54 Facts About Michelle Wie

Michelle Sung Wie West is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour.

Michelle Wie turned professional shortly before her 16th birthday in 2005, accompanied by an enormous amount of publicity and endorsements.

Michelle Wie won her first and only major at the 2014 US Women's Open.

Michelle Wie was born on October 11,1989 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Michelle Wie is the only child of immigrant parents from South Korea who came to the United States in the 1980s.

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Michelle Wie's father, Byung-wook Wie, is a former professor of travel industry management at the University of Hawaii.

Michelle Wie's paternal grandfather, Sang-Kyu Wie, a resident of Jangheung, Jeollanam-do, was an emeritus professor at Seoul National University.

When she was born, Michelle Wie was a dual citizen of South Korea and the United States.

Michelle Wie renounced her South Korean citizenship in February 2013.

Michelle Wie graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu in June 2007.

Michelle Wie's paternal grandfather was a visiting professor, and an aunt and uncle are both graduates.

Michelle Wie enrolled in September 2007 as a freshman, but as a professional golfer, Wie was not eligible under NCAA rules to play for Stanford's golf team.

Michelle Wie took leaves of absence during the rest of the year to play professional golf.

Michelle Wie completed her studies at Stanford in March 2012 with a major in communications.

Michelle Wie participated in the university's graduation ceremony in June 2012.

Eight years later, Michelle Wie's mark was surpassed by fellow Hawaiian Allisen Corpuz, who qualified when she was five months younger than Michelle Wie had been when she set the record.

Michelle Wie remained the youngest player to advance to match play in this tournament, until 2014 when Lucy Li surpassed her by one week.

Michelle Wie became the youngest player to qualify for an LPGA event, the Takefuji Classic held in Wie's home state of Hawaii.

Michelle Wie carded a 66 in the third round, tying the amateur record for a women's major championship and qualifying her to play in the final group of the championship.

In June 2003, Michelle Wie won the Women's Amateur Public Links tournament, becoming the youngest person ever, male or female, to win a USGA adult event.

Michelle Wie was given a sponsor's exemption to the 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii, becoming the fourth, and youngest, female to play a PGA Tour event.

Michelle Wie again played in the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship, finishing fourth.

Michelle Wie started her 2005 season by accepting another sponsor's invitation to play on the PGA Tour at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where she again missed the cut.

Michelle Wie played five more LPGA Tour events that year as well as a PGA Tour event, the John Deere Classic.

Michelle Wie entered qualifying for the US Amateur Public Links and became the first female golfer to qualify for a USGA national men's tournament, tying for first place in a 36-hole qualifier for the US Amateur Public Links.

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Michelle Wie made the top 64 in the stroke play rounds to qualify for match play.

Michelle Wie lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Clay Ogden.

When Michelle Wie turned professional, she was not a member of any professional tour.

Michelle Wie chose not to request an exemption and was thus only allowed to participate in a limited number of LPGA Tour events when given a sponsor's exemption from 2005 until 2008.

Michelle Wie played her first professional event in the 2005 LPGA Samsung World Championship, where she was disqualified from a fourth-place finish for signing an incorrect scorecard.

However, Michelle Wie finished the season with several disappointing performances in both male and female tournaments, including the Omega European Masters, PGA 84 Lumber Classic, LPGA Tour Samsung World Championship and the Casio World Open.

At this point, Michelle Wie had played 14 consecutive rounds of tournament golf without breaking par and had missed the cut in 11 out of 12 tries against men and remained winless against the women.

In 2007, Michelle Wie's slump continued, including a four-month hiatus, due to injuries to both wrists, a disqualification, and several missed cuts and withdrawals.

Michelle Wie finally became eligible to play full-time on the LPGA Tour in 2009, when she tied for 7th place at the LPGA qualifying tournament in Daytona Beach.

Michelle Wie held a three-stroke lead with eight holes remaining, but ended up losing to Stanford by three strokes.

On November 15,2009, Michelle Wie won her first professional individual tournament, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico, an event on the LPGA Tour limited to the top 36 female golfers in the world as determined by the LPGA money list and Rolex women's world golf rankings, posting a score of thirteen under par 275 for a two-stroke margin over fellow American Paula Creamer, and beating Jiyai Shin, Cristie Kerr and Morgan Pressel by two strokes.

Michelle Wie was four strokes behind Angela Stanford after 54 holes but shot a 67 to Stanford's 73 to win by two strokes.

On June 22,2014, Michelle Wie won her fourth LPGA Tour event and first major championship, the US Women's Open.

Michelle Wie was tied for the lead with Amy Yang after 54 holes at two-under-par.

Michelle Wie will contribute to CBS Sports' multimedia golf coverage, including the Masters starting in 2020.

In May 2022, Michelle Wie West announced that she would be stepping away from the game following the 2022 US Women's Open.

Michelle Wie shot rounds of 73 and 80, missing the cut by nine strokes.

Professional golfers, fans, and media critics remarked that allowing Michelle Wie to compete in PGA events took away opportunities from more deserving golfers.

Michelle Wie declined to enter LPGA Tour qualifying school after turning 18 and therefore would have to depend on sponsor exemptions to play in future LPGA tournaments.

Early in her career, Michelle Wie employed many different caddies after her father stopped being her caddie in 2004.

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Michelle Wie created controversy when, after finishing tied for 26th at the 2006 British Open, her caddie Greg Johnston was fired over the phone by Wie's then-agent Ross Berlin.

For much of 2009, Michelle Wie used on-loan caddie Patrick Tarrant, who worked for then-injured PGA pro Brett Wetterich; however, at the end of that year but prior to her first LPGA victory, Tarrant recommended that she work with his friend Brendan Woolley, who continued as her exclusive caddie through the 2010 season.

Woolley and Michelle Wie parted ways in December 2012 after finishing 64th on the LPGA Money List and earning just $158,546 that season.

In January 2013, Michelle Wie employed Mark Wallington, who caddied for another LPGA professional and European Solheim Cup player, Sophie Gustafson, for three tournaments.

Michelle Wie then began working with Duncan French, who has continued caddying for her exclusively since.

At the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika in May 2007, Michelle Wie's playing partner, Alena Sharp, questioned Michelle Wie's withdrawal from the tournament due to wrist injury.

In March 2019, Michelle Wie announced that she was engaged to be married to Jonnie West, who is Director of Basketball Operations for the Golden State Warriors and is the son of NBA legend Jerry West.

Michelle Wie won several other Hawaiian local and junior events during the years 2000 through 2002.

Michelle Wie played her first professional event while still an amateur in February 2002.