Now 16, Wie already feeling like a pro
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-12 09:23

PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) -- Michelle Wie didn't have to wait until she tees off Thursday at the Samsung World Championship to realize she was playing as a pro.

Michelle Wie of the U.S. tees off at the second hole on the final day of the British Women's Open golf tournament at Royal Birkdale July 31, 2005. [Reuters]

"Just the other day I got my first tax form," she said Tuesday. "I was excited about that. It's not something you should be excited about, but it's pretty cool for me."

The other sign Wie was now a pro was her bag, with the Sony logo and her name.

"I was so excited when I got my name on my bag," she said. "Usually when you're an amateur, you can't have your name on your bag."

It already has been a whirlwind week for Wie, who turned pro last Wednesday in Honolulu, then celebrated her 16th birthday on Tuesday. The staff at Bighorn Golf Club brought her a huge birthday cake with 16 candles at the end of her press conference. As she bent over to blow out the candles, her father said from the back of the room, "Make a wish."

By all measures, that wish was granted a week ago when Wie turned pro.

"It's my dream job," Wie said.

B.J. Wie said his daughter celebrated her birthday earlier this week with friends in Los Angeles. And what to get the $10 million girl who presumably has everything?

"For my birthday, I got a lot of new gadgets from Sony," Wie said. "That was really exciting for me, getting a lot of new phones and Walkmans. I felt like a little girl on Christmas."

Of course, since she signed an endorsement with Sony, it could be Christmas every day.