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Maybe Michelle Wie should turn pro right now. She's not getting any younger, you know. The remarkably talented teen lost in the finals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship on the last hole of the 36-hole match Sunday. On face value, losing in the finals was another remarkable achievement for the 14-year-old who was trying to defend a title she captured last year. Of real concern for the Wie camp, however, has to be the fact that the player she lost to - Ya-Ni Tseng of Taiwan - is only 15 years old. Clearly, there are other talented teens out there and if Wie wants to cash in on her celebrity, now is probably the time to do it.

By the end of this season, Wie will be 15 years old, the age at which the LPGA would be willing to listen to an appeal for it to waive its minimum age of 18. Most insiders in women's golf feel and among the companies that will pay her millions in endorsement fees feel Wie will stay amateur for another year - through the 2005 season - so she can make one more run at trying to qualifying for the men's Public Links, the winner of which gets a Masters invitation. That would mean she'd be 16 when she files for LPGA membership, an age with which commissioner Ty Votaw likely would be much more comfortable.

If ever there was a two-sided sword this is one. The danger of turning pro now is that Wie would be learning how to win against the best female players in the world. While she would most likely have no trouble making money and keeping her card, it could turn into a frustrating experience that hinders the development of her game. And women's golf would benefit greatly if Wie can live up to her full potential. The other danger of turning pro now is that the family would likely be criticized for pushing her out there at too early of an age and the LPGA would be setting itself up for a few knocks about exploiting a child for financial gain.

But there is also a huge danger in Wie waiting to turn pro, and that is simply this: The novelty will wear off. We are a youth-obsessed culture and part of our fascination with Wie is that she is 14. Suppose some other teens starting winning LPGA events. Suppose Wie becomes just one of many talented young females scoring remarkably early success. Aree Song, an LPGA member, is only 18 and Paula Creamer, a 17-year-old amateur who enters her senior year of high school in the fall, finished second in the ShopRite LPGA Classic last week and was 13th Sunday in the Wegmans Rochester LPGA tournament. And then there is Tseng, the 15 year old who defeated Wie in the women's Public Links. Clearly, there is more than one talented teen on the scene.

There are those who say Wie will get "Tiger money" when she turns pro. That's ridiculous. The only one who gets Tiger money is Tiger. The only way Wie is worth money even within sniffing distance of the $83 million Woods hauled in last year is if she can compete against the men. Actually, to get that kind of money Wie would have to prove she can beat the men because no company is going to pay tens of millions of dollars for the moral victory of making a cut or finishing in the top 10. What Wie might be able to get is "Annika money" -- about $6.3 million last year -- but more likely it will be Rich Beem money - a few million a year.

The risk the Wies run right now is that they have set the bar incredibly high. Michelle is playing LPGA events and USGA events and not American Junior Golf Association tournaments. She has proclaimed her goal of playing in the Masters and ultimately playing with the men. Unless she continues to improve -- and in that sense her defeat in the Women's Public Links to a 15 year old was a setback -- her market value will go down. There are certainly those who dole out the endorsement dollars who will ask, "How can she say she wants to play with the men when she is not beating the women?" And certainly those people who will pay the freight will note that Wie lost to a 15 year old and will wonder how much Michelle has really distanced herself from other junior players.

This will be an interesting week. Wie, who understandably dissolved in tears in her mother's arms after her defeat on Sunday, does not have the luxury of licking her wounds in private. She heads right from Virginia to Massachusetts for this week's U.S. Women's Open. Physically and emotionally she has to be spent. In the last month she has been to Sea Island, Ga., for Curtis Cup practice, to England for the Curtis Cup, to Hershey, Pa., for two days of practice and then her failed effort to qualify for the men's Public Links, then off to Virginia for the women's Public Links and now onto Massachusetts for the Open. Still ahead is a trip to France for an LPGA event and the U.S. Women's Amateur. It is a daunting travel and competition schedule even for an adult.

Michelle Wie is an enormously talented kid who perhaps needs some time to be a kid. As Tseng proved, there is not the enormous talent gap between Wie and other female players her own age we were led to believe. The good news for golf is that the talent pipeline is jammed with young female players. That is also bad news for Wie. Part of her marketability is the novelty of her act. And part of that novelty -- being young and strong and talented -- was tarnished Sunday by someone who matched her in all three areas.

Ron Sirak is the Executive Editor of Golf World magazine