Michelle Wie: How Far She Has Come

Michelle Wie was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 11, 1989. Michell began to golf at the young age of 4 and she turned professional at the age of 15. She was the youngest player to qualify for the Women's U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. The record was broken 10 years later by a ten year old.

Michelle won the Hawaii State Open Women’s Division in 2002. That is the same year she qualified for an LPGA event. In 2003 she became the youngest person to win a USGA adult event by scoring a win at the Women’s Amateur Public Links tournament. She was the youngest to ever play in a PGA Tour in 2004.

In 2005 she had an invitation to the PGA Tour Sony but missed the cut. She did play at the SBS open and finished second. She also placed second in the LPGA Championship. In 2005 she also played in the USGA Men’s national tournament where she went to the quarterfinals before losing.

When Michelle Wie turned professional she signed contracts with both Sony and NIke. She can play in no more than 6 LPGA events each year because she chose not to become a member of any professional tour. In her first professional event she finished in fourth place but was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.

In the first part of 2006 Michelle was ranked third in the Rolex World Golf Ratings but by July was ranked second. By the end of the season she had dropped to the seventh place rating. Even though she has not won a major championship she is considered by some to be a person who is going to have much influence on the golfing world.