And if Bank of America gave Sorenstam a sponsor's exemption to the Colonial Invitational, can we expect the same from the title sponsor of the Sony Open in Hawai'i next January?

Intriguing questions that beg to be asked. So we asked.

As far as a PGA event is concerned, Suzy Whaley's next, not Michelle. Although Whaley played from shorter tees than the men, the Connecticut club pro qualified for the Greater Hartford Open, July 24-27.

But Wie may not be far behind. Of course, there's a world of difference between Sorenstam, who has won 44 LPGA tournaments, and Wie, a 13-year-old Punahou School eighth-grader.

Still, Wie has captured national attention. Try a Google search on the Internet and see the number of hits you get. She is mentioned practically every week in golf magazines and recently was even the punch-line of Rick Reilly's Sports Illustrated column.

Sony officials are well aware of the publicity that Wie can generate for their tournament at the Waialae Country Club. Sorenstam's appearance in the Colonial gave the event a $2 million revenue boost, according to a business report. In terms of TV coverage, it was priceless.

To Sony's credit and because of Wie's talent, the idea of possibly extending a Sony Open exemption to the teen phenom was at least brought up, according to Dale Nagata, Sony Hawai'i general manager and the company's representative to the PGA Tour event.

"We discussed it at our executive meeting last month and no decision was reached," Nagata said.

The meeting was held before Sorenstam played in the Colonial so Nagata said they wanted to see how Sorenstam fared. Now, they want to see how Wie does in the two men's events later this year.

"Ultimately, we'll make a decision in a few months after that," Nagata said.

Getting a sponsor's exemption to the 2004 Sony Open is never a sure thing just because someone is a homegrown talent. After all, even two other Hawai'i natives, David Ishii, who won the 1990 Hawaiian Open, and Dean Wilson, one of the leading players on the Japan tour before joining the PGA Tour, didn't receive any as recently as two years ago.

There are other options open for Wie to play in a PGA event, starting with the Sony Open.

There is Sony's Monday qualifying round, which she tried this year, shooting an admirable 1-over-par 73. Wie also is playing in several men's events locally with the idea of making the 12-member amateur team for the Burns Challenge Cup. She's ranked 10th right now, but missing the Manoa Cup will cost her some points.

The dozen amateurs get to play a special qualifying for a spot in the Sony Open.

Interestingly, that spot comes from one of Sony's four unrestricted sponsor's exemptions. It is given to the Friends of Hawai'i Charity, which awards it to the Burns Cup to promote amateur golf in Hawai'i.

"So we actually have only three unrestricted exemptions, not counting two commissioner's exemptions," Nagata said, pointing out the difficulty Sony officials face in awarding them.

"There has been some criticism about too many Japanese pros, but with live telecasts back to Japan reaching millions of viewers, you can't blame the company. For Sony, it's big in terms of promotional purposes," Nagata said. "If a title sponsor puts up $8 or $9 million, they should be able to give exemptions to anyone they want to."

Wie has received exemptions to play in two men's tournaments — a Canadian Tour event in August and the Nationwide Tour's Boise Open in September.