When Brian Viloria won the World Boxing Council light flyweight title in Las Vegas, his trunks honored his roots with the green and gold of the Waipahu Boxing Club.

When Bryan Clay won the U. S. Olympic decathlon trials in Sacramento, Calif., he unfurled a Hawai'i flag.

And when Sid Fernandez pitched for the New York Mets, his No. 50 jersey was a reminder of his Hawai'i home.

So, as Michele Wie heads off on the away-from-home portion of her first LPGA and PGA seasons as a pro this week, what will she be displaying, several of her fans have wondered?

At the Kraft Nabisco Championship — the first "major" of the LPGA season — in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Thursday, the answer will be: mostly a smile.

For while Wie says she thinks it would be "cool" to display something symbolizing the ties to her home state — a Hawai'i flag on her bag, for example — the reality of her unique situation apparently dictates otherwise.

Being golf's most richly-sponsored female performer means she and everything to do with her is contractually spoken for, lock, stock and socks. It is part of the tradeoff for those lucrative endorsement checks in the millions of dollars.

"Michelle's contracts with Nike and Sony require exclusivity and do not allow exposure of any other logos on her apparel, hat and golf bag," her father BJ said.

Earlier this year at the Sony Open in Hawai'i she took note of the Colombian flag that Camilo Villegas, the Medellin-born player in her threesome the first two days, had on his bag. And when the question of the state's most visible athlete and a symbol of her Hawai'i ties came up last month at Ko Olina in the Fields Open, Wie said it was "a cool idea" but one "I hadn't really thought about (before)."

She seemed open to the thought and said, "I'm very proud of who I am, being a Korean-American and being a (Hawai'i) citizen and American citizen. I'm very proud of that."

Indeed, she celebrates her Hawai'i junior golf roots by assisting their fundraising with use of her name and likenesses. "They (the Wies) have been very gracious in helping out junior golf," said Dean Nowack, fundraising chairman for the Hawai'i State Junior Golf Association.

But barring a change of heart by her sponsors — or an inventive solution by Team Wie — it appears her links to Hawai'i will have to be expressed in other ways.

Hopefully, by the time she wins her first LPGA event or makes a PGA cut there will be a way to celebrate the milestone triumph and where she came from to achieve it.

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