If you’re going to take a curtain call for a career, you could choose worse places than Pebble Beach Golf Links to do it. Michelle Wie West had played just two LPGA events in the previous 24 months, but was excited to compete one last time, the US Women’s Open making its debut on the Monterey Peninsula, before closing out a memorable career. At 33, she has already begun focusing on life outside the ropes after spending more than two decades making headlines inside them.

Indeed, it’s almost hard to believe just how young Wie West was when she started attracting attention with her game. It was back in 2000, when the Hawaii native was only 10, that she first made national news in becoming the youngest player ever to qualify for the US Women’s Amateur Public Links.

In subsequent years, Wie West showcased her talent by achieving several notable “youngest ever” accomplishments in various women’s amateur and professional events, while also competing against the best male amateur and professional golfers in the world by playing in a handful of PGA Tour events. Critics wondered if she might be better served beating up on players her own age to learn “how to win” a la Tiger Woods. But Wie West gained satisfaction and experience testing herself in other ways. And she did her fair share of winning along the way, grabbing five LPGA titles including her signature victory at the 2014 US Women’s Open.

With several impressive moments during her career to choose from, we’ve highlighted 11 that serve as the most memorable—most for the better—of Wie West’s career.

When the teen became a phenom

Robert Laberge

The Kraft Nabisco Championship always loved inviting amateurs into the LPGA major, but took a chance in 2003 when inviting a 13-year-old Wie, who recently had become the youngest player to earn a spot into an LPGA event. Wie made tournament officials look smart when she became the youngest player ever to make a cut in an LPGA event. A third-round 66 put her in the final pairing in the final round. She finished T-9 to earn low amateur honours. It was her first of six top-10s in the major in her career, three of which would come before age 16.

A national champion

Less than three months later, playing in the US Women’s Amateur Public Links, Wie advanced to the finals at Ocean Hammock Golf Club in Florida. When she defeated former NCAA champion Virada Nirapathpongporn in the final, she became the youngest golfer to win a USGA championship that had no age restrictions.

Making waves on the PGA Tour

Al Messerschmidt

Having wowed several tour pros the previous year with her swing when she competed in the pro-am at the Sony Open—earning the nickname the “Big Wiesy” after Ernie Els sung her praises—Wie did more of the same while playing in the PGA Tour event on a sponsor’s exemption. She missed out on becoming just the second woman (along with Babe Didrickson Zaharias) to make a cut in a PGA Tour event but her second-round 68 was the lowest shot by a woman on the PGA Tour. This was the first of eight starts she made on the PGA Tour and also the closest she came to making the cut.

Working for a Masters invite

John Mummert/USGA

In an April 2004 interview with “60 Minutes,” Wie didn’t beat around the bush: “I think my ultimate goal is to play in the Masters. I think it’d be pretty neat walking down the Masters fairways.” One of the ways to qualify was to win the US Amateur Public Links title. So Wie entered the event in 2005 (which was open to men and women), earned a spot in the championship, then advanced into the match-play bracket. Wie got all the way to the quarterfinals before falling to Clay Ogden (above), the eventual winner.

A pro at Sweet 16

Given all her success as an amateur in professional events, and the following she had in and out of golf, it was only a matter of time before Wie would turn pro. She did so a week before her 16th birthday in October 2005, and signed sponsorship deals with Nike and Sony worth a reported $10 million per year.

An auspicious debut

Wie West made her pro debut at the Samsung World Championship in California, seemingly finishing in fourth place and earning around $50,000. However, officials determined that she had taken a bad drop a day earlier and because she had signed for an incorrect score, she was disqualified from the tournament.

First pro win

Kevin C. Cox

Wie wasn’t a full-time LPGA member until earning her tour card in late 2008. Less than a year later, she claimed her first LPGA title, winning the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico by two strokes.

Getting her diploma

Donald Miralle

You could make the argument the most impressive thing Wie ever accomplished on the LPGA Tour was simultaneously going to college at Stanford starting in September 2007 and earning a degree. She took classes between LPGA events. It provided meaning and purpose for her, in a way perhaps golf couldn’t. And it was definitely an outlet to let Wie be defined by something other than golf. She wrapped up classes in March 2012 and attended graduation in Palo Alto that June.

A major milestone

Getty Images

Given all the laurels she earned as an amateur and the talent she displayed, big wins on the LPGA Tour were naturally expected. It wasn’t until 2014, however, that those expectations were fulfilled at Pinehurst No. 2. Playing a week after Martin Kaymer won the men’s title on the Donald Ross course, Wie was the only woman to break par, beating Stacy Lewis by two shots to claim the biggest title in women’s golf.

