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Michelle Wie West announced she will step away from the LPGA Tour after next month’s U.S. Women’s Open.
Wie West told Golfweek that the physical toll her body has taken, between having her first child in June 2020 and various injuries over the years, have made it harder to recover quickly after rounds.
“At times, if I do play a lot of golf,” she said, via Beth Ann Nichols, “I’m just in bed. Or I can’t lift [Makenna] up, and that scared me.”
Wie West has played in only one tournament this year, the Hilton Grand Tournament of Champions, where she finished with a last-place +20 score over four rounds. She will tee it up again next weekend at the U.S. Women’s Open before taking a break.
She did explain that she is at peace with this decision because she already won a U.S. Open back in 2014 and already graduated from Stanford while competing.
“Because I accomplished both of those, I think I feel very happy in my decision now,” Wie West said. “I think if I hadn’t won the U.S. Open, I’d still be out there competing week to week trying to get that U.S. Open win.”
Wie West has been playing professional golf for 22 years, since she became the youngest golfer to play in a USGA amateur championship. She was then the youngest LPGA player to ever turn pro at the age of 12, and the youngest person to win a USGA championship at 13.
Despite never living up to the sky-high expectations she had by being such a good player at a young age, Wie West doesn’t regret anything from her experiences.
“I don’t have any regrets because I feel like I’ve always learned from every mistake that I’ve made,” she said. “I feel like even if it was a huge major fail, at least it makes for a good story now.”
Wie West didn’t commit to official retirement, as she plans to play in next year’s U.S. Women’s Open as well. For now, she expects to work with her brands off the course, including a continued relationship with Nike.
