Michelle Wie

Michelle Sung Wie West (née Wie) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. Born on October 11, 1989, in Honolulu, Hawaii, she gained international attention as a record-setting amateur player before turning professional in 2005. Over the course of her professional career, she won four LPGA Tour events, including her first major title at the 2014 U.S. Women's Open.

Wie is the only child of South Korean immigrant parents who moved to the United States in the 1980s. Her father was a travel industry management professor at the University of Hawaiʻi, while her mother was South Korea's 1985 women's amateur golf champion. Born with dual citizenship in South Korea and the United States, Wie renounced her South Korean citizenship in February 2013. She graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu in 2007 and subsequently enrolled at Stanford University, where she majored in communications and completed her studies in 2012 while taking periodic leaves of absence to compete professionally.

Wie began playing golf at age four and established numerous youth records. In 2000, at ten years old, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. In 2001, she won both the Hawaii State Women's Stroke Play Championship and the Jennie K. Wilson Women's Invitational. The following year, she won the Hawaii State Open Women's Division and became the youngest player to qualify for an LPGA event. In 2003, she became the youngest player to make an LPGA cut at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, as well as the youngest person to win a USGA adult event at the Women's Amateur Public Links. She also competed in men's events, appearing at the 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii and becoming the first female golfer to qualify for a USGA national men's tournament in 2005.

Shortly before turning 16 in October 2005, Wie turned professional and signed sponsorship contracts with Nike and Sony. Because she was under the LPGA Tour's age limit of 18 and chose not to petition for an exemption, she competed via sponsor exemptions from 2005 to 2008. During this period, she made the cut at the 2006 SK Telecom Open on the Asian Tour, but faced challenges including wrist injuries in 2007 and missed cuts in PGA Tour events. She secured full-time eligibility for the LPGA Tour by tying for seventh place at the qualifying tournament in December 2008.

In 2009, Wie began playing full-time on the LPGA Tour, winning her first individual professional tournament at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in November and posting a 3-0-1 record to help the United States win the Solheim Cup. She recorded her second tour win at the 2010 CN Canadian Women's Open. In 2014, she won the LPGA Lotte Championship and captured her sole major victory at the U.S. Women's Open, which earned her the inaugural Rolex Annika Major Award and selection to ESPNW's Impact 25.

Throughout her career, Wie received additional recognition, including the 2004 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year award. In 2020, she contributed to CBS Sports' multimedia golf coverage, including the Masters. In May 2022, she announced she was stepping away from golf following the 2022 U.S. Women's Open. In February 2026, Wie West announced plans to return from retirement to compete in WTGL, an indoor golf league.