Disappointment at Hazeltine

Not long after her US Women’s Open title, Wie experienced the first of a series of injuries. She would sit out stretches of seasons to heal, with hopes that the rest would finally pay off. But often it didn’t, and the frustrations boiled over. They hit their hottest in 2019 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, when she shot a first-round 84 at Hazeltine National after a nine-month layoff entering the event. “It’s just one of those situations where I’m not, you know, I’m not entirely sure how much more I have left in me,” she said at the time, “so even on the bad days I’m just like trying to take time to enjoy it. But it’s tough.” After missing the cut, she took the next 21 months off, during which time she got married to Jonnie West and had a baby.

Return to play as a mom

Nine months after the birth of daughter Makenna, Wie West entered the Kia Classic, the first of six tournaments she played in 2021. She missed the cut by four, but sounded enthused to be competing again and proud of the example she could set for her new child.

“After KPMG in 2019 I thought I was done, especially when I found out I was pregnant later that year,” she said. “I thought that cemented it. I thought there was no chance of coming back. And I told my husband that. He was like, ‘No, no, just think it through.’ But then we found out that Makenna was going to be a girl and that just changed my perspective on everything. It was crazy how just that one little fact changed everything.”

Post-golf life

Michelle Wie West poses with AJGA winner Yana Wilson and LPGA champ Rose Zhang after their victories at the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National last month, a tournament that Wie West helped launch. Elsa

Injuries and homelife, however, began to take a toll and so just prior to the 2022 US Women’s Open, Wie West announced that her playing career would come to an end after Pine Needles, with the exception of one more start a year later at Pebble Beach.

“I’m so grateful for the past 14 years I spent on tour, travelling the world and competing against the best in the game. Excited to spend more time now on projects that I always wanted to do but never had time for and to continually work to help golf become a more diverse and inclusive space.”

It didn’t take her long to get to work, helping start a new LPGA Tour event, the Mizuho Americas Open, at Liberty National Golf Club outside New York that incorporated a separate tournament for AJGA players. (The event got extra publicity when Rose Zhang won the title in her first start as a pro). Wie West also co-hosts a podcast with Golf Digest’s Hally Leadbetter.

“I hope that I inspire a lot of other girls to make bold and fearless decisions and choices in their careers as well,” Wie West said earlier this week. “I continue to want to help the tour grow female sports in general and do everything in my power to keep empowering the women, closing the pay gap, whether it’s in sports and out of sports,” Wie West said.

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Michelle Wie West and her caddie and husband Jonnie West approached the bunker fronting the 18th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Friday evening and found her ball in a wet and nearly plugged lie. It wasn’t the way they had envisioned the one-time star and face of women’s golf finishing up her final round of professional competition.

But golf, as Wie West would note a few minutes later, is funny that way. It can beat you down as easily as it lifts you up. Just wait for that next swing for the fortunes to change. She has always known that. And so Wie West lined up her 30-foot par putt, swallowed her emotions and watched her ball use its last ounce of steam to fall into the cup.

Finishing in style! @MichelleWieWest gives the gallery one more memory. #USWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/DADSgBGXuA

— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) July 8, 2023

A smallish crowd, thinned by the wind and cold, cheered happily as Wie West laughed and traded high fives with her Hall-of-Fame playing partner, Annika Sorenstam, and walked over to wrap her arm around her husband.

Later, holding her 3-year-old daughter Makenna in her arms while she spoke to the media, Wie West said, “Well, the putts didn’t drop all week, and the game is a funny game. And making that long putt on 18 definitely was a sweeter sendoff. It was just such an emotional day starting from 1 tee.”

Michelle Wie West and Jonnie West stand together after she putted out on the 18th green. Harry How

Nine years removed from winning her only major, the 2014 US Women’s Open at Pinehurst, Wie West, 33, decided last year that this US Open would be her last tournament of competitive golf, 18 years after she announced she would turn pro just before her 16th birthday. That last call had much to do with the fact that the Open was being held at Pebble Beach, though Wie West hadn’t played a full round on the seaside links until this week.

For the most part, Wie West already had put competitive golf and her five-win LPGA career in her rearview mirror, not playing full-time on tour since 2018. She chose instead to extend her influence in the game through hosting the new LPGA tournament in New Jersey, doing a podcast and keeping in touch regularly with LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. She’s spent more time tending the garden at her Los Angeles home than hitting balls.

A smallish crowd, thinned by the wind and cold, cheered happily as Wie West laughed and traded high fives with her Hall-of-Fame playing partner, Annika Sorenstam, and walked over to wrap her arm around her husband.

Later, holding her 3-year-old daughter Makenna in her arms while she spoke to the media, Wie West said, “Well, the putts didn’t drop all week, and the game is a funny game. And making that long putt on 18 definitely was a sweeter sendoff. It was just such an emotional day starting from 1 tee.”

Michelle Wie West and Jonnie West stand together after she putted out on the 18th green. Harry How

Nine years removed from winning her only major, the 2014 US Women’s Open at Pinehurst, Wie West, 33, decided last year that this US Open would be her last tournament of competitive golf, 18 years after she announced she would turn pro just before her 16th birthday. That last call had much to do with the fact that the Open was being held at Pebble Beach, though Wie West hadn’t played a full round on the seaside links until this week.

