2017 Michelle Wie ~ Newsmaker

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"Michelle Wie Contends Early at KPMG Women's PGA Championship"

By: Beth Ann Nichols | June 29, 2017 5:24 pm

"OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Few things get the juices flowing at an LPGA major like Michelle Wie on the leaderboard. Wie’s back-nine 31 at Olympia Fields June 29 puts her two shots back of leader Chella Choi at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

What’s gotten into the former phenom?

“I kind of was sick of playing bad golf, honestly,” said Wie. “I was just sick of being down, and really started this year with a really good sense of determination and motivation. … It’s a long time to be out there to be miserable. So I just kind of made a pact with myself that I’m going to have fun, and if I hit a bad shot, brush it off and just have fun out there.”

Stacy Lewis played alongside Wie on Thursday and said the key to Wie’s recent success – four top-4 finishes in her last five events – is that she believes in her process, unorthodox as it may be.

“It’s not pretty,” said Lewis, who refrained from watching Wie’s shots too closely as seeing Wie’s “big cut” does her own game no favors.

“She’s believing in what she’s doing, and she’s hitting it every time,” said Lewis. “That’s what good golf is. If you can hit the same shot every time, that’s when you’re going to play well, and that’s what she’s doing.”

Lewis can’t even question the number of putting grips Wie uses. David Leadbetter said they call it the “whatever method.” Wie uses up to three different grips throughout the round, changing when the mood strikes.

“Again, it’s working,” said Lewis."

Link to the article:
golfweek.com/2017/06/29/lpga-michelle-wie-contends-early-at-kpmg-womens-pga-championship/

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MICHELLE WIE RIDING HIGH IN A CAREER OF HIGHS AND LOWS

by Ron Sirak July 11, 2017

"BEDMINSTER, N.J. – There aren’t too many athletes in any sport who can be considered a grizzled veteran at the tender age of 27. Then again there aren’t too many athletes who burst on the scene bearing a burden of expectation as weighty as Michelle Wie who experienced too many ups and downs to count only to find herself still standing."

"The image that comes to mind is of one of those inflatable dolls that you punch and it keeps bouncing back. As many times as Michelle has taken it on the chin, whether from injury, illness or just plain poor play, she has always dusted herself off, gotten up and gotten back at it. Through it all, she answered every question and never lost her keen – and somewhat offbeat – sense of humor."

“There is no secret that in my career there’s a lot of highs and lows,” Wie said Tuesday at Trump National, site of this year‘s U.S. Women’s Open. “It’s definitely hard to put yourself back together. Sometimes life doesn’t make it easy for you. This year, I feel good about it. I feel positive.”

"For most, having won four LPGA events, including a major championship at the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, would be a great career. But Wie has never been most players. She was the one who would change the game, re-write the record book. And she remains the one who moves the needle more in women’s golf than anyone else. Everyone knows her name."

"Remarkably, this is already the 14th U.S. Women’s Open for Wie and she comes in playing her best golf since that win in 2014, which was also her last victory. She finished T-3, T-2 and T-4 in the run-up to the last major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, where she was T-20, fading with a 73 on Sunday."

“It’s crazy,” Wie says. “I can’t believe it’s been 14 already. The USGA has been like family to me. I played in my first USGA event back in 2000. It’s been a great, great journey so far.”
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"The first time Wie hit bottom was a decade ago when she withdrew from the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open after a first-round 82. A year earlier, at 16, Wie had a chance to win in three majors, finishing T-3 in the ANA Inspiration, T-5 in the Women’s PGA and T-3 in the U.S. Women’s Open. But a fall while jogging early in 2007 damaged her wrist and she tried to play through the pain with disastrous results."
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"In eight LPGA starts, Wie missed the cut three times, withdrew twice and never finished higher than T-69 in a full-field tournament. She went an entire year without breaking par; from the last round of the 2006 Evian Championship until the second round of the 2007 Evian. That downturn continued into 2008, where in seven events she had no top-10 finishes."

