Hawai'i golfer Michelle Wie finds herself in the middle of the hot-button topic of the summer: Should she or shouldn't she turn professional?

The Advertiser posed that question to former pro golfers and current television analysts Dottie Pepper and Johnny Miller, golf insider Brian Hewitt of The Golf Channel, and Phil de Picciotto, president of Octagon, a global sports and entertainment event marketing company based in Washington, D.C.

In summary, Pepper says the Punahou School student should hold on to her childhood and resist the urge to turn professional so soon. Miller believes Wie is a rare talent who is groomed for the professional ranks. Hewitt says Wie has an opportunity to capitalize on her immense popularity as a 15-year-old phenom by turning pro. De Picciotto feels Wie is "fully prepared" to turn pro this year.

Golfweek magazine speculated in its July 23 edition that Wie will turn pro in October and sign a multi-year endorsement contract with Nike worth between $10 million and $12 million. Wie and her father, BJ, have said no decision has been made about when she'll turn pro.

Pepper believes Wie shouldn't rush her decision. Pepper turned professional the day she got of out college as a 20-year-old. Her LPGA Tour rookie year was 1988.

"I think if it was my kid, I would say, 'no way, be a kid a little longer,' " said Pepper, a 17-time LPGA Tour champion who spent 17 years on tour and now works as a golf analyst on NBC Sports and The Golf Channel. "You can't put a price on childhood and you can't turn back the clock."

The multimillion dollar sponsorship deals are tempting, Pepper said, but Wie may not want the added responsibilities of being a professional so soon.

"There is going to be expectations and big-girl responsibilities that she can pass on right now because she's not officially representing a company; she's not an ambassador for the sport as a professional," Pepper said. "That becomes a different deal when it becomes a business. I think the pace is just a little too accelerated."

Miller said he had "no problem" with Wie turning professional.

Her evolution is meteoric and can't be compared to the early stages of Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus, he said.

"She's a one-in-a-hundred-million golfer, so her path can't be judged by other people's paths," said Miller, a 25-time PGA Tour winner and the lead analyst for NBC Sports' golf telecasts. "She's in a position I don't think anyone has been in, including Tiger or Nicklaus. She's just better at that age than anybody's ever been before."

Hewitt, a former Chicago Sun-Times and Golfweek reporter, said he wouldn't be surprised if Wie turned pro in October.

"There's a certain sense out there that it would be good if she struck while the iron was hot in terms of what her commercial appeal is and the value of the contract she could sign," he said.

Hewitt said Wie can hit the golf ball "farther than 99 percent of the male population" and distance-wise "she's probably somewhere in the middle of the guys on the PGA Tour." And she's only 15. However, when Wie gets older, at some point the age novelty will wear off, he said.

"That's when she's going to have to start winning tournaments to have the interest continue," Hewitt said. "I certainly feel she will be a big-time winner on the women's side. I'm not sure what she'll do if she ever gets on the men's tour full time. If she were 23 right now, and not 15, she would actually be worth less. She's a novelty because of her age."

Marketer de Picciotto said there's no compelling reason to postpone the date on which Wie turns professional.

"Michelle is playing world-class professional golf at its highest level," said de Picciotto, whose firm is interested in Wie. "As an athlete, as a performer and as an entertainer, she is fully prepared to be a professional in every sense of the word.

"Yes, there have been rumors that she's going to turn professional this fall," De Picciotto continued. "It would be logical to do so, and there's no reason to have any artificial constraints on the timing of her turning professional. There's no reason to wait for the sake of waiting."