U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

June 1, 2021

Michelle Wie West

The Olympic Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back. Welcome to the interview area 2014 U.S. Women's Open champion Michelle Wie. Michelle, we know how much this week means to you. You haven't played in a U.S. Open since 2018. What does it feel like to be back?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: It feels amazing. USGA did it big this week. The whole setup with our locker room, player hospitality, being here at Olympic Club, it's such a big week for the ladies this week.

It's truly an honor to be back, especially being a USGA champion. It always has a really special feel to it.

Q. As of a few weeks ago, you hadn't played Olympic Club. Now you've played a few times. Talk to us about the course.

MICHELLE WIE WEST: It's tough, man. It's a beast. Couple weeks when I played here definitely rough wasn't as long. Came out here and it's pretty wild. Rough is pretty thick.

Q. You mentioned 2019 KPMG might have been your last tournament. What does it mean to you to tee it up at a major championship again?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: It's a really cool feeling being here. I guess just staying at my house these two weeks is pretty nice. I've never had that happen before at a major tournament. Hazeltine was an amazing venue. It was just a shame, that whole week was clouded. I wasn't even thinking straight. I just couldn't even see straight at that point.

Being here at Olympic Club at another amazing venue, it's really fun. It's really amazing to be back. It's an honor.

Q. Where have you been working on your game since L.A.?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: I have been working on my putting. I flew to Phoenix to see Stan Utley. I've seen him before and definitely needed some guidance. I wasn't sure what I was doing even. Just overall just working on my game, working on my fitness a little bit more.

Q. Pat is really emphasizing the majors surrounding the whole Solheim Cup team. How did you balance being a captain this week with your return to the Open?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: It's been so much fun. Obviously being a co-captain with Angela Stanford and with Pat Hurst, we've had weekly calls, sometimes multi-week calls. It's such a blast to get together. We had a nice team call, or whatever the top ranking is called, and it's been a lot of fun connecting with the players in a different way, really trying to get to know them better, get to know their games better.

Obviously, it's a lot easier to do so when I'm on site, so I'm really taking advantage of this week. Hopefully get paired with some people and really get to see their games and have a whole round to chat with them.

Q. What were your big takeaways from your time with Stan?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: I had a lesson with him a couple years ago, which I always think about, so it was really nice to kind of refresh the things that I was doing. I think stepping away from the game for that long, it felt like with my swing it was really natural. It came back with my putting. It's just the really small things. I just forgot what drills to do. Like what have I been doing? How am I holding the club? How am I even doing anything?

It was really nice to see him and refresh, kind of just nothing new, just remember what I was doing before.

Q. Evidence appears to be mounting daily that being among the best athletes at what you do can be hazardous to your mental health. I'm wondering how you've managed to negotiate what almost seems like an unavoidable trap given your hard wiring and the stresses and expectation that's are there for you?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Totally. I think it's been -- you know, my lows have definitely been well-documented throughout the years, and there's a lot of tough times. I thought what Naomi did this past week was incredibly brave. I also understand that part of being an athlete is speaking to the media because that's how the tournaments get done is through the media coverage.

From a player perspective, I am totally understanding. I do get anxiety talking to media like right before it because I know it's the same questions every week. You guys are just doing your job, and I really appreciate that. I really appreciate the media covering women's sports in general.

Definitely as a player, it gets tough, especially after having a bad round. The last thing you want to do is talk to anyone.

So it's tough, especially when you're not doing well, or there's a lot more to life than your game. There could be other stuff happening. It is sometimes crippling at times, but I'm really proud of athletes taking charge of their mental health and making it a priority. More conversations need to be had about that.

Q. I saw that you trained with Steph Curry back before the match too. Can you talk to me a little bit about that training session. Did you learn something, elite athlete to elite athlete, picking up tips, or what did you learn from Steph?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: We just had a fun round. He is such an elite athlete. He's just in a league of his own. His athleticism, his golf game, you could just really tell. What he can do with his hands is just unbelievable. Watching him this season has been so incredible to watch, it's unbelievable. Every game he plays, I'm like what is he going to do now, what amazing thing?

It's obviously unfortunate. I wish they were still in the playoffs -- or in the playoffs, but there's a lot of great things to come. Just watching, I feel like I'm hopefully absorbing some of the greatness.

Q. Is he going to be out here this week?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: I don't know. I think they were definitely talking about it. I know the guys on the team were super excited about the U.S. Women's Open being here at Olympic. So, yeah, maybe.

Q. In the hopes of asking a different question -- I saw a lot of LPGA hoodies this morning. Can you talk through how you created that product, and could you ever have imagined how successful it's been?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: It's been great. My friend took a picture. It was a random guy wearing it at a Warriors game. Wow, that's so amazing. The coolest part about this is the large sizes sold out first. So we really thought it was going to be the smalls, like the ladies, and the support from the ladies has been great, but surprisingly the large/extra large sold out first, like within hours. It's crazy.

I joined the board this year, and one of the things I wanted to do as a younger generation, you know, the power of merchandise, you see so many these artists, and obviously the Warriors have great merchandise, like NBA teams.

I just was really inspired by the WNBA hoodie and what that did for their league, so I brought the ideas to Roberta Bowman, and she and the team worked on it. She and her team at the LPGA did such a great job. I didn't know graphic design at all, but I sent them inspo pictures and they really brought it to life, and all the proceeds going to the two charities.

It's been really, really amazing the support, and people wearing it, tagging me on Instagram. It just makes my day seeing the different types of people wearing it and kids wearing it and people that you don't expect to wear it.

I think it's really great all the basketball players giving it support. I know they love our Tour. They love supporting our Tour. So we wanted to create an item that was really easy and tangible to wear and easy to show your support.

Q. Michelle, I know you still take great care of your wrists. Does the rough worry you at all this week?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, definitely. I look at it, and I'm like, Ugh. It's terrifying. I'm doing the best I can. I have my devices at home, and I do all of them. I go through all my PT stuff.

Yeah, I mean, I knew when I signed up to come out and play again, especially at the U.S. Open, I knew that it was going to happen. I wasn't expecting to come out and there to be no rough.

Yeah, does it worry me? Yes. But the last couple of days I hit a lot of shots out of the rough, and I'm feeling pretty confident about it. It will always be what it is. I'm playing definitely on borrowed time, and I'm grateful for every second of it.

Q. In 2007, when you were going through that first round of wrist injuries, I stumbled on a quote where you were asked basically all the people criticizing you and judging you, how do you deal with that? And you said something like, Well, I'm trying to do my job. Reporters have their job to do. I'm wondering, you were so young then. Like was that bravado, or where did that poise or perspective come from? That seemed like a sign that even then you were able to navigate it better than many people do.

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, I think everyone has their own role. Everyone is just trying to live their life the best that they can. We have different jobs. We're definitely on the two sides -- I mean, we're definitely on two sides right now. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Everyone is entitled to do their job to the best of their capability and ability, and I'm just trying to do mine at my best ability.

So I think, if we all just understand each other, I think just human to human, it's great. I think you guys have been pretty fair, and I'm just trying to do the best I can.