Michelle Wie brought Christmas a day early to some kids who really needed it at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

The most prominent and precocious of Hawai'i's remarkable crop of young golfers, Wie and Walmart combined to donate $9,500 worth of toys and gift cards to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawai'i. Wie added a $10,000 donation to help update the two Ronald McDonald Houses in Mānoa Valley with computers, TVs and music.

Wie and "Santa's helpers" — a few of her Punahou 2007 classmates — visited Kapi'olani's Ronald McDonald House Family Room and playroom yesterday morning to pass out gifts to kids facing life-threatening health issues and forced to spend the holidays in the hospital.

"It was such an honor when we found out Michelle Wie picked Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawai'i as her charity of choice this Christmas," said Jerri Chong, RMHC-Hawai'i president. "Michelle touched so many lives this morning. The smiles on the children's faces were priceless."

Wie, born at Kaiser Moanalua, returned to Hawai'i Wednesday for her winter break from Stanford. She came up with the idea of helping Ronald McDonald House while playing with a Walmart executive at a September Pro-Am. Walmart jumped in with both feet, and many toys.

"I knew I was coming back home and I've always wanted to do something special for kids here," Wie said. "It was a perfect opportunity to give back. Just to bring smiles to their faces, it's so cool. It's tough being in a hospital anything we can do to make them have a good Christmas."

The 20-year-old is coming off the most successful year of her historic golf career. In her rookie season on the LPGA tour, she helped the U.S. to a Solheim Cup victory. She won her first title since turning pro (at age 16) last month at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational and had eight top-10 finishes in 18 starts, winning $918,000.

In 2006, Time magazine named Wie "one of 100 people who shape our world."