Michelle Wie West, who was once tipped to become the Tiger Woods of women’s golf, is stepping away from the LPGA tour at the age of 32.
Wie West told Golfweek that she will compete at the Women’s US Open next week and in 2023 but does not plan to play any other tournaments. She gave birth to her daughter, Makenna, in 2020 and says the rigours of the tour have affected her.
“At times, if I do play a lot of golf,” she said. “I’m just in bed. Or I can’t lift [Makenna] up, and that scared me.”
Wie West first shot to fame as a 10-year-old when she became the youngest-ever player to qualify for the US Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. More records followed as she won the Hawaii State Women’s Stroke Play Championship in her home state at the age of 11 and became the youngest player to qualify for an LPGA event a year later. When she was 14, she recorded the lowest score ever by a woman competing on the PGA Tour with a 68 at the Sony Open. She announced she was turning professional just before her 16th birthday and subsequently signed deals with Nike and Sony worth millions of dollars.
However, her career was plagued with injuries and some within golf believed the hype around her did not match her abilities. There was reported unhappiness on both the PGA and LPGA tours that she received sponsors’ exemptions to some tournaments at the expense of golfers with more pedigree.
However, in 2014 she played her best golf and won the US Women’s Open and finished second at another major, the ANA Inspiration. She had four other victories on the LPGA Tour, the most recent coming in 2018 at the HSBC Women’s Championship.
“I think if I hadn’t won the US Open, I’d still be out there competing week to week trying to get that US Open win,” she told Golfweek.
Wie West said she will spend more time on other projects, including the Nike Athlete Think Tank, a project that promotes women’s sport and also includes Serena Williams among its members. However, Wie West said a return to competition in the future is not out of the question.
“I’m definitely not ruling anything out,” she said.
