Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie West bid emotional goodbyes at U.S. Women's Open
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Retirement is a calloused editor. It doesn't care for others’ visions, marking and abusing and shredding scripts.
Retirement takes one’s story and writes, 52-year-old finishes with double bogey in final U.S. Open. It writes, former prodigy leaves promise unfulfilled.
It doesn’t see the life within words.
Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie West said goodbye Friday at Pebble Beach, both to the championship that helped define them as professionals.
For Sorenstam, the evening marked her final appearance in the U.S. Women’s Open, a major she won three times. The one that signified her a star.
Sorenstam, Wie West bid USWO emotional farewell
For Wie West, the 2014 champion, it was the lowering of the curtain as a competitor.
On paper, it was nothing like they had wished. Neither made a birdie over two rounds. Wie West shot 79-79 to finish at 14 over par, tied for 133rd. Sorenstam (80-79) was one shot worse.
Fifteen years ago, Sorenstam finished what she thought was her final U.S. Women’s Open with a fairway hole out for an eagle-3. Friday, she hooked her tee shot on the 18th into Stillwater Cove and made 7.
Wie West made par, adding a last little bit of excitement to a drama-filled career, her 30-foot final putt slowly creeping up to the hole before falling in the side door.
And that, for Retirement, was it. Fin.
But stories don’t really end; the narrative just changes.
No longer were Sorenstam and Wie West two players in a 156-person field who had not qualified to continue. They were Annika and Michelle, moms and wives and daughters and friends.
Full-field scores from the U.S. Women’s Open
As hundreds cheered, USGA CEO and former LPGA commissioner Mike Whan greeted both with a bouquet of flowers as they exited the green. Sorenstam was welcomed by her son, Will, and her daughter, Ava. Her husband, Mike McGee, had been her caddie.
The same for Wie West. Her husband, Jonnie, carried the bag for two days. There to hug her were her father, B.J., her mother, Bo, and her 3-year-old daughter, Makenna. There were also friends and peers, Marina Alex and Jodi Ewart Shadoff.
“It was such a weird day,” Wie West described. “I've definitely held back tears the entire round.”
Asked if she might one day reconsider – she's only 33, after all, and her daughter is just now gaining interest in the game – Wie West replied, "You never say never, but a very slim chance probably.”
Sorenstam will play again, just not at this event and not at this level.
It was an interesting storyline, this pairing. Both were bowing out, both were past champions and both had broken barriers in competing against the men. But Wie West, a five-time LPGA winner, never matched the expectations of being a dominant, transformative figure. Sorenstam, a 72-time winner, exceeded what anyone thought was possible.
The applause was a mix of appreciation and admiration.
“I just really felt the love and the support,” Sorenstam said. “It's been a special week in so many ways.”
As Sorenstam and Wie West signed their cards for the final time at a U.S. Women's Open, a crowd buzzed outside the scoring trailer. Officials were scrambling, reporters were gathering, family was waiting. A volunteer approached Annika's husband and asked him to return his caddie bib. Mike paused for a second. “No,” he said. “I think I’m going to keep this one.”