For the most part, Wie West already had put competitive golf and her five-win LPGA career in her rearview mirror, not playing fulltime on tour since 2018. She chose instead to extend her influence in the game through hosting the new LPGA tournament in New Jersey, doing a podcast and keeping in touch regularly with LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. She’s spent more time tending the garden at her Los Angeles home than hitting balls.

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1. The right “approach” pays off

Hyo-Joo Kim and Xiyu Lin shared the Day 1 lead with matching four-under 68s. Kim and Lin were also first (4.48) and third (3.77), respectively, in SG/putting. Only Nasa Hataoka (eighth) of the six players at T-3 is in the top 10 of SG/putting.

However, the majority of players in the top 10 on the leaderboard are also in top 12 in SG/approach with amateur Aine Donegan in first (4.35), Allisen Corpuz in fourth (3.78), Bailey Tardy in fifth (3.58), Hae Ran Ryu in sixth (3.58), Leona Maguire in eighth (3.28), and Hataoka in 12th (3.05). Surprisingly, the leaders trail by a decent margin, with Kim in 25th (1.9) and Lin in 38th (1.43).

2. Annika Sorenstam’s still got it … around the green

Ezra Shaw

Posting an 80, even for Sorenstam at 52, seems inconceivable for one of the game’s all-time greats. Sorenstam finished in last in SG/off the tee, making sense, given she only hit one fairway. A lone bright spot was ending up with 2.51 SG/around the green, the sixth-best in the field. While her capabilities on a major venue are different from what they were in her prime, the 72-time winner needed no data to know the best part of her game Thursday.

“I’m disappointed in that [80], but I fought really hard,” Sorenstam said. “I thought I made some great saves. It sounds funny when you have this score, but I did.”

3. An amateur leads the field in this SG stat

Donegan, an amateur from Ireland who plays college golf at LSU, posted a 69 despite her clubs not arriving until Tuesday. That makes her 4.35 SG/approach stat even more impressive, particularly too considering she hit only 12 greens in regulation. The Irishwoman bested defending US Women’s Open champion Minjee Lee in the category, with the Australian sitting at 4.05 SG/approach.

Donegan’s driver clubhead also arrived smashed to Pebble Beach, but she raved about the replacement one she put into her bag this week, saying it fueled her ability to play well into the greens by outperforming the field from the tee box as well. Donegan sits in second in SG/off the tee (1.58).

4. One of the most consistent US Women’s Open performers leads SG/off the tee

Harry How

Megan Khang has rattled off three consecutive top-10s at the US Women’s Open and is lurking at five shots off the pace after the first round. Her secret sauce might lie in her ability from the tee, as finding 13 of 14 fairways contributed to her leading 1.84 SG/off the tee. That’s .26 ahead of Donegan. In a reminder of how distinct SG/off the tee is, compared to driving distance, the longest player in the field Thursday, Amelia Garvey, sits in 114th in SG/off the tee at -.39.

5. Michelle Wie West didn’t lie—she doesn’t like putting drills

Entering Wie West’s final competitive start, she shared the thing she won’t miss the most.

“The putting drills that I’m doing, you’d best believe I’m not going to do another putting drill for the rest of my life if I don’t need to,” Wie West said.

Fitting, then, that the 2014 US Women’s Open winner finished last in the field in SG/putting at -4.18. Wie West carded a 79, sitting T-126. Impressively, she kept her touch, finishing 11th in SG/around the green (2.01).

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This week’s US Women’s Open, making its maiden visit to Pebble Beach, is an unprecedented opportunity for professional women’s golf. With it comes 12 hours of weekend coverage that lasts into primetime on the East Coast, an alchemy that provides the LPGA Tour a first-of-its-kind opportunity to reach new audiences.

“Our Golf Channel broadcast from our West Coast [tournaments] are some of our most highly viewed events, and then to have that on NBC Network television in primetime for the first time ever, it’s really, really special,” Golf Channel commentator and former US Women’s Open champion Morgan Pressel said.

MORE: Michelle Wie West prepares to say farewell at Pebble Beach

“Then you put the two of them together. People are going to tune in because they’ve heard of Pebble Beach. They might have never watched an LPGA event in their life, but they’ve heard of Pebble Beach, and here it is on Sunday evening and they’re flipping through channels and they’re like, ‘Wow, this is really amazing; this is some incredible golf. What an exciting event.’”

Building towards this moment, players have clamoured for years about the importance of playing at prestigious venues to entice casual fans to watch them compete. Pebble Beach fits the bill, as golf fans can picture some of the game’s most iconic holes with their eyes closed.

