HONOLULU -- Sean O'Hair didn't mince words after walking off the golf course following a practice round with Michelle Wie. He knew he’d been a participant in a special day, even if no one was keeping score.

“She’s impressive,” said the second-year PGA TOUR player, who went 18 holes with Wie and fellow TOUR member Justin Rose. “You have to remember she’s 16 years old, she’s playing against men twice her age. That’s not easy.”

No, it isn’t. But it’s not unusual, either -- at least not anymore.

When Wie, clad in Nike clothes, tees it up Thursday in the Sony Open in Hawaii at 8:40 a.m., the female phenom will embark on her fourth attempt to make a cut in a PGA TOUR event, including three straight years at Waialae Country Club. She’ll most assuredly be the focus of most people on the grounds -- including her fellow competitors. Joining Wie for her 10th-tee start will be veteran Chris Couch and TOUR rookie and Nationwide Tour grad Camilo Villegas.

For the first time, however, Wie will compete as a professional golfer, having given up her amateur status last fall when she turned 16. That means, should she make the cut, her first pro paycheck will come not from the LPGA Tour but from the PGA TOUR.

“I haven’t really thought about it. That would be pretty neat,” Wie said. “I am not really going to think about that this week. I am going to relax, have a good time, play my hardest and what happens, happens.”

Regardless of what happens, there will be a buzz around Waialae Country Club, where Wie, a Honolulu native, practices regularly. There is always great energy at a PGA TOUR event, but the atmosphere becomes just a little more charged by the presence of certain players.

Craig Bowden, who played with Wie two years ago in her first Sony Open appearance, can relate.

“It was a great experience,” said Bowden, who actually looked up on-line who Wie was going to be paired with in the first two rounds. “You definitely feel something different. It was like the third round of the (2002) U.S. Open at Bethpage (in New York) when I played with Greg Norman. There were a lot of people and you could sense a lot of eyes on you; same thing playing with Michelle. I enjoyed it. She’s a nice young lady with loads of talent.”

Scott Gutchewski, who played with Wie last year at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill., also remembers how much extra commotion there seemed to be around his group.

“I don’t think I ever played in front of more people,” he said. “There was a big buzz. I played in the group in front of Tiger in Boston (at the DeutscheBank Championship ), and that was about the only thing I can think of that was similar as far as the overall atmosphere.”

David Toms hasn’t yet played with Wie, but, he, too, can attest to the impact Wie had on the John Deere Classic.

“I was on the opposite side of the golf course and there was nobody out there watching us play golf,” Toms recalls. “You knew where she was the whole time. It was almost like a Tiger type of following -- you know where he is. That says a lot. I don’t think the novelty wears off until that goes away. I don’t see that happening any time soon.”

“There’s a few people, who, no matter how bad or how good they’re playing, they’ve got all the people watching,” O’Hair said. “That’s Tiger, obviously, John Daly … and Michelle Wie. She’s pretty popular.”

And should be again this week.