, depending on how close wife Tracy is to having their first child. ...

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STAT OF THE WEEK

Ernie Els is 47 under par after two PGA Tour events. Last year, it took him until the British Open (48 under) to get that far under par for the season.

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FINAL WORD

"Sometimes I talk loudly, I yell, I get excited and everyone gives me dirty looks. It bothers me a bit, but I still find golf an exceptional sport." - Former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona.