Pebble Beach, CA – There was no other way for it to end.
After a dismal week at Pebble Beach, where Michelle Wei West struggled to find the bottom of the trophy, there was no reason to hold back the 30-foot putt on the 18th green—the last of her career. However, the ball kept rolling, tumbling and finally falling.
All Wie West can do is laugh. It wasn’t exactly the ending she envisioned — she lasted through the weekend, played well and may have competed in her final US Women’s Open final ever — but it was the ending she got and one more lasting memory. In a career that spanned decades.
“It’s a funny game,” Wee West said, after scoring for two days 14-over-par (79-79) and missing the cut by 8 shots. “Making that long batter at 18 was definitely the best bye.”
Wie West said she’s been battling emotions since the first game on Friday, holding back her tears and waiting for the final moments to arrive. As she stood on the 18th tee behind her husband and caddy, Johnny West, she took a deep breath and held back tears before shooting her last tee into the fading light.
Next to her, three-time US Women’s Open winner Annika Sorenstam, who will likely also play in her last Grand Slam, asked her son to take a picture of her, her husband and caddy, Mike, in the 18th jersey.
Everyone was trying to hold on to the moment for a little while longer.
“It definitely feels surreal right now,” Wee West said. “It seems that nothing has changed and everything has changed at once.”
Then came the walk down the 18th fairway and up to the green. While Sorenstam’s son walked with the group, Wie West sought out her mother, who was pushing a stroller with Wie West’s 3-year-old daughter, McKenna. She was asleep.
After Wie West hit the long and walked off the green to another ovation and a bouquet of flowers from USGA CEO Mike Wan, McKenna got up. Wie West immediately pounced on her and carried her from interview to interview, her presence another reminder of the life Wie West has now chosen after decades of dedication to the sport that brought her here, 2,400 miles across the ocean from her native Honolulu.
“I was hoping to play better, but this whole experience has been really cool,” Wee West said. “It was great to have my last ride here at Pebble Beach.”
The setting was fitting for a storied run that featured the many historic firsts Wie has amassed over its years in the game. Although she announced her retirement ahead of last year’s US Women’s Open at Pine Needles, Wee West didn’t miss out on a finale Friday that melded one of the world’s most famous holes with a memorable final shot in which she’ll play. Highlight reels to come.
“Public Links was the first tournament I played on the mainland,” Wei West said last year. “And the US Open will definitely be the last.”
The 2000 Amateur Public Links Championship was Wie West’s historic first endeavor into the world of golf. She was 10 years old. Two years later, she became the youngest ever to qualify for an LPGA Tour event. A year later, she won the Public Links at the age of 13, becoming the youngest woman or man to win a USGA event. How did you follow that up? By playing in a men’s event (the 2004 Sony Open through sponsor’s exemption), shooting a 68 and missing the cut by just one stroke.
Wie West went on to play in a total of six events on the PGA Tour, and while she turned professional in 2005—which led to an onslaught of major sponsorships and worldwide interest—she wasn’t able to gain LPGA membership until 2009 due to her age. By then, she had already played in six US Women’s Championships and 16 Grand Slams and had seven top-10 finishes to her name.
From 2009 onwards, Wie West has only won five times on the LPGA Tour, including the 2014 US Women’s Open at No. 2 Pinehurst, which marked the pinnacle of her long career. That year marked the first time that women played the US Open where the men also played it in the same year.
This year, the long-awaited women’s major at Pebble Beach marked a fitting end for Wie, who was not only a pioneer in women’s golf but also a phenomenon that pushed the game to think outside its preconceived barriers. Her foray into the world of women’s golf but also the men’s world required not only a boldness that Wee West said Tuesday she hopes will be part of her lasting legacy, but also a burden that no one should have to bear. However, in many ways, because of her larger-than-life foray into sports, so did Wie West.
Because of this, even though the results on the course may never have matched the hype and expectations that surrounded it in its early years, its impact on the game can still be felt. Many of the players in this year’s tournament broke her own records after qualifying or playing in tournaments at a younger age than I did.
“I’m proud of being brave sometimes and doing what felt right,” Wee West said Tuesday of her career. “I hope to inspire many other girls to make bold, courageous decisions and choices in their careers as well.”
Despite Wie West leaving the game — she made a point that she likely won’t be touching her clubs for a while — she said her family is already planning to move back to Pebble Beach at some point. Her next run wouldn’t give her the adrenaline she said she’d miss, but it would remind her of something else she expressed after her run on Friday.
“I still love golf,” she said. “But yeah, it would be weird. It sure feels weird. But it feels great.”
For now, though, there are no more hits, no more interviews. When the sun finally came out and gave Pebble Beach some of its glow, Wie West picked up her daughter, stood next to her husband, and started walking away. The rest of her life has officially begun.