"Then things changed when she became an LPGA member in 2009, picked up her first tour win and played her way onto the U.S. Solheim Cup team, a goal that is motivating her this year. “I didn’t rack up many points last year,” Wie says. “I was far down on the list. That was one of my main goals to make the team. I didn’t want to leave it to a captain’s pick.”

"That Solheim experience in 2009 was a turning point for Wie in many ways. It was the first time other players really got to know her in the privacy of the team room and, with her 3-0-1 record, she proved to be a great asset. Her teammates found her to be smart, funny, passionate and very loyal."
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"Wie won again in 2010 and then her second plunge came in 2012, the year she picked up a Stanford University degree, missing the cut 10 times and eight more times in 2013. And then there was another bounce back – two wins in 2014, including that U.S. Women’s Open. But after finishing third in scoring average in 2014 she fell to 53rd the next year and 116th last year."

"Now she is on the upswing again and seemingly ready to win. She’s averaging 69.83 this season and over her last 11 rounds a sizzling 67.58. Most improved has been her putting, especially her lag putting, and a controlled cut off the tee that finds the fairway more reliably."

“I call it the fade life,” Wie says about her new left-to-right approach off the tee. “David [Leadbetter] and I changed my ball flight in the middle of last season. Felt like I wanted to play with more consistency. Hopefully, that fade has brought me to that.”

"Driving the ball in the fairway and making putts are two of the keys to winning a U.S. Women’s Open, where the fairways are claustrophobic and the greens putt with the quickness of a tiled kitchen floor. Key also is having the right attitude. A U.S. Women’s Open tests your patience and your ability to go with the flow. And Wie knows all about that."

“Life doesn’t happen as predictable as you want it to,” she says. “You have to roll with the punches.”
She’s done that admirably since playing her first LPGA tournament in 2002 as a 12-year-old. If there is one thing Michelle Wie knows all about, it’s getting back up."

Link to article:
www.lpga.com/news/2017-michelle-wie-riding-high-in-a-career-of-highs-and-lows

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Rejuvenated Wie Embraces ‘Most Important Week’

JULY 11, 2017 | BEDMINSTER, N.J.
By Lisa D. Mickey

"It’s been a solid summer already for Michelle Wie, who recorded three top-four finishes in June and has six top 10s overall in 2017.
As she returns to the championship where she earned her last career win in 2014, Wie acknowledged feeling both stress and comfort in the run-up to her 14th U.S. Women’s Open start."

“It’s crazy; I can’t believe it’s been 14 already,” said Wie, 27. “The USGA has been like family to me. I played in my first USGA event back in 2000. That’s a good part of my life, you know. It’s been a great journey so far.”

"Wie played her first USGA championship at age 10 as a child prodigy from Hawaii, and she won the 2003 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship three years later. She had five top-five finishes in majors between 2004 and 2006, including a tie for third in the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open at Newport, R.I., before struggling for several years in marquee events."

"But many, including Wie, thought her breakthrough victory in the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open on Pinehurst No. 2 would open the floodgates for more wins to come, especially since it had closely followed a runner-up finish in the ANA Inspiration and a victory in the LPGA Lotte Championship two months earlier. Wie dialed back her driver at Pinehurst, managed her way around the punitive native areas lining the fairways, and drained putts when they mattered, including a memorable clinching birdie on the penultimate hole."

"It was an emphatic and timely victory for the player who had become labeled as the LPGA’s best player to have never won a major, but when 2015 came and went without a win, the questions and doubts returned."

“After I won in 2014, I thought I was going to win 15 more events,” said Wie on Tuesday. “Life doesn’t happen that way ... doesn’t happen the way you plan it out.”

"The 6-foot-tall Wie has tinkered with her putting stance for years, looking for ways to roll putts more consistently and capitalize on her prodigious length. She went to an odd-looking tabletop stance that she employed during her victory at Pinehurst, but has since modified her approach."

"This year, Wie is ranked 43rd on the LPGA Tour with an average of 29.39 putts per round. She is also 19th with 1.76 putts per green in regulation and 20th in scoring average at 69.83. The putting numbers are a vast improvement on 2016, when she was 76th in putts per round and 120th in putts per GIR."

