Fittingly for a child of the 'äina, Michelle Wie's long-awaited celebration began in the sand.

Wie, 20, finally won a golf tournament yesterday, clinching a two-shot victory in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational at Guadalajara, Mexico, with a spectacular bunker shot on the final hole. The Nike swoosh on her golf ball rolled and rolled on the Guadalajara Country Club green, finally stopping within a foot of the hole for a tap-in birdie for her first victory in the LPGA and her first individual victory of any kind since she was 13.

"I was just focusing on not hitting anyone in the crowd," said Wie, the first golfer from Hawai'i to win an LPGA event since Lenore Muraoka in 1983. "I felt pretty comfortable. I just walked up to it, looked at it and hit it. I didn't give myself any time to doubt myself."

Kapalua's Mark Rolfing, a golf analyst, knew Wie had won and still watched the delayed TV broadcast on The Golf Channel to "savor" Wie's win shot by shot. The bunker shot blew him away.

"I couldn't imagine playing that good a shot under those circumstances," Rolfing said. "I could feel the relief 3,000 miles away. I cannot imagine what it felt like to her. What a fabulous shot."

Wie, still in the bunker, raised her hands in triumph and broke into a grin as large as her legendary potential. She walked to the final hole with a one-shot lead and her birdie there enabled her to beat Paula Creamer by two shots.

Chances are, the smile remains this morning. The win was the Punahou graduate's first since the 2003 Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. At 13, she was the youngest in the 108-year history of the U.S. Golf Association to win an adult USGA event.

Her future appeared infinite. Wie continued to break records and set a series of firsts against the best men and women in the world. She turned pro just before her 16th birthday.

But, through seven sometimes controversial years with the world watching — and criticizing — every twitch, she would not win an individual title again until yesterday in Mexico.

"From Olomana to Guadalajara," was the way recently retired Titleist representative Les Tamashiro, one of the state's biggest golf backers, put it. He watched Wie win with his son and they celebrated in Salt Lake.

"It is unbelievable," Tamashiro said "What a great thing for Michelle and Hawai'i. It was so nice, especially to see her Solheim Cup teammates congratulate her. I think she really belongs for the first time."

MANY TRIBULATIONS

Wie grinned broadly after the final putt and looked skyward. She hugged playing partner Cristie Kerr. Then Kapalua's Morgan Pressel and a few more of Wie's American teammates from the Solheim Cup — the international team competition where Wie shined earlier this year — gave her the traditional beer shower.

It was an odd sight. Wie's tremendous popularity, worth millions in endorsements, and her penchant for pushing the envelope, had led some of those same women to criticize her. They, with many others, questioned her motives and her skill.

Wie worked through all that, along with injuries, swing changes and a revolving list of agents and caddies. She earned her way onto the LPGA Tour at qualifying school a year ago, in the midst of her third semester at Stanford. With a full schedule assured for the first time, minus her time in college, she has found a comfort level with her contemporaries.

"With all the ups and downs and naysayers the way she persevered," Tamashiro said, she "did it the hard way."

After yesterday's win, in her 66th LPGA start and the next-to-last event of her rookie season, Wie's comfort level is off the charts.

"I think it will open the floodgates," said Hawai'i State Junior Golf Association President Mary Bea Porter-King, a former LPGA player. "The sky's the limit now.

"There are so many little things involved in winning. You've got to fight the inner game and she has obviously made it."

Rolfing used the same words.

"I think it will open the floodgates, really," he said. "The sky is the limit now. With the pressure off there is no telling what she can do. What a Christmas present for the new commissioner."

Among the many people and groups weighing in on Wie's win was Gov. Linda Lingle and the LPGA, an organization plagued by economic problems and the forced resignation of its commissioner this summer. Both know what Wie is capable of inspiring.

"Michelle Wie's first LPGA win is an outstanding accomplishment that represents years of hard work, dedication and determination. All the people of Hawai'i can be proud of Michelle and the success she has achieved to date," Lingle said in a news release.

"From the day Michelle turned pro back in October 2005, we have watched this young athlete shine. She continues to be an outstanding role model for our youth and an ambassador for our state."

"Literally, when Michelle Wie is atop the leaderboard it's like night and day and that's star power," LPGA spokesman David Higdon said the day before Wie's win. "That's all it is. This is somebody people want to follow. You see it in her presence, the way she walks around. The way people talk to her."

'I'M JUST SO HAPPY'

The trials and tribulations of Hawai'i's most famous golfer were forgotten yesterday. She has earned more than $1.7 million on the LPGA tour, with 20 top-10 finishes, including six heartbreaking runners-up and six third-place finishes. She has made much more in endorsements and appearances all over the world. That meant nothing as Wie finished that final foot off on the last hole yesterday and her mind went blank.

"I can't even talk," Wie said in a Golf Channel interview immediately after it was over. "I'm bewildered by everything. I feel so fortunate. I'm just so happy."

And so relieved. Asked about the pressure at her press conference, Wie declared "it's definitely off my back. I think that hopefully life will be a lot better, but I still have a lot of work to do. I still have a lot to improve. It just feels so great right now."

Her first "tweet" might have been more eloquent: "wowwwww......," Wie wrote. "I never thought this would feel THIS great!!!!"

She is finally loving a golf life that started half a lifetime ago, when she began to break barriers as an HSJGA member. Over the years she has supported the organization financially and with her worldwide presence.

Her impact on Hawai'i golf is captured vividly by the snowballing success of Hawai'i junior golf the past few years.

"Michelle and Tadd (Fujikawa) both helped build our program and the awareness of our program," Porter-King said. "They are role models, where our kids can say this is something I can do too."

Added Rolfing: "I definitely think this will have an impact in Hawai'i. No matter where Michelle plays around the world she will always be one of Hawai'i's own. A lot of people have invested a lot of energy emotionally in Michelle here and it will be big for a lot of people here. A few jumped off the bandwagon over time, but for the most part people stuck with her."

Wie rewarded their faith yesterday. Her future appears infinite again.