Michelle Wie

Michelle Wie, born in 1989, American golfer, one of the top young players in the world. At age 12 Wie played in her first Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) event, and two years later became the youngest woman—and just the fourth female ever—to compete in a men’s Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) tournament.

Wie was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and began playing golf at the age of four. Her parents, originally from Korea, are both avid golfers and Wie’s mother was an amateur golf champion in her native country.

At age ten Wie became the youngest player to ever qualify for a United States Golf Association amateur championship tournament, playing in the 2000 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. Three years later she became the youngest player to win the event. By then Wie had grown to 6 ft (183 cm) tall and possessed a smooth, powerful swing, giving her the ability to drive the ball farther than many female professional players.

Wie played in six LPGA tournaments in 2003, including the Nabisco Championship, one of the four major events in women’s golf. She played brilliantly and finished ninth in the tournament, with her third-round total of 66 tying a record for lowest score by an amateur in an LPGA event. At 13, she was also the youngest ever to make the cut (advance to the final rounds) at an LPGA tournament.

The next year Wie made headlines when she competed in the Sony Open, her first men’s PGA Tour event. Wie shot even-par for the first two rounds of the tournament but fell one shot short of making the cut. Later that year she became the youngest woman to play in the Curtis Cup, a team competition between amateur women from the United States and from Great Britain and Ireland. Wie competed in seven tournaments on the LPGA Tour in 2004, finishing in the top 20 in all but one event. She played in the men’s Sony Open again in 2005 but missed the cut.

Despite her success, Wie has resisted turning professional. She is able to play in pro tournaments with special exemptions but, as an amateur, cannot accept prize money. LPGA regulations require a player to be at least 18 years old before joining the professional tour.

Wie competed in the LPGA Championship in June 2005 and finished second to Annika Sörenstam. As an amateur she had to forfeit the more than $160,000 in prize money she would have received. Several days later she finished in a tie for first in a qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Public Links tournament and thereby became the first woman to qualify for a United States Golf Association (USGA) male championship event. Wie has stated that her goal is to eventually compete on the men’s professional tour.