U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN MEDIA DAY

April 26, 2021

Michelle Wie

The Olympic Club

Media Day

Q. You won the U.S. Open playing in front of fans. That was now seven years ago. When you think back to that, now that you have the advantage of hindsight, how impactful was that win to your entire career?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Oh, it was a key. 100 percent one week changed my life. And that's what the U.S. Women's U.S. Open does. It creates opportunities for us to create life-changing moments. It's not just one tournament. It's a major that we look forward to, watching it when we were kids and playing on venues like we do. It means so much to me.

That win in 2014, that elevated visibility for our Tour so much, and us being able to play on these top venues, it means so much to our Tour. It's life-changing.

Q. You mentioned elevating the visibility. Do you feel like we're entering a new era for women's golf as we're turning the corner to growing the game?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Totally. We need that first corporation to make the breakthrough, make the commitment. Once one person do it, it's going to be easier for others to follow. So having that first to do it is super important, and I definitely think we're in a new era for the golf (indiscernible) being more inclusive and more welcoming.

I think golf can be very intimidating, but once you get in it, you'll know it's such a fun and addicting game.

Q. I can confirm, yes. Speaking of new era, you are obviously in a new era as a mom. Could you explain a little bit about what the day-to-day is like now, traveling the Tour with a baby and the circus, what does that 24 hours look like on a competition day?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Oh, it's pretty wild. Golf all of a sudden doesn't play a part. I mean, it is your main focus on why you're there that week, but if something happens with the baby or whatnot, golf immediately gets put to the side, which is crazy for me to have experienced because always golf was most important in my life, the only thing that was important in life for so long.

Finally having that shift in priority is different, and it's also something I have struggled with because I do realize that I want to try (indiscernible) it's that inner kind of struggle and not having (indiscernible).

But it's fun. I mean, it's also so much more fun at a tournament. You come back and you don't have a great day, you just immediately forget about it. Nothing else in the world even matters. But also she -- my mom took her all (indiscernible), and just knowing that she was there, it was so great.

Q. You talked a lot about how Makenna has changed your perspective on the future for your playing career. What has gone into that thought process for you when you think about how your career is going to play out?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah. I think I totally thought I would (indiscernible) now, but the decision to come back really was impacted by (indiscernible). I think a lot of things that places where I want to spend my time, it's not just about golf, but really want to focus on making this game available for she or the girls like her that want to do this for a profession. I want that to be an option for her.

Our cast members have done such a great job to take us to where we are now, but as a professional golfer we have that responsibility to carry it forward and to keep moving it forward.

Q. Something you've done recently to move the game forward is this LPGA Hoodie For Golf thing. I have to ask you about this because it's completely sold out, you've sold out I don't know how many times now, so what are your thoughts on how this has played out recently.

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, it's been amazing. The feedback and the interest and the excitement surrounding the hoodie has been so, so amazing. But the most amazing thing is I get all these ideas from girls on the high school golf team or at their club just being like, It's so much more than a hoodie.

I now want to bring awareness to bringing more tee times for women, or I'm the only girl on the golf team, I want to get more girls to play. That was the whole concept behind it. It's not just a hoodie. We kind of joked that it's an evolution. We want this to be a time in our lives that people who already support the LPGA can also make it cool enough or try to make it cool enough to where it can kind of cross over to the mainstream a little bit.

Q. Seeing all these celebrities wearing it, I didn't know so many of these folks loved golf or were passionate about golf, but it's so -- really great to see women's golf in a mainstream audience like that, so hats off to you for championing that movement. We are going to open it up to others, as well, so we're going to have a few mics brought out, and if you have a question, come up to the mic and ask it of our 2014 U.S. Open champion.

Q. You said that winning the U.S. Women's Open was life changing. Can you describe how it was life changing?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, first of all, it does get the monkey off your back so people don't keep asking when you're going to win a major, but also it impacted the course of my career. It finally -- I finally really, really believed in myself that I could and that I did, and that sort of validation, self-validation was -- I feel I carried myself differently from that moment forward because of that self-validation.