With a simple search on YouTube, you can relive the images of Jack Nicklaus’ 1-iron on 17 at the 1972 US Open, Tom Watson chipping in on the same par 3 to best Nicklaus a decade later, or Tiger Woods’ world-shattering 2000 performance, among many historic golf moments. The LPGA’s players can now benefit from the memories evoked from the six US Opens held at Pebble.

“I think being on iconic venues is a more sustainable improvement for the tour, because it increases the media value, and you have to increase media value to attain more money,” Michelle Wie West, the 2014 US Women’s Open champion, said.

MORE: Rose Zhang owns Pebble Beach scoring record, but US Women’s Open offers different challenge

Visiting heralded golf courses isn’t a one-off trend for the LPGA. Only two weeks ago, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship was held at New Jersey’s Baltusrol Golf Club, the first time a women’s major was played there since 1985. The AIG Women’s Open was at Muirfield last year, which held 16 Open Championships before the women made their debut, female members were finally admitted in 2019. They’ll return to St. Andrews next year, the second appearance there along with 2007. On its first trip to Southern California, the US Women’s Open goes to Riviera Country Club in 2026. The women return to the West for a major again next year at Sahalee in Sammamish, Wash., for the Women’s PGA.

Two of golf’s biggest attractions, Michelle Wie West and Rose Zhang, walk together during a practice round at Pebble Beach ahead of the US Women’s Open. Kathryn Riley

Visiting West Coast venues paid off recently for the US Women’s Open. Two years ago at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, with seven hours on NBC, the event averaged 600,000 viewers, for a 62-percent increase in viewership year-over-year.

The West Coast boost occurred just two weeks ago at the men’s US Open at Los Angeles Country Club, where ratings averaged 3.4 million viewers across NBC’s platforms. It’s the best ratings since … wait for it … 2019 when it was on the West Coast at Pebble Beach.

The USGA strongly believes that women also will see a ratings jump from playing at Pebble. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we were 50 per cent higher than Pine Needles,” USGA Chief Commercial Officer Jon Podany said.

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On Tuesday, the USGA announced the groupings for the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach and they are highlighted by LPGA rookie sensation Rose Zhang playing with two former major champions Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson. The threesome drew one of the later tee times for the first round—2:35 p.m. PT, which will put them into all of USA Network’s live coverage for Thursday’s first round. The group tees off at 8:50 a.m. on Friday.

Among the other featured groups:

World No. 1 Jin Young Ko, No. 2 Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson.

Sei Young Kim, recent KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner Ruoning Yin and Megan Khang.

Yuka Saso, the 2021 US Women’s Open champion at Olympic Club, two-time major winner So Yeon Ru, and amateur Anna Davis, the champion of the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

And in the tournament’s most nostalgic group, 52-year-old Annika Sorenstam is paired with Michelle Wie West, who has said this will be her last event, and In Gee Chun.

All times Pacific

7 a.m. / 12:45 p.m. – (a) Kelly Xu, Claremont, Calif.; Haeji Kang, Republic of Korea; Lindy Duncan, Plantation, Fla.

7:11 a.m. / 12:56 p.m. – Miyu Sato, Japan; Jaravee Boonchant, Thailand; Amanda Doherty, Atlanta, Ga.

7:22 a.m. / 1:07 p.m. – Azahara Muñoz, Spain; Amy Olson, Fargo, N.D.; Emma Spitz, Austria

7:33 a.m. / 1:18 p.m. – Na Rin An, Republic of Korea; (a) Benedetta Moresco, Italy; Amy Yang, Republic of Korea

7:44 a.m. / 1:29 p.m. – Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Denmark; Hae Ran Ryu, Republic of Korea; (a) Jeneath Wong, Malaysia

7:55 a.m. / 1:40 p.m. – Jenny Shin, Republic of Korea; Jeongeun Lee6, Republic of Korea; Alison Lee, Los Angeles, Calif.

8:06 a.m. / 1:51 p.m. – Ariya Jutanugarn, Thailand; Mina Harigae, Monterey, Calif.; Gaby Lopez, Mexico

8:17 a.m. / 2:02 p.m. – Minjee Lee, Australia; (a) Saki Baba, Japan; Ashleigh Buhai, South Africa

8:28 a.m. / 2:13 p.m. – (a) Amari Avery, Riverside, Calif.; Ally Ewing, Fulton, Miss.; Angel Yin, Arcadia, Calif.

8:39 a.m. / 2:24 p.m. – Lilia Vu, Fountain Valley, Calif.; Danielle Kang, Las Vegas, Nev.; Charley Hull, England

8:50 a.m. / 2:35 p.m. – So Yeon Ryu, Republic of Korea; (a) Anna Davis, Spring Valley, Calif.; Yuka Saso, Japan

9:01 a.m. / 2:46 p.m. – Yuri Yoshida, Japan; Paula Reto, South Africa; Ryann O’Toole, San Clemente, Calif.

