RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Maybe the fascination in Michelle Wie goes beyond what she shows is possible for a girl playing in an adult's golf landscape. Maybe a compelling part of her charm is that she seems to know what is important.

It ain't golf, no matter how many millions the 16-year-old is paid to play the game.

Yesterday, the Punahou School junior grinned through the entire press conference preceding the first major she will play as a professional, reminding everyone this is not brain surgery.

The Kraft Nabisco Championship, which tees off tomorrow at Mission Hills Country Club, is fun. So is golf.

"I feel I've been doing a lot of good quality practice in my offseason," said Wie, limited to eight LPGA events a year because she is not a member, and she still has that school thing going on. "But I've been going to school. I've been studying really hard, unfortunately, and just having a regular life. I think I've been having a lot of fun doing that.

"Obviously, I do want to win everything when I come out here, but I just don't want to put that much pressure on myself. I'm just here to have fun, to play well, to win. That's what I'm all about. Obviously, I want to win, but it's kind of hard to win every single week, especially when I take a month off in between."

Wie has a coach to help her choose the shoes that cover her toes and another for the head that holds together that precocious golf game, and holds on to those dangling earrings. She has a coach for pretty much every area in between. But Wie still covets time to "be my normal self" in the higher ground of her life as a Punahou student.

Asked if there is any difference since she became a pro last October, signing endorsement contracts worth some $10 million and suddenly hanging out with super model Cindy Crawford and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Wie just rolled her eyes.

"No one at school really knew the difference between a professional and an amateur," said Wie, who claimed she forgot she was a pro until she had to turn in a tax form with her tournament entry. "They're like, 'What? You just turned pro? I thought you were already a pro.' And I'm like, 'No, I was an amateur.' "

The fact that Wie dropped out of this week's Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings was worth a three-word response and a broader grin. "I don't exist," Wie joked when asked about her sudden disappearance from the rankings, caused by not playing the minimum 15 events over the last two years.

Wie was third in the inaugural ranking, Feb. 20, and second the last four weeks, after finishing a shot out of the playoff at the Fields Open in Hawai'i. This is her second start of the year. Because this tournament was moved back a week in the 2006 schedule, she has just 14 starts in the two-year rolling period the rankings are based upon. She should return to the top 10 next week.

Where depends on what happens here. She won't catch No. 1 Annika Sorenstam, the defending champion and undisputed queen of women's golf. "There's no way to say one person is better than another," was Christina Kim's take on the rankings yesterday, "except for Annika."

But Wie could slide back into second with the rest of the Annika wannabes. This will be her fourth start at Kraft Nabisco. Her worst finish is 14th. She played in the final group on the final day at age 13 and took fourth at 14. She has been low amateur all three years, holds most of the event's amateur records and turned down more than $141,000 at the Dinah Shore Course.

This time, she gets to keep the cash. When you are 16 and rich and still excited by a chemistry class that allows you to "blow things up," it is not a huge incentive. Wie is here to work on her game, but mostly, she insists, the girl just wants to have fun. She barely has her driver's license. What's the hurry?

"I mean, I'm only 16, although I want to be better like when I wake up in the morning, but I know that's not going to happen," Wie said, still grinning. "Some days I feel I'm on top of my game, some days I don't. As I get older, I'm trying to learn that some days won't be as good as others. I'll get better every day, and I'm just realizing that."

Her latest emphasis is on weight training and putting. The former allows her to rip more effectively out of major-venue rough and lengthen the devastating drives that averaged 293.5 yards here three years ago. Karin Sjodin currently leads the LPGA in driving distance at 292.6.

The latter is a by-product of the honorary membership she holds at Waialae Country Club, site of the Sony Open in Hawai'i and some of the purest greens on the PGA Tour, which Wie also navigates.

She has yet to make the cut in seven pro men's events. She has made all but four cuts in her 26 LPGA starts, including the last 18. Wie had top-three finishes in half the four women's majors last year. Her worst showings all last year were a tie for 23rd at the U.S. Women's Open and the controversial disqualification at the Samsung World Championship in her first tournament as a pro last October.

NOTES

Michelle Wie starts off No. 1 at 6:24 a.m. Hawai'i time tomorrow and 11:23 a.m. (the final tee time) Friday off No. 10. Her playing partner is Ai Miyazato.

Wie confirmed that she will return to the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic in Illinois in July. She missed the cut by two there last year. One of her other options is the Reno-Tahoe Open the end of August. Organizers asked her to play in November, but the Wies have yet to give them an answer.

The weather has followed Wie from the Islands into the desert. It rained after she finished playing in the Celebrity Pro-Am yesterday and there is a flash flood watch in effect through tonight because of the possibility of thunder storms. The Pro-Am included Alice Cooper, Patrick Duffy, Lisa Fernandez, Carlton Fisk, John Havlicek, George Lopez, Cheech Marin, Brooks Robinson, Gale Sayers and Elke Sommer — none of whom played with Wie.

Time magazine recently posted its "10 Questions for Michelle Wie" story on its Web site. She turned it into nine questions by evading the answer for the question: what is your least favorite class. "It's kind of hard to say," Wie said. "I think all my teachers read Time, so I'd get into some trouble if I said."

This limited-field event has 99 players. It will be cut to the low 70 professional scores and ties, and any amateurs within that cut line, after Friday's second round.

The tour's next stop is the LPGA Takefuji Classic, April 13 to 15 at The Las Vegas Country Club. Hawai'i's Ayaka Kaneko qualified to play in the tournament earlier this year. The Sacred Hearts Academy freshman lost the Jennie K. Wilson Invitational in a playoff last year with Mari Chun.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.