But also winning at Pinehurst, the weight that that carried, anywhere I go now, I guess I have that with me, and it's been a crazy ride. I still remember seven years ago. I still remember every second of it.

Q. You got to know Mike Whan pretty well as the commish. How do you think he'll be as the CEO of the USGA?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, I've known Mike for a very long time, and it's not a secret that our Tour was struggling when he came on board and how he turned that around and how he had a lot of great ideas, new ideas.

But more importantly, every players' meeting he made it a point to -- like I said, drilled into our heads about what our founders did. Like, hey, this is not guaranteed. The amount of work that our 13 founders have done and we created the Founders Cup really celebrating our 13 founders,, but also like, hey, you need to do the work. This is not guaranteed.

Just because you have a $3 million purse, now you can win a million dollars for the U.S. Open, it's not guaranteed. He really brought every single member on Tour together to work for the same goal, and I think that's why we've been successful.

Q. What do you think your biggest challenge is in trying to come back and play the level of golf that you want to play?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: I think if you really want to win a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour, you have to dedicate all of your day, all of your energy, but right now obviously I'm not. I'm giving myself probably two, three hours a day tops, which that's fine. I just have to -- like I said, I have to really internally try to figure out a way how I'm going to do this and how I'm going to not feel guilty about taking more time or prioritizing certain things.

I felt like before LA I took time off and definitely it was good to reset and recharge, but definitely the time commitment I guess is the toughest thing.

Q. I was fortunate enough to be at Pinehurst. I always tell everybody one of the coolest things was seeing you hit your second shot on 18. What did you do? How far out were you?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: I was like 120 and it was all the way to the back. That golf course has a huge backdrop, so all the (indiscernible) towards the middle of the green and be 10 yards short of the pin.

So I hit a gap wedge and I got it all the way to the back and it landed pin high, and I was like, Oh, that's a (indiscernible).

Q. Once you hit it and saw it land, that walk up 18, what was it like for you just knowing what you had come through to get to that point?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: That couple of minutes was the best couple of minutes in my golf career thus far just because I knew I had it in the bag, and it was just a sigh of relief. It felt like a thousand pounds had been lifted off my back.

The coolest part about that is I followed Martin Kaymer and Rickie Fowler the final round the Sunday before, and I remember looking at the grandstands that day and being like -- I was trying to soak it in and be like, How cool would it be if you walk down this hole as a USGA champion?

The fact that it happened the week afterwards, it was the coolest experience.

Q. We're commercial-free coverage this year, which means the U.S. Women's Open becomes one of the most visible events. How important is that?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Oh, I think it's so important. I think you saw the stat that came out last year (indiscernible) of total media coverage. The lack of visibility in the media is tough. It's tough to really get equity into a tournament when you're not as visible.

An organization like the USGA and events like the U.S. Women's Open being so big and being so popular and being so visible really, really helps our Tour. I know a lot of people, everyone that I talk to, they love watching our Tour, they love watching the U.S. Women's Open, and they have a great sense of history, as well.

Q. You have some broadcast experience now; I'm wondering what would be some of your learnings if you were to cover a U.S. Women's Open?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Like what did I learn?

Q. Yes.

MICHELLE WIE WEST: The amount of research that goes into working on TV is pretty wild. It's definitely something that I didn't know before. Even though I know the game, the amount of research you have to do is pretty crazy. So that really helped going through that broadcast.

I've never been one to do research and all of that, so it's been really cool looking at the golf course, walking the golf course from a different view, but also doing the research and seeing what players play well, what do they do well, kind of looking at it from that perspective.

When you're so deep in it yourself it's hard to really see that.

Q. How strong of a desire is there to compete at a professional championship level at Augusta, and what do you think that would mean to your fellow members of the LPGA?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: I think we would love that. I think we were a bit disappointed that it wasn't offered to us. But there's a lot more years to come, and hopefully that opportunity will be given to us because I know that we would love it.