9:12 a.m. / 2:57 p.m. – Milagros Chaves, Paraguay; Harukyo Nomura, Japan; Aya Kinoshita, Japan

Thursday (July 6), Hole #1 / Friday (July 7), Hole #10

12:45 p.m. / 7 a.m. – (a) Krissy Carman, Eugene, Ore.; Laura Sluman, Panama; (a) Farah O’Keefe, Austin, Texas

12:56 p.m. / 7:11 a.m. – Ayako Uehara, Japan; Amelia Garvey, New Zealand; Therese Warner, Kennewick, Wash.

1:07 p.m. / 7:22 a.m. – Maria Fassi, Mexico; (a) Grace Summerhays, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Xiaowen Yin, People’s Republic of China

1:18 p.m. / 7:33 a.m. – Alice Hewson, England; Kana Mikashima, Japan; (a) Emilia Migliaccio, Cary, N.C.

1:29 p.m. / 7:44 a.m. – (a) Chizuru Komiya, Japan; Jenny Coleman, Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.; Hana Wakimoto, Japan

1:40 p.m. / 7:55 a.m. – (a) Jess Baker, England; Pajaree Anannarukarn, Thailand; Chella Choi, Republic of Korea

1:51 p.m. / 8:06 a.m. – Andrea Lee, Hermosa Beach, Calif.; Anna Nordqvist, Sweden; Cheyenne Knight, Aledo, Texas

2:02 p.m. / 8:17 a.m. – Madelene Sagstrom, Sweden; Hyo Joo Kim, Republic of Korea; Miyu Yamashita, Japan

2:13 p.m. / 8:28 a.m. – Ayaka Furue, Japan; Hannah Green, Australia; Linn Grant, Sweden

2:24 p.m. / 8:39 a.m. – Jennifer Kupcho, Westminster, Colo.; Atthaya Thitikul, Thailand; Leona Maguire, Republic of Ireland

2:35 p.m. / 8:50 a.m. – Brooke Henderson, Canada; Rose Zhang, Irvine, Calif.; Lydia Ko, New Zealand

2:46 p.m. / 9:01 a.m. – Mirim Lee, Republic of Korea; Teresa Toscano Borrero, Spain; (a) Angela Zhang, Bellevue, Wash.

2:57 p.m. / 9:12 a.m. – Brooke Matthews, Rogers, Ark.; (a) Julia Misemer, Overland Park, Kan.; Marissa Chow, Honolulu, Hawaii

Thursday (July 6), Hole #10 / Friday (July 7), Hole #1

7 a.m. / 12:45 p.m. – (a) Sadie Englemann, Austin, Texas; Gabriela Ruffels, Australia; Charlotte Thomas, England

7:11 a.m. / 12:56 p.m. – Bronte Law, England; Grace Kim, Australia; (a) Monet Chun, Canada

7:22 a.m. / 1:07 p.m. – Brittany Lang, Mckinney, Texas; Jill McGill, Denver, Colo.; Angela Stanford, Saginaw, Texas

7:33 a.m. / 1:18 p.m. – Patty Tavatanakit, Thailand; (a) Áine Donegan, Republic of Ireland; Sung Hyun Park, Republic of Korea

7:44 a.m. / 1:29 p.m. – (a) Zoe Campos, Valencia, Calif.; Moriya Jutanugarn, Thailand; Haruka Kawasaki, Japan

7:55 a.m. / 1:40 p.m. – Lizette Salas, Azusa, Calif.; Jodi Ewart Shadoff, England; (a) Yana Wilson, Henderson, Nev.

8:06 a.m. / 1:51 p.m. – Sei Young Kim, Republic of Korea; Ruoning Yin, People’s Republic of China; Megan Khang, Rockland, Mass.

8:17 a.m. / 2:02 p.m. – Carlota Ciganda, Spain; Xiyu Lin, People’s Republic of China; Hye-jin Choi, Republic of Korea

8:28 a.m. / 2:13 p.m. – Annika Sorenstam, Sweden; Michelle Wie West, Honolulu, Hawaii; In Gee Chun, Republic of Korea

8:39 a.m. / 2:24 p.m. – Celine Boutier, France; Georgia Hall, England; Nasa Hataoka, Japan

8:50 a.m. / 2:35 p.m. – Jin Young Ko, Republic of Korea; Nelly Korda, Bradenton, Fla.; Lexi Thompson, Delray Beach, Fla.

9:01 a.m. / 2:46 p.m. – Albane Valenzuela, Switzerland; Momoko Ueda, Japan; (a) Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, Australia

9:12 a.m. / 2:57 p.m. – Yuna Nishimura, Japan; Pernilla Lindberg, Sweden; Annie Park, Levittown, N.Y.

