LOS ANGELES – Just about the only thing that was similar between Michelle Wie West’s first “farewell” to competitive golf three years ago at pebble Beach, and her latest bow on Thursday at Riviera Country club was the weather. On the Monterey Peninsula that Friday in 2023, the sky was dark with heavy clouds in the late afternoon at Pebble’s famed 18th hole, and the weather unfortunately thinned out the crowd in the grandstands. At Riviera, the marine layer that had hidden the sun on mornings this week stubbornly hung around, with a breeze that was unseasonably chilly for June in Southern California.
As for the scene–how it looked and how it felt–it was not only completely different for those who could compare it to Pebble Beach, it was different for Wie West.“Pebble just truly felt like the end,” she said after her second-round, three-over-par 74 resulted in a seven-over total that missed the cut. “This was just a bonus, and a great bonus to be able to play at Riv, be able to play another U It’s a great honor.”Curiously, the USGA scheduled Wie West’s second round to finish on Riviera’s ninth hole instead of the course’s famous closing amphitheater.
A gallery of a few hundred followed her from the tee, and a few hundred more people stood at the green. As her mother approached the green to attempt a long birdie putt, Makenna, now 6, sat on a cart path under the watch of her grandfather, B. J. Wie. Another difference: Wie West would end up three-putting the ninth, missing her par attempt from six feet.
That was quite the contrast to Pebble, where she made a walk-off 30-foot bomb that thrilled the crowd. michelle Wie WestMichelle Wie West walks off her final hole with her daughter, Makenna. Kathryn RileyMakena was ushered inside the ropes just before Michelle finished, and she ran to greet her mom and dad.
Jonnie west, the Golden State Warriors executive, caddied for his wife this week, as he did at Pebble Beach.“As soon as I hugged her, she was like, “Can I go to daycare?,’” Wie West said with a laugh rolled her eyes. “I’m glad I did all this for her.“The reason why she wanted to go up to daycare was because she wanted to go play with Brittany Lang’s kid,” she explained. “That’s just so crazy to know that I’ve known Brittany Lang since I was 13, now our kids are playing together are best friends.
It’s awesome. It’s fun to see the time go by, and I feel blessed.”At Pebble Beach, Wie west said there was only a slight chance that she’d compete again, but then in 2024 she gave birth to son Jagger, and that extended the 10-year exemption for her 2014 U. S. Women’s Open victory at Pinehurst. Riviera, which was awarded the USGA’s biggest women’s tournament in 2022, had lots of appeal for Wie West, considering its stature, the West family’s basketball legacy in L. A., and the fact that she and Jonnie had begun raising their kids in the Southland.2280042158Michelle Wie West hits a shot on Riviera’s 10th hole as her caddie and husband Jonnie West watches.
David CannonWith this Open in mind, Wie west, 36, went to work on her fitness in the year after Jagger was born and said she didn’t touch a club for a long time.“Honestly, that was like the fun part about this week and about this whole journey … it was the first time in my career where I really felt like I can get after it again without really managing much pain,” Wie West said Feeling healthy again motivated her to work extremely hard on her golf game, with Jonnie by her side It was a bonding time for them.
“I played so much golf, we spent so much time together. It was just so much fun,” she said. The entire family knew this week would be filled with laugher and emotion–not to mention a lot of bodies in one place.
She called it a happy “mad house.”“Two out of three dogs came, both kids came, nanny came, parents came, and it’s just amazing chaos,” Wie West said. “I had a lot of help this week, and it was really awesome to kind of come back and know that, even though I missed the cut, I go back, and I’m going to have fun with my kids.”There was golf to be played, of course, on a Riviera layout set up for a major championship. As a prep, Wie West gave herself an invite last month at the LPGA Mizuho Americas Open that she hosts, and the results were not encouraging as she shot 82-80.
She went back to work, in particular on her putting, and her game this week was far sharper.“It definitely felt a little scarier coming back, just being gone for so long,” Wie West said when comparing the experience to Pebble Beach. “You work so hard for just like really one week It definitely was nerve-racking, but at the same time, it was a lot of fun to come play.”After opening with a 75 on Thursday, Wie West made three birdies to go with four bogeys in the first 10 holes in the second round and had an outside chance at making the cut.
But that faded when she bogeyed the difficult second and finished with a bogey.“Obviously, I would be lying to say I wasn’t disappointed. I would have loved to have made the cut today, grinded all day,” she said. “I hit some good shots, hit some good putts, and kind of felt that feeling again, which is awesome.”Later, she joked about only scolding herself a couple of times with an occasional curse word.
“For a tournament week, that’s pretty good,” she said. “I’ll take that as a win.”
