Stepping Away at 32, Michelle Wie West Takes Pride in Her Resiliency

The former teenage phenom won five times on the LPGA Tour including a U.S. Women's Open, and looks forward to family life after this week's Open.

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. -- Zero regrets.

That’s how Michelle Wie West would like to remember her professional golf career as she prepares to leave the lush fairways and greens behind in her early 30s for a family life and greener business ventures.

The 32-year-old Wie West joins a list of “early retirees” in women’s golf over the years that have included stars Lorena Ochoa (28) and Annika Sorenstam (38), and a group of other famous athletes in a variety of sports for a variety of reasons such as baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax (30), NFL running back great Jim Brown (29) and tennis legend Bjorn Borg (26).

Although Wie West says she wants to play in the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach next year, this week’s USGA national championship at Pine Needles Resort in the North Carolina Sandhills will amount to her swan song.

Wie West hasn’t played much recently, and really doesn’t expect too much at Pine Needles as she waves goodbye to a game that has been both good and bad to her since turning heads when at age 10 she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship.

She also became the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and the youngest to qualify for an LPGA Tour event. Wie West turned professional shortly before her 16th birthday in 2005 … and the enormous expectations soon followed.

“I played with her quite a few times when she was 13, 14, maybe 15,” Sorenstam said when asked about Wie West’s career. “She hit the ball a long ways. I remember her swing was really very powerful, especially her wedge game. She put a lot of spin on the ball, and being 6-foot I was like, ‘wow, this girl has got it.’”

Sorenstam was not alone in the assessment of Wie’s potential, which in the end may or may not have been realized with only five LPGA titles under her belt.

“She still had a great career in many ways. Maybe other people thought she would do more, but it's hard to win out here,” Sorenstam said. “She won a U.S. Open and other events and she has been great for the game.”

Sorenstam also left professional golf more than a decade ago to start a family and concentrate on various business ventures. She is making what amounts to a cameo appearance this week at the U.S. Women’s Open as an over-50 golfer who hasn’t played much competitive golf recently, similar to Wie West’s current game.

Michelle Wie took time to sign for fans this week at Pine Needles / Dave Droschak

“Michelle has a lot of great things going for her, being a mother and a wife and all the other businesses,” Sorenstam said. “There's a lot on the plate, which I can kind of relate to. I know what it's like with other interests. It's a fun time for her.”

It was just down the road at Pinehurst No. 2 where Wie West captured her crowning moment in golf – the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open championship – in a checkered career filled with a number of golfing ‘firsts,” numerous injuries and what some may believe are unfulfilled expectations.

There is some evidence that Wie West’s competitive golfing spirit has already dissipated. She was picking up some coffee the other morning in the Village of Pinehurst and happened to drive by No. 2. It was just eight years ago that Wie West basked in glory at the famed Donald Ross layout, but she drew a blank.

“Funny enough, I don't remember anything about the week (in 2014),” Wie West said. “I drove by Pinehurst No. 2 and I'm like, ‘oh, that's a cool golf course.’ They're like, ‘oh, that's Pinehurst No. 2.” I don't remember that at all. I think I just blacked out that week.”

Wie West last played a LPGA Tour event in January, shooting 20 over par in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions to finish tied for last in a 29-player field. And she played in just six events in 2021, missing the cut four times and finishing no better than 40th.

“Yeah, I'm definitely managing expectations right now,” she said. “I haven’t had the practice schedule that I usually do leading up to U.S. Women’s Open. This week I'm just soaking it all in, just seeing all the fans, seeing all the players, walking the walk. It's pretty cool.”

What could be Wie West’s final professional rounds will include a group with Brittany Lang and Sung Hyun Park.

Wie West has remained a popular figure in the women’s game for two decades and a role model for many young players attempting to get into competitive golf. She drew a crowd of First Tee participants for a photo after her press conference this week at Pine Needles, taking the time to pose for selfies, sign balls and flags, and laugh a little.

Wie West also hopes she can transition into some broadcasting roles in the near future.

“It's funny, when I do live broadcasting, that's like the closest that I feel to the adrenaline of playing golf,” she said. “You know, professional golf is something that you'll never be able to recreate. That's the hardest part about moving away from it because there is nothing else that will recreate that feeling. But also I've done it for a very long time, and I'm just looking forward to spending more time with my family.”

And likely a few more questions in the next few days about the “what if’s” of her golf legacy.

“There's always that inkling of wishing I had done more,” Wie West said of her career. “But I feel like no matter what, no one is ever going to be 100 percent satisfied. I have definitely had an up-and-down career, but I'm extremely proud for the resiliency that I've shown. I'm extremely proud to have achieved the two biggest dreams that I've had -- one is graduating from Stanford and the other winning the U.S. Women’s Open. To check both those off the list means everything to me.”