Thursday (July 6), Hole #10 / Friday (July 7), Hole #1

12:45 p.m. / 7 a.m. – Bailey Tardy, Norcross, Ga.; Dottie Ardina, Philippines; (a) Kaili Xiao, Republic of Korea

12:56 p.m. / 7:11 a.m. – (a) Sarah Edwards, Jay, Fla.; Dewi Weber, Netherlands; Aline Krauter, Germany

1:07 p.m. / 7:22 a.m. – Mackenzie Hahn, Spring Grove, Ill.; (a) Sophie Linder, Carthage, Tenn.; Kumkang Park, Republic of Korea

1:18 p.m. / 7:33 a.m. – Ruixin Liu, People’s Republic of China; Daniela Darquea, Ecuador; (a) Minori Nagano, Japan

1:29 p.m. / 7:44 a.m. – Perrine Delacour, France; (a) Lauren Kim, Canada; Manon De Roey, Belgium

1:40 p.m. / 7:55 a.m. – DaYeon Lee, Republic of Korea; Minami Katsu, Japan; Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, Thailand

1:51 p.m. / 8:06 a.m. – A Lim Kim, Republic of Korea; Hinako Shibuno, Japan; Eun Hee Ji, Republic of Korea

2:02 p.m. / 8:17 a.m. – Allisen Corpuz, Kapolei, Hawaii; Jiyai Shin, Republic of Korea; Marina Alex, Wayne, N.J.

2:13 p.m. / 8:28 a.m. – (a) Tinghsuan Huang, Chinese Taipei; Chisato Iwai, Japan; Minji Park, Republic of Korea

2:24 p.m. / 8:39 a.m. – Mao Saigo, Japan; Maja Stark, Sweden; So Mi Lee, Republic of Korea

2:35 p.m. / 8:50 a.m. – Gemma Dryburgh, Scotland; Aditi Ashok, India; Akie Iwai, Japan

2:46 p.m. / 9:01 a.m. – Beatrice Wallin, Sweden; Joy Chou, Chinese Taipei; (a) Celeste Dao, Canada

2:57 p.m. / 9:12 a.m. – Allysha Mae Mateo, Mililani, Hawaii; Jing Yan, People’s Republic of China; (a) Megan Propeck, Leawood, Kan.

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The end of Michelle Wie West’s LPGA career is here, 20 years after her first US Women’s Open start at Pumpkin Ridge. The opportunity to tee it up at Pebble Beach has kept Wie West grounded as she contemplates what like will look like beyond playing professional golf.

But come Sunday, Wie West, 33, will enter a new phase.

“When I made the announcement last year, even still it was like, ‘I’m transitioning out, but I have Pebble,’” she said Tuesday. “Now I don’t have anything in the foreseeable future, so it’s definitely an emotional week for me.”

Over the past year, Wie West has spent plenty of time reflecting on her career with pride and acceptance. The 2014 US Women’s Open champion acknowledged that she’d made mistakes over the years but that her story would only be what it was with those choices.

The five-time winner’s legacy, in her eyes, lies in the bold decisions she’s made, consistently advocating for her peers and the tour. That advocacy continued through her press conference, explaining the importance of venues like Pebble Beach to increase eyeballs on the women’s game.

“I hope that I inspire a lot of other girls to make bold and fearless decisions and choices in their careers as well,” Wie West said.

The final walk awaits…@MichelleWieWest caps off her incredible career this week at Pebble Beach. #USWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/lEAKsRP4r8

— U.S. Women’s Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) July 4, 2023

Her life at home is the opposite of bold. She walked through the routine of eating three meals a day, winding down with Netflix, and spending time with her family. She’s replaced chasing birdies with making pickles, describing home life as refreshing and mundane. It’s a notable adjustment from the up-and-down adrenaline-filled life of professional golf, with playing pickleball with her husband Jonnie West serving as an occasional competitive outlet. However, Wie West won’t miss the monotony of putting drills to remain competitive.

“I’m going to put my clubs in the darkest corner of my garage, let it sit there for a little bit,” Wie West joked.

But putting her clubs away won’t signal the end of her involvement with the tour. Wie West consistently communicates with LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, serving as a sounding board when needed. She runs the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National, setting a higher standard for off-course amenities for the players and bringing a new format into the mix with 24 junior players participating. She’s continuing to be a role model for several business endeavours and releasing a clothing line with Nike to commemorate the end of her career.

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“I continue to want to help the tour grow female sports in general and do everything in my power to keep empowering the women, closing the pay gap, whether it’s in sports and out of sports,” Wie West said.

The flames of competing, however, haven’t been completely doused. Wie West still eyes one last Sunday finish in contention to send her playing career out to sea.

“I hope it’s in the final group with everyone watching,” she said. “That would just be so incredible. I’ve definitely dreamt of it, thought about it, and I can’t believe it’s only a few days away.”

