Wie West eager for first chance to play as mom
Michelle Wie West returns to competitive golf this week, for the first time in nearly two years. To reach this point required a new practice routine for the onetime child prodigy.
Wie West, a San Francisco resident and Stanford graduate, often worked on her swing on the range at her alma mater in recent months — with baby daughter Makenna in tow. Or Wie West played at Lake Merced Golf Club, where she’s a member, while carrying her bag and pushing Makenna in a stroller.
“She’s been coming to the range with me since she was 10 days old,” Wie West said Wednesday. “It’s been so much fun having her out with me. … She likes to crawl on the green and pick the ball out of the hole. Whatever she wants to do.”
Wie West, 31, spoke to reporters ahead of Thursday’s opening round of the Kia Classic, an LPGA event in suburban San Diego. This will mark her first tournament since the Women’s PGA Championship in June 2019.
She has been more than a tad busy in the 21 months since then. She recovered from a lingering wrist injury (she had surgery in October 2018); married Warriors director of basketball operations Jonnie West, son of Hall of Famer Jerry West, in August 2019; and gave birth to Makenna in June 2020, during the early months of the pandemic.
So now Wie West returns to a familiar realm: the golf course, where she long ago became one of the biggest names in the women’s game.
“I’m just so grateful to tee it up and feel nervous again,” she said. “I miss the nerves. There’s nothing like hitting shots that matter.”
Wie West likened Wednesday’s proam at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad to the first day of school. This week’s event will mark the next chapter in a career notable for early landmarks and turbocharged expectations.
She became the youngest player (at age 10) to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links; first competed on the LPGA Tour at 12; became the youngest USGA champion in an adult event at 13; and made eight PGA Tour starts as a teenager.
Wie West has five LPGA wins, including the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst. She hasn’t dominated the way many expected, though she often appeared in the top 30 in the world ranking — she reached No. 6 at the end of 2014 — before this sabbatical. Wie West now stands No. 558.
She plans to play in at least six LPGA events in the months ahead, including next week’s inaugural major of the year near Palm Springs, the U.S .Women’s Open at the Olympic Club in June and the Mediheal Championship the following week at Lake Merced.
“That’s pretty ideal to have the U.S. Open 15 minutes from your house,” Wie West said. “I’ve yet to play Olympic, because it’s a little hilly to push around the stroller. But I can’t wait to go out there.”
There were times in the past two years when she fully expected to retire as a tour pro, but Makenna’s arrival flipped the equation.
“I thought I was done, especially when I found out I was pregnant,” she said. “I thought that cemented it. Then we found out Makenna would be a girl and that changed everything.
“I started thinking I wanted to show her in real time that I play golf. It’s one thing to have her watch YouTube videos, and it’s another thing to have her watch you with her own eyes and see you work hard. It’s been a huge dream of mine.”