Success does not come easy. Ask Michelle Wie West. Her career is filled with achievements that no one else did, like playing on the men’s Tour and coming so close to making the cut. But with all golf’s grandeur, she lost much more behind the curtains, which she later revealed. After retiring from the game in 2023, the 5-time LPGA Tour winner shared how being involved in the game from a young age cost her childhood. She was a Hawaiian prodigy at the age of ten, as she then became the youngest golfer to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship in 2000.

But at the same time, West was struggling. She once recalled her childhood and said, “I had to miss graduation to play in the LPGA Championship; of course, I missed a lot of things.” West is not letting that same happen with her daughter, Makenna, and enjoying golf with her as it should be with a child. The 35-year-old former pro posted a story on her Instagram, revealing that her oldest child now plays golf and that too better than most kids.

But Wie West wanted to show off her skills as well and tease Makenna, so she teed up with her using a tiny club, and yet the drive was better than her daughter. This made Makenna get a bit mad. But West enjoyed herself; she said, “Sometimes you just gotta flex on your kids 🤣🤣🤣. She’s so mad 😂😂.” Furthermore, the 1-time major winner also expressed how Makenna was becoming more of a real golfer. After throwing a fit, West added, “She then blamed my mom for teeing it too high; we becoming a real golfer. Blaming everything else but yourself.”  

It is truly incredible to see Wie West’s journey from being a true pro to now embracing motherhood and enjoying it to the fullest. Despite the hurdles she faced in her career, the five-time LPGA Tour winner has not let them affect her relationship and has moved on from them. Although her career was not as long as she wanted for these two reasons, she had to cut it short.

Michelle Wie West didn’t want to sacrifice time with her daughter

As Michelle Wie West was claiming the stairs of success, a few injuries also followed her around, particularly when she was diagnosed with arthritis in both hands and underwent surgery on her right wrist in 2018. Around that time, West’s game was declining, and she couldn’t push for winning again. And that’s when she decided to retire soon. Two years later, while battling the injuries that forced her to retire, Wie West revealed that she was expecting her first child, Makenna Yoona West.

The 35-year-old added, “Obviously having my daughter, and then you know my husband had such a busy schedule as well; she was so young that I just didn’t want either of us to really sacrifice time with her. So it was just kind of like a multitude of things. Just knowing that I played a really long time.” And then at the 2023 US Women’s Open, West played her last game and bid farewell to the sport that has given her the good and the bad.

She has moved on from all the bad times and now is focused on spending precious time with her family and making better memories. Although golf has given her some bad times, it has also made her an inspiration and role model for many, and for that, West is surely grateful.