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The Mizuho Americas Open marks another dream realised for Michelle Wie West, who is serving as the host at his week’s newest LPGA Tour event at Liberty National. She’s helping set the bar for what week-to-week events can look like on the LPGA. Its $2,750,000 purse is the fifth-largest on tour of its non-majors, along with providing substantial off-course perks and a famed venue draped with the New York City skyline and the history of hosting the Presidents Cup in 2017.

“It’s been a dream come true for me,” Wie West said. “Always something that I dreamt doing since I was a little girl, since I was a junior. Just so, so honoured that Mizuho Americans has asked me to be the host of this event. Something that I thought would happen 10, 20 years from now, but it happened so fast and it’s amazing.”

The Mizuho Americas Open takes care of tour players on a level most other tournaments on the LPGA fail to match. They’re putting the field up at a hotel in New York, an expensive endeavour considering players pay for their housing most weeks. They’re being ferried back and forth across the Hudson River, just like the players were at the Presidents Cup, getting a chance to look up at the Statue of Liberty on their way to Liberty National.

“The players are being treated how they always should be, and hopefully we’ll create a ripple effect for other events,” Wie West said.

It’s one of many goals for the LPGA that the 33-year-old has in mind. Wie West developed a relationship with LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan throughout her recently finished two-year player director term. The two still consistently chat and maintain an open dialogue. Wie West’s time as a player director gave her a business sense of what the tour needs to do to close the pay gap between the LPGA and PGA Tour.

“There are so many areas we’re working on and I’m just lending a hand, an ear, whenever the tour or Mollie wants it,” Wie West said.

One way to start closing the gap is through the courses the LPGA plays. Wie West explained that the Masters is so successful of an event because even for those who’ve never played Augusta before, fans can picture some of the most iconic shots hit on each hole. She feels it’s a challenge when fans tune in to an LPGA event at a course they’ve never seen before.

Fitting, then, that the closing start of her playing career is at the US Women’s Open when the tour makes its first-ever major appearance at Pebble Beach this July, which has held the US Open six times. Wie West has only seen the back nine and has yet to practise much in the lead-up. The 2014 US Women’s Open winner snuck in a range session at Liberty National Sunday, beginning to prepare for competition one last time. Wie West plans to ramp it up when her hosting duties conclude this week.

Once Wie West puts the clubs away, it’s off to the races for the six-time winner’s goals of getting the LPGA and its players more recognition and support.

“It’s fun to have the time and the space in my mind to really go for it,” Wie West said. “Just feel really blessed.”

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It’s been three years of adjustments for the 33-year-old. She got married, gave birth to her first child and stepped away from professional golf. For someone who’s been a pro golfer since age 15, an identity crisis is understandable.

“There were a lot of tough days,” Wie West said. “When you’re a professional athlete, that’s your identity. That’s what you live, eat, and breathe 24/7. That’s all you think about: playing golf. When I was a student [at Stanford], I had two identities. And now I’m not a student. I’m not a professional athlete. So then the question comes up, Who am I?”

The first answer to that question is: mother. Being Makenna’s mom is Wie West’s priority, and she candidly talks about motherhood being more exhausting, physically and mentally, than professional golf ever was.

“You can voluntarily leave the golf course any time you want, but motherhood is a 24/7 gig,” she says, laughing. “It’s amazing.”

Beyond motherhood, there are other things Wie West wants to explore. While she was playing professional golf, she had a mental list of the things she’d want to accomplish when she retired. After playing in the 2022 US Women’s Open, Wie West announced her retirement from the tour, although the 2014 Women’s Open champion hasn’t ruled out playing the 2023 US Women’s Open.

Having stepped away from golf, she broke out the list.

“I always wanted to go skydiving, but my husband nixed that one when we had our daughter,” Wie West said. “But I did go shark diving.”

She wanted to grow a vegetable garden, and says that she did and it is thriving right now. She wanted to invest in start-ups, which she’s doing. She wanted to host an LPGA event, which is happening next year at Liberty National. And she wanted to create accessible golf media content, which she’s now doing with her lifetime friend, Hally Leadbetter. Leadbetter is a content creator, who collaborates with many golf media companies including Golf Digest. The pair launched their new podcast, Golf Mostly, in November.

“I feel like there’s a lot of stigma in golf, and there’s a lot of new players that come into golf and have a certain way of what they believe, what golf is,” Wie West said. “I’m hoping that we can break down barriers. We’re hoping that we can use this avenue to make golf seem less intimidating.”

For Wie West and Leadbetter, it’s something that they’ve wanted to do for a long time.

“Success would be obviously to have fun and do something cool with your best friend, which I feel like we’re already in that category,” Wie West said. “We would love to be the top golf content out there and hopefully get more people to play golf, get people interested in golf and not scared of golf.”

And when that happens it’ll be one more item that Wie West can check off her list.

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Wie West spoke last week on Nike’s “No Off-Season” podcast, and acknowledged the struggles she faced on a regular basis as she tried to live up to, in her mind, being Michelle Wie.

