The destiny of Michelle Wie’s 2014 US Ladies’s Open hung within the stability as she looked for her golf ball on the seventieth championship gap.
Pictures: getty
Like many professional athletes today, Michelle Wie is not too keen on that large scary phrase. retirement. Serena Williams, not a giant fan of that phrase both. Tom Brady, not too enthusiastic both. And Wie, not a giant fan of the ballast the phrase “retirement” holds.
“The ‘R’ phrase is a really uppercase ‘R’ phrase,” Wie stated final week. “You possibly can’t say ‘retirement’ with out it sounding so harsh and loud. I feel ‘transition’ is a softer phrase. I additionally really feel like at 32, utilizing the phrase retirement is a bit hateful. As a result of I am not retiring. I am nonetheless working, I am nonetheless doing issues.
We had mentioned the topic of a retreat in Wie throughout this week’s Drop Zone podcast, the place we sat down together with her to debate plenty of issues: the brand new occasion she’s internet hosting on the LPGA subsequent yr, what she misses about New York, what it was like a young person taking over the world {of professional} golf and extra. Naturally, that capitalized “R” phrase popped up, as a result of she’s now not a full-time golfer.
Wie admittedly has solely performed 3 times for the reason that US Open this summer time; do not inform that to his coach. She will’t wait to play once more subsequent summer time when the women tackle Pebble Seashore. However in any other case, his aggressive golf days fade within the rearview mirror, which is among the most fascinating instances you may speak to knowledgeable athlete. And with Wie, that is particularly the case.
She has publicly admitted that throughout the decrease moments of her profession, which had been riddled with accidents, she wasn’t as forthright with the media about every part she was going by means of. Skilled golf generally is a lonely house, particularly when the outcomes on the course aren’t overwhelmingly optimistic. And Wie’s response was to reduce the accidents and every part she confronted.
Immediately, issues are very completely different. Wie was as considerate as may be once we talked in depth about her profession.
“It was robust,” Wie stated. “Taking part in skilled golf full time was a chore. I am not going to misinform you. It gave me a whole lot of anxiousness at instances. My psychological well being wasn’t one of the best at completely different instances.
He misses it too. After which there are occasions when she doesn’t miss the ten and a half months of journey per yr. A full profession — roughly twenty years within the highlight — is rather a lot to look again on for Wie. However when you find yourself requested a easy query: what’s the spotlight of your profession? — she made an fascinating alternative. The precise second she felt the best surge of pleasure was when she landed a 6-foot putt for a double bogey on the 2014 US Ladies’s Open at Pinehurst.
Usually, a double bogey in a significant championship is precisely the type of factor that will destroy a stable efficiency and piss off the participant who’s simply attempting to finish 18 holes. However for Wie, that second introduced speedy readability. She had performed her second shot within the par-4 16 from a fairway bunker in direction of…who is aware of the place?!? At the least that is the response of the TV present, which you may watch right here. It is usually straightforward to seek out balls within the waste areas of Pinehurst, however Wie’s shot flew right into a bush. She was fortunate it occurred in 2014, as a result of had it occurred in 2019 or later, Wie’s seek for his ball may need overshadowed the brand new three-minute time restrict. Nonetheless, his caddy noticed him in a grotesque, bushy lie.
That is not the place you wish to discover your golf ball whenever you retain the lead in a significant championship.
Wie was pressured to take an unplayable lie drop, incurring a penalty, a success on the inexperienced and a two-putt. She did simply that, but it surely wasn’t easy as her double-bogey saver stretched six toes. The echoes of native church bells hung within the air. Stacy Lewis remained free on the coaching discipline. Everybody across the sixteenth inexperienced held on Wie’s putt, which spilled down the middle of the cup.
With two holes to play, she held a one-shot lead and a smile as broad as we might seen all day. “In all probability the height second of pleasure was after I landed that 6-by-16 double-bogey putt when I discovered my ball,” stated Wie, now eight years away. “It stands out extra for me, greater than the birdie putt I made on the seventeenth. I nonetheless vividly bear in mind strolling to the 18th inexperienced and seeing everybody there. I had mates from Hawaii there who wore these loud and obnoxious aloha shirts. I bear in mind throwing a Shaka at them and seeing everybody. As I made that ultimate putt, I nonetheless vividly bear in mind how relieved and glad I felt.
For the uninitiated, Wie introduced that deep sense of reduction on the seventeenth gap and birdied the lengthy, tough par-3, giving him a snug two-shot lead heading up the 18th gap. She took care of the remainder from there to win her crowning glory, the US Ladies’s Open trophy. She tells us much more about her profession, her regrets and the way she desires to vary the sport going ahead on this week’s episode of The Drop Zone. Take a look at the interview under and subscribe wherever you’re you take heed to your podcasts.
