It felt kind of empty out here at Ko Olina on Friday without Michelle Wie gracing the grounds at the island resort.

If one thing holds true in this world, it’s that you don’t back the local favorite in a golf tournament. They rarely hoist the trophy come the weekend and often miss the cut outright, citing all the distractions of being back home again as the main reason for their untimely demise.

Wie has run the gamut at the myriad LPGA events she has played here, going from missing the cut to finishing first and a lot of spots in between. After such a stellar 2014, including a win here at the Lotte Championship, Wie has wandered off the reservation again, dropping to No. 59 worldwide.

Two years ago, she finished first at the U.S. Women’s Open and second at the ANA Inspiration (formerly the Kraft) in a dazzling display that showed the potential the Punahou product possessed. But as quickly as she shot up LPGA leaderboards across the land, 2015 was a return to the kerplunks that have dotted one of the more controversial careers in golf.

For those of us living here, we’ve been treated to so many different versions and makeovers of this 26-year-old communications graduate of Stanford University, it’s hard to know which one we’re getting when.

Naive choices made by her and the family long ago helped shaped our opinion of the Big Wiesy, who gave us a much different point of view than provided to the worldwide media.

Now, the national folks don’t even bother coming to town. They’ve moved on to another phenom playing golf someplace else and what interest there is in Wie these days is pretty limited at best. Plagued by injuries and illness that have marginalized her on-again, off-again career, Wie is becoming just another golfer among the 144 trying their best to make a living out here in the grind of grinds.

A few years ago, one of the top national golf writers correctly predicted Wie would never live up to the potential heaped on her like all those endorsements she signed as a bright-eyed teenager. She never seemed to realize what a charmed life she led, and as time ticks by, the chances of cashing in on all that opportunity grow dim.

To make matters worse, because she pounded so many golf balls when giving it a rest would have been a better choice, she is now paying a huge price physically for not saying no then.

Wrist injuries, stress fractures, knee problems. You’d think we were talking about 50-something Juli Inkster, not a woman half her age.

Not that everything went bad for Wie. She has won four times so far on tour and has cashed more than $5 million worth of paychecks. Not to mention all the millions she made in endorsements you hope is tucked away safely somewhere ready for her to spend.

But you get the feeling she could have done so much more had she been managed better or coached correctly at critical junctures in this oft-criticized career.