“I felt like when I started, mental health wasn’t really talked about,” she said. “What was talked about was having a champion mindset, being strong, being a warrior. That included never breaking. That included never resting. That included laser-focused. So in my mind, seeing that, I felt like to be a champion golfer, I had to have that mindset. I had to have that mindset that never broke, never complained.”

But indeed, Wie West struggled physically with various ailments from the grind that saw her playing in PGA Tour events as a 14-year-old and turning professional at age 16. Yes, Wie West was the one driving herself to take on the challenges and thus was a willing participant in pushing the performance envelope in her youth. But that doesn’t mean she had to enjoy the incessant burning rays of the spotlight.

It got to a point, Wie West noted, that she wasn’t entirely upfront about the ailments she was suffering from and her overall health, keeping quiet rather than risking more scrutiny, or feeling like she was letting others or herself down.

“I remember not telling the media really honest answers about my injuries, kind of hiding it, just because I didn’t want to feel weak,” she said.

Eventually, she became more comfortable opening up, even if it exposed her vulnerabilities. At the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Wie West shot an opening-round 84 and tearfully noted she wasn’t sure how much longer her career could last. As it turns out, the ability to express herself freely was a liberating experience.

“Later on in my career, when I was going through more injuries, just being honest about it,” she said. “Just, you know, being like: ‘This hurts. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to play.’ It was kind of freeing because I felt like I didn’t have to put up a front during my hardest times. So it was definitely tough, but I’m really glad athletes now are really stepping out and showing you can be a champion, but also admit that you’re fragile, admit that you’re not perfect.”

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“It was kind of bittersweet always to announce that, but it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a while,” she said. “I want to say I have zero regrets in my career. I’m extremely proud to have achieved the two biggest dreams that I’ve had, one being graduating from Stanford, and the other winning the US Open … I’m very proud of myself. I’ve always wished I would have done more, but I feel like everyone kind of feels that way, so I’m definitely giving myself some grace and enjoying this last week.”

MORE: 11 iconic moments from Michelle Wie West’s career

That US Women’s Open win came just down the road, at Pinehurst No. 2, in 2014, and marked the high point of Wie West’s professional career. She went to Pinehurst Village on Tuesday morning for coffee and was surprised when she didn’t recognise any of it. Even when she drove by Pinehurst No. 2, she said: “Oh, that’s a cool course,” before someone told her what she was looking at.

“I think I just blacked out that week,” she laughed.

Eight years later, she was all smiles as she fielded a variety of questions, and far more forthcoming than she might have been in the days when she was the sport’s cultural touchstone. When asked what she might have thought in those days if someone told her she’d be retiring in 2022, she answered quickly.

“I probably would have laughed, to be honest,” she said. “But I’m extremely fortunate. I’m so happy right now. I’m in a really great place in my life … I was always really bad at predicting the future, and I’m just really happy it panned out like this.”

 

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Wie West’s age, 32, is a bit deceiving. It’s young by athletic standards — or any standards, really — but she first qualified for a USGA amateur championship at age 10, and first appeared on the LPGA Tour at age 12, made her first cut at 13, turned pro a week before her 16th birthday, and can, by some measure, be considered a 20-year veteran. (In addition, she was in Player Dining on Tuesday morning when a kid approached her to say she was named after her … “that made me feel really young,” she joked.) Over the course of that career, she’s been a witness to massive changes in women’s golf, and the LPGA Tour, a fact that hits home with great impact this week considering the $10 million purse at the US Women’s Open.

“Huge kudos to the USGA for really buying into the women’s sport and the LPGA for just growing and keep pushing the boundaries,” she said. “When doors get closed on us, we just keep pushing, and I’m just so proud of everyone on tour and the USGA for really buying in and setting the level right … I’m truly so proud looking back at where our purse was before and now $5.5 million purse, the winner gets over a million dollars, it’s amazing.

“As female athletes, a lot of times we get told, ‘Oh, your sponsorship is only worth this much. You should only ask for this much,’” she added. “I would encourage younger athletes coming up to say, ‘No, I know my worth, I know what I deserve,’ and ask for more.”

As a fierce competitor, even on the verge of retirement, Wie West hopes to be one of the players who might win this week’s enormous purse, and the prestige that comes with it. She’s “managing expectations”, fully aware that she hasn’t played anything like a full competitive schedule, or even a practice schedule, and will be going against the world’s best. Still, while she expects to soak in the atmosphere at one of her last events, she’s been studying the flyovers and isn’t planning on a purely ceremonial weekend.

Meanwhile, for the Wie West fans out there who greeted last week’s announcement with a cry of: “Say it ain’t so!” and may be looking for a glimmer of hope, they’ll take heart in a throwaway line from the middle of her press conference, on the topic of how many events she plans to play next year.

“Just the Open, yes,” she said. “That’s the plans for right now. But I’ve changed my mind before.”

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