Michelle Wie West to step away from LPGA Tour at age of 32, will play US Open next week and 2023 | Golf News

Michelle Wie West will play next week’s US Women’s Open – a tournament she won in 2014 – and same event in 2023 but has no more competitions planned; American cites body being unable to stand up to the rigours of professional golf as the reason – but does not rule out returning in future

Michelle Wie West is stepping away from the LPGA Tour at the age of 32

Former US Women’s Open champion Michelle Wie West has announced she is stepping away from the LPGA tour at the age of 32.

Wie West will contest next week’s US Women’s Open – a tournament she won in 2014 to claim her sole major – and the same event in 2023 but does not plan to play in any other competitions.

The American, who gave birth to her daughter Makenna in 2020, says her body now struggles to cope with the rigours of professional golf.

Wie West told Golfweek: “At times, if I do play a lot of golf I’m just in bed (afterwards), I can’t lift Makenna up, and that scared me.”

A return to professional golf in the future is not out of the question – “I’m definitely not ruling anything out” – but for now Wie West will focus on other projects including the Nike Athlete Think Tank, a group which promotes women’s sport and also includes Serena Williams among its members.

Wie West first shot to fame as the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship at the age of 10.

She was also the youngest to win an adult USGA championship at 13 and the youngest to make the cut at an LPGA major in the 2003 Kraft Nabisco, aged 14.

Wie West won the 2014 US Women’s Open and will play that event in 2022 and 2023

The following year Wie West was given a sponsor’s invitation to the Sony Open in her home state of Hawaii and missed the cut by a single shot following a second round of 68, the lowest round ever by a woman in a PGA Tour event.

She says she is most proud of earning her degree from Stanford while competing on the LPGA Tour – she won two of her five titles while studying – and winning the US Women’s Open.

Wie West added: “Because I accomplished both of those, I think I feel very happy in my decision now.

“I think if I hadn’t won the US Open, I’d still be out there competing week to week trying to get that US Open win.”

Watch the US Women’s Open live on Sky Sports from Thursday, June 2.