From qualifying for the LPGA Tour at a young age to having a storied career that ended with her retirement in 2022, Michelle Wie West is now looking back on her time on the golf course with pride. Wie West was a pioneer in her sport and a role model for many of today's top golfers. Having handled herself in the limelight through her formative years is something Wie West has prided herself on, and now that she has begun her journey through motherhood and investing in women's sports, Wie West looks to enrich the lives of her children and rising female stars in the sports world.
Wie West began winning on the amateur golf circuit at just ten years old. She began her adulthood on the LPGA tour and is, to many, the most recognizable female golfer in the world. It wasn't easy growing up in the public eye and at the top of her game, but Wie West can now look back on that time of her life with contentment. She is a new mom of two and is reflecting on a turning point in her life. At a time when she is stepping outside of life as a professional athlete and into motherhood, she sat down for an exclusive interview to discuss her past as well as her future.
“I think I overcame a lot, I think for me, it was just staying positive the whole time,” she said. “Obviously, I went through some really dark moments, but just always keeping my head up high and just putting one foot in front of the other. I think being an athlete, being a female athlete, is extremely difficult. I don't think people truly understand the nuances of it, and just the mental struggle of it, almost on a daily basis, just growing up there, and I just, I felt like I kept my head held high, and I just put one foot in front of the other, and just kind of trek through and took the high moments as high, low moments as low. But just overall, I felt like I never once, I never lost faith.”
Wie West decided to step away from professional golf in 2022 after the birth of her oldest child and after having some lingering injuries. Throughout her career, she won four times on the LPGA tour, including one Master's and the U.S. Open in 2014. Despite all the successes on the golf course, Wie West looks back fondly on how she carried herself and continues to in such a positive light.
“Looking back, just the fact that I went through puberty in front of millions of people is kind of crazy to me,” she said. “And, I think you're just so vulnerable when you're out there, especially playing a solo sport, there's nowhere to hide behind. You can't hide behind a team. You can't hide behind anything. When you're out there, I feel like you're truly at your most vulnerable and to do that at the most vulnerable age, I'm extremely proud of myself. You know, obviously you don't think about these things when you're going through it. It's kind of like an after-the-fact kind of thing that you're thinking of. I was just proud that I never really truly got cynical. I think it's really easy to be cynical going through what I went through. But I went out there and still always tried to find the positives and everything that I did.”
Michelle Wie West wants to create more working opportunities for females in their sport
Wie West is in a position as a former professional athlete to turn her years of experience and knowledge into opportunities for the next generation. She is one of the investors in the new women's basketball league, Unrivaled. As an investor, Wie West is hoping to change the landscape of female sports and continue the growth of the next generation of female athletes. She spoke a bit about this and other projects she is fostering, some of which are still being kept under wraps.
“When they provided me the opportunity, they were talking about Unrivaled, you know, if it's any opportunity to create more working opportunities for females in their sport I'm here for it,” she explained. “I think there's a lot of unique set of challenges that female athletes have to go through and to be part of something like Unrivaled has been so empowering, to be part of a league that creates opportunities for those female basketball players. I got to see it in person the other day, and it was awesome. The fan base, they were all about it. I mean, the hooty-who's and kind of seeing how fast people get so invested in watching women play. It really is, you build it, and people will come. For me to be a part of it, it feels really cool.”
Within the sport of golf there have been some interesting changes in recent years. One of these new developments has been the creation of TGL. The brainchild of Tiger Woods, this indoor tech-driven simulator-style golf has been a hit with golf fans both new and old. Wie West is also a fan of this new side journey of professional golf and thinks it may open up the sport to a new type of fan.
“I mean, first off, I love the shot clock, I think we can implement it on tour. But you know, all the technology I got to see that in person as well, and the sides of the screen, the amount of money that has been invested into it, I think it's just really cool, because it just reaches such a different audience, Even the people that were there watching in person, it's not your typical golf crowd that you would see, out at a golf tournament,” she mentioned. “You get to see a different side of them, you can hear them miked up, which you don't really see that much in golf tournaments. So overall, I think that's gonna be great. I think it, obviously, it'll never overcome and that'll never take over anything, but I think it's a great supplemental add to the game of golf. And with the rise of simulators, sports bars, and everything, I think it opens up the game to so many other people.”
Wie West has found a sense of purpose and fulfillment in this next chapter of her life. Her golf career brought her both success and challenges, through which she has emerged with a renewed appreciation for her journey and a focus on using her platform to support other female athletes. Wie West is committed to paying it forward and inspiring the next generation of athletes and her own children. As she navigates motherhood and her business ventures Wie West's resilience and positive outlook on life will continue to be her guide through her future endeavors.