Golf legend Michelle Wie West questioned everything after retiring from the LPGA Tour in 2023.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Post, Wie West recalled asking herself, “What’s my purpose?” at age 33 after spending most of her life playing the sport. She began playing at age 4.
“It’s been over two years now and it has been an amazing journey so far,” Wie West, now 35, said of her retirement while speaking on behalf of her partnership with ACUVUE, Johnson & Johnson Vision.
“You know, obviously there was a time period where I was like, ‘Okay, so now what? What am I supposed to do? What’s my vision here? What’s my purpose? What’s my path?’ But it’s really been amazing to take the time and be almost guilt free in the sense of being able to be present with my children.
“I remember, and I noticed this definitely between my first kid and the second kid — after I had Makenna, I kind of rushed back into training. I remember hitting golf balls 10 days after giving birth. I was so fixated on coming back and coming back stronger. It was just during COVID as well too, so it was an extremely interesting time history for sure, and I remember taking her out, we had no help and being out on the golf course I would carry my bag, put her in a stroller and walk with her on the course … It’s been really nice to just not have any of that, not feel the need to feel the guilt of not practicing when I’m with my kid, but also not feeling guilty not being with her when I practicing.”
The 2014 US Women’s Open Champion and her husband, Jonnie West — the son of the late NBA legend Jerry West — share daughter Makenna Kamalei Yoona West, 5, and son Jagger Jerry YooJun West, turning one next month.
Wie West and Jonnie, who is the senior director of pro personnel at Golden State Warriors, married in August 2019.
“It’s interesting because when you play professional sports that takes up like 100 percent of your mind space,” she said. “I look up to moms in sports, or moms in general, other moms, because we have to kind of divide and conquer all these different categories, but it’s been really nice to have kind of like this guilt-free time with my kids right now. It’s nice to be able to compartmentalize, but not have to, and not have to think about it on a 24/7 basis, if that makes sense.”
The 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach marked the Stanford grad’s last competitive tournament ever.
Despite dealing with a multitude of injuries, Wie West retired on her own terms.
But her relationship with working out had soured and the five-time winner on the LGPA Tour “swore off the gym” completely.
“I think I just needed to like stop everything,” Wie West said after spending more than two decades on the Tour. “I don’t know … I spent so much time in the gym. I struggled with a lot of injuries towards the end of my career. So, a lot of the stuff that I was doing in the gym wasn’t fun per se. It wasn’t like a normal workout that anyone can think of. It was just so specific, you would have to fight through pain to see what your new limits are. And so I think a lot of that truly just came from injury stuff.
“After I retired, I swore off the gym for a while. I thought, ‘I’m never entering that, a gym or never doing PT (physical therapy) ever again.’ And it took me a while to get back into the gym, get back into physical therapy making sure my body felt good but like for other reasons. I want to be able to run with my kids, play sports with my kids, keep up with my kids, and as you get older those things aren’t as easy as you want them to be.
“I always loved going to the gym, but I think towards the end of my career, I was just focusing so much on trying to play pain-free or pain-less … think I was a little bit scarred from that.”
Wie West has made strides, recently running a ran a half-marathon in June after joining a training program.
“It’s been really a fun journey kind of reconnecting with my own body after everything, and going through the pregnancies and postpartum,” she said.
Wie West added that she enjoys playing tennis and pickleball, and wears ACUVUE contact lenses for astigmatism, which is a common eye condition.
Looking back on her early-age celebrity — when she was among the most scrutinized players in golf — Wie West said she “can’t imagine” being a child prodigy in today’s social media climate.
Wie West was the youngest player to ever qualify for an LPGA event at the age of 12 for the 2002 LPGA Takefuji Classic, leading to significant expectations that she would be the next big thing in women’s golf.
“Oh my God, I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if I decided to play in a LPGA Tour event if I was 14 right now. I didn’t even think of that,” Wie West said.
“I think about a lot of the younger athletes coming up on the scene and the amount of just 24/7 news coverage and people online commenting, you just can’t escape it,” she said, adding that it was much different when she was coming up in the sport.
“For me, once a day, if news came out, an article came out in the newspaper and then you kind of get a little bit of a break from it. When I was younger, if my parents didn’t physically show me a newspaper or they didn’t print out a news article, I would never have seen it. And a lot of times, I didn’t see it.
“Whereas now, I don’t think there’s any way to hide any of that from your kids. It’s either they’re gonna find it themselves or their friends are gonna show them or you can’t just cut off the internet totally. I think it’s something that kids are learning to navigate … nowadays, this is all they’ve ever known. But I think having young kids myself, it just definitely makes me think about it.”
Wie West explained that she’s enjoying how the game of golf has become more mainstream and accessible to fans through influencers and content creators.
“I was never part of any country club growing up, so a lot of times, you feel like you’re on the outside of things,” she said. “But I love the mindset that people in golf have now — that golf is for everyone. I give a lot of credit to the content creators, like you said, the influencers. YouTube golf is such an amazing platform now. It’s making golf so much more inviting for kids and everything. I think there’s also different forms of golf as well, too. You have your Topgolf. I think what TGL has done with simulator golf is amazing, there’s putt-putt.”
With more than 600,000 Instagram followers, Wie West’s golf and lifestyle videos are fan favorites.
Wie West’s focus has been on advocacy for women’s sports.
Earlier this year, Wie West became an investor in Togethxr, the media and commerce company, which focuses on the investment in and media coverage of women’s sports
It came around the same time she signed a multi-year deal as Mizuho brand ambassador and tournament host for the Mizuho Americas Open, which will take place at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey.
“I have a lot of sponsors. I do a lot corporate work. I’m a tournament host for an LPG event called Mizuho America’s Open, which I joke that it’s kind of like my third child. We celebrated our third year this year and we very happily announced that we’re extending for five more years,” Wie West said.
“I go on a lot of work trips now, but compared to when I was playing the travel is way less. And my husband not having a nine to five as well, we kind of just ham and egg it.”