By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Unlike last week at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championships, Michelle Wie will not find herself on the cover of the official program this week. (Hilary Lunke is).

Nor is Wie shouldering the load of being the defending champion.

But Wie, who does not lack for pressure in her second U.S. Women's Open that begins tomorrow in South Hadley, Mass., has merely traded one burden for a bigger one. There will be no flying under the radar even on a first trip to Western Mass.

Not when a headline in the Boston Herald announced her arrival for a Monday practice round with: "Wie ain't seen nothin' yet: At U.S. Women's Open, 14-year-old phenom will be center of attention."

Or, when off-shore bookmakers have listed the odds of her finishing between second and sixth places at 3/1 odds. (The odds of her winning the tournament are 12/1).

It is an ambitious path Team Wie a while ago chose to blaze for the Punahou School sophomore and, perhaps, never has it loomed more challenging than now at Orchard Golf Club.

But, then, we knew early on this was never going to be easy for the one they call the "Big Wiesy." Being the first amateur to receive an exemption into the prestigious field quickly took care of that, as did the considerable flack the announcement generated a month ago.

Indeed, the question du jour at yesterday's press conference was: "What do you think of Michelle Wie getting the special exemption?" And while most handled it diplomatically ("I don't have an opinion on that," Annika Sorenstam said), it is an issue that figures to be with Wie every hole unless she's running near the front of the leaderboard.

After her 36th-hole loss to Ya-Ni Tseng Sunday in the Publinx sent Wie into the arms of her mother, Bo, the chorus of doubters have once again found their voice. Being overtaken by a 15-year-old has given fuel to the argument advanced by Tiger Woods and Laura Baugh, among others, that Wie should play a less adventurous junior circuit and learn to win there first before taking on the big girls — much less the men.

For all that, the mental challenge that confronts Wie this week has become only half the battle now. Surely there is a physical component as well, given the accumulated globetrotting of the past month. It is a journey that has included stops in England, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and, now, Massachusetts.

Not that Wie has backed even an inch away from her stated goals. Yesterday, she defiantly maintained she has "earned my way here" into the U.S. Open field with her performance in LPGA events. She reaffirmed her dream of playing in The Masters.

Being Michelle Wie, with the expectations that come with it, is never easy. But this week looks to be more challenging than most.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.