“My putting has definitely changed over the years,” she said. “It’s ever changing [but] I feel like I’ve kind of settled into one thing hopefully. For right now.”

"In the middle of last season, Wie and swing coach David Leadbetter changed her swing to produce a more pronounced fade in her ball flight. Wie sought a more predictable idea of where her ball was going."

“I call it the fade life,” Wie said with a laugh. “I wanted to play with more consistency and hopefully, the fade has brought me to that. I have to be aggressive in my lines.”

"Wie has wrestled with injuries and physical ailments in recent years that have impacted her ability to play with confidence. For now, she claims to be healthy. Wie walked the golf course during Monday’s practice round, hitting chips and putts, but not because she was nursing an ache or pain."

“There is no secret that in my career, there’s [been] a lot of highs and a lot of lows,” she said. “It’s definitely hard to put yourself back together, [but] knowing that I can – it just makes me feel stronger.”

"Wie’s strong performance in 2017 has helped her rise from No. 174 in the Rolex Rankings to a current position of No. 30."

"She showed a flash of her old form in June at the Meijer LPGA Classic, when she carded rounds of 64-65 on the weekend to finish tied for second. That performance was her best finish since her win at Pinehurst."

“You have to ride with the ups and downs,” Wie added. “Life doesn’t happen as predictably as you want it. It’s unpredictable and you have to roll with the punches.”

"In addition to being motivated by a chance to contend in another Women’s Open, Wie is admittedly gunning to earn a spot on this year’s USA Solheim Cup team. That event will be played in August and Wie wants to make her fifth squad."

“I didn’t rack up many [Solheim Cup] points last year and I was far down the list,” she said. “One of my main goals is to make the team and I know I have to play good golf this year. I don’t want to leave it to a captain’s pick.”

"For Wie, the opportunity to win a national championship outweighs everything else this week."

“The U.S. Women’s Open week has been my most important week of the year,” she said. “Just having the memory of having won the 2014 Open will hopefully help me a lot. It gives me confidence knowing that I have done it before.”

"Not to mention that she seems to be peaking at the right time of the season."

“It’s been a fun year so far,” she said. “It’s always great to come into the U.S. Women's Open feeling good about your game and feeling confident.”

Link to the article:
www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2017/u-s--women-s-open/articles/2014-champion-wie-rejuvenated.html

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Tennis meets golf: Genie Bouchard and Michelle Wie switch sports in NYC

By Nick Forrester JUL 17, 2017

"Tennis star Michelle Wie. Golfer Genie Bouchard."

Wait, what?

"On Monday, Wie and Bouchard switched sports for the day during a Nike photoshoot at Chelsea Piers in New York City. So Wie gave Bouchard lessons on her golf swing, followed by the Canadian tennis player teaching Wie a few tricks out on the tennis court."

"And each player was actually pretty good at the other’s sport."

Watch below:

"After Wie helped Bouchard with her golf swing, the two hit up the tennis courts, where Bouchard returned the favor."

Link to article:
www.excellesports.com/news/genie-bouchard-michelle-wie-tennis-golf/

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MICHELLE WIE MAKES A CHARGE FOR FIFTH SOLHEIM CUP APPEARANCE

Topic: SOLHEIM-CUP MICHELLE-WIE - TEAM USA - JULY 7, 2017

"Successful athletes' performances often fly under the radar and suddenly peak on the eve of a championship run. That may well be the case for Michelle Wie, who has seemingly come out of nowhere to find herself in the hunt for her fifth consecutive berth in the Solheim Cup."

"The Honolulu native, who became the youngest Monday-qualifier for an LPGA event at age 12, joined the LPGA Tour at age 18 and captured her only major victory at the U.S. Women's Open in 2014. The next two years were a struggle for Wie who managed only one top 10 and suffered through an injury-riddled 2016 season.

"2017 saw Wie return to top form with six top-10 finishes in LPGA tournaments, including three top 10s in June. They include a tie with Lexi Thompson for second place at the Meijer LPGA Classic, a tie for third at the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer, and a tie for fourth at the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Classic Presented by P&G. She also carded top 10s in three earlier events; the ANA Inspiration, HSBC Women's Championship and the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play Championship -- a good tune-up for the Solheim Cup match play format."

