Michelle Wie West has visualized how she wants her career to end on the LPGA tour after more than a decade.
She announced a year ago she would step away from the game and would retire after returning this year for the U.S. Open which is being held this week at Pebble Beach on California’s Monterey Peninsula.
“I hope it’s in the final group with everyone watching,” she said. “That would just be so incredible. I’ve definitely dreamt of it, thought about it, and I can’t believe it’s only a few days away,” Golf Digest reported she said.
She’s been a member of the LPGA Tour since 2009. Now 33 years old she acknowledges her goodbyes will not be easy.
“When I made the announcement last year, even still it was like, ‘I’m transitioning out, but I have Pebble,’” she said Tuesday. “Now I don’t have anything in the foreseeable future, so it’s definitely an emotional week for me.”
Wie West is getting a bit nostalgic, looking back at the highs and there are many.
She told NBC Sports she had three goals when she launched her career. She wanted to graduate from Stanford, she dreamed of winning the U.S. Women’s Open and she set her sights on playing in the Masters.
She graduated in 2012, won the U.S. Women’s Open in 2014 and almost got to play in the Masters saying she was just two matches away “which would have been really really cool.”
“To be able to say that I achieved two of my biggest dreams I’m incredibly blessed. Obviously being a mother now has been my biggest achievement. Life is good.”
Her professional playing career may be about to end but her association with golf will continue. Last week Delta announced it had signed a sponsorship deal with both Wie West and up-and-coming star Rose Zhang.
It’s the first time the nation’s largest carrier has signed a national sponsorship deal with LPGA golfers, reported SB Nation.
She now has five LPGA championships and strives to be an ambassador of the game. She is arguably the biggest name in women’s golf.
“I hope that I inspire a lot of other girls to make bold and fearless decisions and choices in their careers as well,” Wie West said to Golf Digest.
She also produces the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in Jersey City.
This week, however, it’s all about the U.S. Open. She said she’s been grinding getting ready to have what she hopes will be a wonderful week. She’s been paired for the opening round on Thursday with Annika Sorenstam, another golfing legend who has 10 LPGA majors to her name.
She’s looking forward to being both inspired by Sorenstam and getting some tips.
“It’s been great. I’ve been working hard, body feels, you know, it’s one more week, so yeah.”
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