Ty Tryon exploded onto the golf-scene as a 16-year-old, but fizzled out by the time he was 18. Now, at 24, he's working to get back on the PGA Tour. Preston Mac /Icon SMI Related Links STAPLES: Shawn Johnson is just a regular kid GALLERY: Young phenoms through the years SI VAULT: Will Jennifer Capriati, 13, be a smash? SI VAULT: LeBron already looks like Jordan's heir

The speakers in the Smurf-blue Cadillac Escalade with the custom suspension and the 24-inch rims used to bump Outkast and 311. Now, the video screen behind the driver's seat headrest of the factory-issue Toyota 4Runner that replaced the Caddy plays a loop of Tom and Jerry, Finding Nemo and Cars. Behind the wheel, William Augustus Tryon IV negotiates America's interstates, looking for the exit that will take him to the next mid-sized town and the next chance at earning his way back to the PGA Tour.

Remember Tryon? You know him better as Ty, the wunderkind nicknamed after Chevy Chase's Caddyshack character who rocked the Lacy Underalls off the Tour in 2001, when, at 16, he became the youngest player to make the cut at a Tour event in 44 years. A month after he turned 17, he led after the first round of the B.C. Open. Later that year, Tryon fired a 66 on the last day of the Tour's qualifying school to become the youngest player to earn his Tour card. At the Phoenix Open, his first tourney after Q-school, Tryon walked off a plane, hopped into a rented SUV and headed to the sprawling Scottsdale Princess resort. At the 2003 Wachovia Championship, the 18-year-old drove a club member's Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph because he wasn't old enough to use one of a fleet of Mercedes courtesy cars. Tryon's wild ride lasted until October 2003, when he walked off the 18th green at the Funai Classic at No. 196 on the money list. Since their client had not turned into the next Tiger Woods, Tryon's sponsors moved on to the next phenom.

Now 24, Tryon stays in Comfort Inns. He drives to compete in the Monday qualifier of most Nationwide Tour events -- cross-country, if necessary -- with wife Hanna riding shotgun and 2-year-old son Tyson in the back, cracking up every time Jerry gets the best of Tom. "I love what I do. For me, at least, you have to come back to earth or come close to losing it to really appreciate it," Tryon says. "I don't take it for granted anymore about being a pro golfer or doing this for a living. Life's stressful enough. I just want to be on the golf course, and everything else kind of fades away."

Tryon survived the crush of teen fame and emerged as a wise-beyond-his-years husband and father who still dreams of making it big on the PGA Tour. But his trip through the wringer of media hype, corporate sponsorships and unfulfilled, unrealistic expectations begs the question: In an era when the star-making machinery in individual sports such as golf, tennis, gymnastics and auto-racing cranks up earlier than ever, at what age is an athlete ready to handle the pressure of stardom?

There is no easy answer. For every Maria Sharapova or Tracy Austin, who thrived on the tennis court as teens despite potentially crushing expectations, there is a Jennifer Capriati, who turned pro at 13 and was arrested for marijuana possession at 18 in a Coral Gables, Fla., hotel room alongside friends who later would accuse her of also using crack and heroin. For every Joey Logano, the racing prodigy who has a win and five top-10 finishes on the NASCAR Nationwide Series since turning 18 in May and who may take over Tony Stewart's No. 20 Sprint Cup ride next season, there is a Tryon.

Later this month, female gymnasts as young as 16 -- or possibly 14 -- will take the floor in Beijing with the hopes of their nations resting on their shoulders. Meanwhile, marketers will monitor the results of junior tennis tournaments throughout the world, looking for the next Sharapova, who, by 17, already had won Wimbledon and signed endorsement deals with Motorola, Pepsi and Honda. And on a racetrack somewhere in the South, a 5-foot-2, 108-pound redhead who can't get his driver's license until 2010 will pilot a Super Late Model car at 150 mph past men twice his age.

Scheduling, Sponsors Cause Concerns

Six years ago, Rick Ruffin couldn't help but notice the way his son, Logan, dominated every racing simulation video game he played. Ruffin, a Nashville-area investment banker, asked his son if he'd like to race cars for real. Four weeks after Rick and his wife, Shelley, decided to let Logan try driving quarter midgets. He zoomed through division after division and in February 13-year-old Logan stunned the racing world by winning three consecutive ASA Late Model Series feature races.

Logan, who turned 14 last month, likely will move to the USAR Pro Cup Series in January. There, he'll race a 3,300-pound car that isn't that different from the ones on the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series. A Pro Cup car can generate 625 horsepower compared to 700 for a 3,300-pound Nationwide Series car and 800 for a 3,400-pound Sprint Cup car. A Toyota Camry, meanwhile, generates 158 horsepower.