"After a frustrating 2016, Wie says her recent successes are making golf fun again.
Wie told Golfweek in a June interview: “I definitely play my best golf when I’m having fun out there.”

"Those successes vaulted the 27-year-old Wie into seventh place in the 2017 Solheim Cup Team USA points standings, and have propelled her to Number 31 in the Rolex World Rankings. This makes Wie a likely bet to tee off against Europe's top golfers Aug. 18-20 at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club."

"As published in SB Nation, Wie said after her performance at the ShopRite LPGA Classic: “I’m stalking the list for sure." She continued, "I’m trying to get as many points as I can and trying to get up there and make the team."

"Wie's first experience in a Solheim Cup came in her LPGA rookie season of 2009, when she helped carry Team USA to victory. She also played in Solheim Cup tournaments in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Her combined record includes seven wins, seven losses and one halve in her four Solheim Cup appearances."

"Don't miss the action of the most exciting event in women's professional sports.
Order your 2017 Solheim Cup tickets today."

Link to article:
www.solheimcupusa.com/news/2017-wie-makes-charge-for-fifth-solheim-cup-appearance

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Wie embracing Solheim Cup spirit with hair, shoes

By
Randall Mell
August 16, 2017

"WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Michelle Wie is a bit of a rebel this week.

Apparently, it’s part of being in U.S. Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster’s most spirited pod.

Two years ago, Inkster encouraged a move away from the American team’s over-the-top exuberance, from the face-paint tattoos, the exotic fingernail painting and the over-the-top celebrations.

The team took it to heart, forsaking their stiletto heels and wearing the old-school Converse basketball shoes Inkster likes so much to the Solheim Cup’s opening ceremony.

This week, Wie is sporting red-, white-and-blue ribbons in her extravagant hair braiding, and she broke out some blingy new red-, white-and-blue shoes.

Wie was asked if they’re Inkster approved.

“The bling shoes, I love them,” Wie said. “I don't know if I'll be playing in them, just because I took them out to the range, and they were very bright, but that shows my personality. I had a long talk with [2013 U.S. Solheim Cup captain] Meg Mallon about it. We did try to suppress a lot of things in the last Solheim. To some people, that is their personality. To me, that's just not it. I like celebrating after making putts.”


Link to article:

www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/wie-embracing-solheim-cup-spirit-hair-shoes/?cid=rr_trending_p6

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Wie out at least two weeks after emergency surgery

By
Randall Mell
August 28, 2017, 12:47 pm

Michelle Wie is out for at least the next two LPGA events while recovering from emergency surgery to remove her appendix Sunday in Canada.

It’s still uncertain whether she will be able to make her return in the middle of September for the Evian Championship, the year’s final major.

That was the news Monday from IMG, which represents Wie.

“I will be back to playing as soon as the doctors clear me to play!!” Wie wrote Monday on her Instagram account.

Wie withdrew from Canadian Pacific Women’s Open before the final round Sunday and was admitted to an Ottawa hospital, where she underwent surgery. She was six shots off the lead.

Wie sent out a photo of herself smiling, giving a thumbs-up sign, from her hospital bed on Monday:


Link to article:
www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/wie-appendix-out-least-two-weeks-after-successful-emergency-surgery/

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Wie, still recovering from surgery, out of Evian

By
Randall Mell
September 6, 2017

Michelle Wie won’t be able to build on the major championship momentum she created in Scotland this summer.

Wie announced Wednesday that she is withdrawing from next week’s Evian Championship as she needs more time to recover from the appendectomy she underwent on Aug. 27.

Wie tied for third at the Ricoh Women’s British Open the week before she withdrew from the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open to have emergency surgery to remove her appendix.


It’s been a resurgent year for Wie, 27, who has been plagued by injury and illness through her career. She withdrew from the U.S. Women’s Open this year with a neck injury. She has finished fourth or better in five of her last 10 starts.


Link to article:
www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/wie-still-recovering-surgery-out-evian/?cid=Email_ThursdayNL_20170907

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