When Michelle Wie first burst into our consciousness at age 10 — a lifetime ago by a 17-year-old's standards — she was fresh, fun and fascinating. Her golf game, built by Hawai'i pro Casey Nakama and nurtured by parents BJ and Bo, was phenomenal.

Now as Wie is leaving Hawai'i, there is so much more no one could have imagined back then, and so much the family now prefers not to talk about. Such as golf.

Wie is as spontaneous and precociously politically correct as ever during interviews, but now there are guidelines outside the golf course: No golf questions; nothing about the wrist problems that have bothered her since late last year; and, no specifics about what the future holds for her golf game and her family's place here, with the exception of Wie saying "wherever I move, Hawai'i will be my home state always."

The Hawai'i girl became a cosmopolitan young woman before the eyes of the world. She nixed something "cute" for her prom, choosing a black dress "with killer accessories." She made peace with missing her Punahou graduation long ago, knowing she would be heading off for more globe-trotting golf before her first semester at Stanford.

When she captured her first Hawai'i women's major — the 2001 Jennie K. Invitational — at age 11, her inspiration seemed to be to reach the par-5 16th in two shots and win so her parents would buy her sunglasses.

Now she is a multimillion-dollar conglomerate with a conscience. Since the day she turned pro near her 16th birthday in 2005, Wie's spokesman says she has donated $1,380,000 to projects as varied as Hurricane Katrina relief, Children's Hospitals in South Korea and Pittsburgh, Underprivileged Children's Care in Japan and, locally, the Department of Education and junior golf.

DUELING LIVES

In some ways, it is almost harder now to reconcile her dual and dueling lives.

She is a giddy high-schooler and a wealthy professional golfer/personality who, after missing the cut at the Sony Open in Hawai'i, jetted down to watch the Australian Open with Serena Williams and chatted up James Blake and Andy Roddick.

"It was really cool to get to see different aspects of a different sport," Wie said. "It was amazing to see how they train and a tournament."

The injured phenom hasn't played a competitive round in more than four months, but has made prominent appearances at the NBA All-Star Game and the "Spider-Man 3" world premiere in Tokyo.

"The NBA All-Star game, that was another aspect of another sport," Wie said. "I kind of refreshed myself into game mode again. Basketball is not even close to golf so it was really refreshing. It was nice to see other players grind it out on the court. ... I felt the need to get a different perspective on things. For a long time it was just golf, golf, golf."

She played the Sony Open with a sore right wrist first injured at the Samsung World Championship in October. She has been severely limited since suffering a more serious injury to her left wrist when she fell in February.

But if a prodigy had to be hurt, can you think of a better time than her last semester of high school?

"I got to hang out with my friends a lot more," Wie said. "It was the opposite of before — I couldn't meet friends for once because they were busy. I'm like, 'Call me, I'm free all day.' It was refreshing for a change. I had a lot of fun going to movies — I saw '300' like a billion times — and there were no time restrictions, which was really nice. At the same time, it was nice just to go out and play again.

"It actually worked out. It was unfortunate I hurt myself, but at the same time I gained a few weeks at school. You'll never go to high school again — you hope — so I'm glad it turned out this way."

Her return to the game is expected May 31 at the LPGA's Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika Sorenstam. Graduation at Punahou School is two days later.

After four years of everything but moving mountains and oceans to get some semblance of a normal high school life, she will miss the ultimate moment. Wie says she's known of that sacrifice for months, and talks of getting a life-size picture of herself with her hand out for a friend to carry across stage so she can have a picture receiving her diploma.

Until classes begin at Stanford, she will again be graded in golf.

She was in the first golf slump of her life before the latest injury. Wie played her best golf the first seven months of last year, making her first cut in a men's tour event (in Korea), capturing imaginations with a remarkable run at qualifying for the U.S. Open and finishing in the top five at all six LPGA appearances, including three majors.

But she hasn't been in contention for anything since July. Her scoring average in her last six starts was just under 76.

Maybe there was yet another good reason for that bad injury. "Awesome" has been replaced by "refreshed" as Wie's most overused word. She is eagerly anticipating June, with the LPGA Championship and U.S. Women's Open following Ginn.

LONG LAYOFF

A family spokesman said reports that she will concentrate on women's events are not accurate. She could make the golf world crazy again, should her wrist cooperate.

After such a long layoff, her short game and competitive edge might be her biggest worries.

But not for Wie.

"I missed it a lot. When you can't play, it's frustrating," she said. "There was a time when I couldn't work out, either. It was really frustrating, but it made me want to play more. I think this injury will make a positive impact on my game because it made me realize how much I love golf. I want it more now."

But she will miss those high school moments when she simply shared a laugh with a friend.

Stanford will be different. Not bad, just different. Wie can hardly wait for that, too.

"It's a new step in my life," she said. "High school was mandatory education and college is voluntary. No one is pushing books down your throat. You can take the classes you want and how many you want and do what you want to do with your life.

"I'm really excited about the independence, meeting new people, making new friends. I just wish it was in Hawai'i."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.