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Biography

Born to parents B.J. and Bo in Hawaii, Michelle Sung Wie began golfing at the age of four. When Michelle was 10 years old, she really turned it on, shooting a 64 at one of her favorite courses and qualifying for a USGA amateur championship event at the USGA's Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, becoming the youngest player ever to do so. After winning two local tournaments at the age of 11, this prodigy again broke a record, becoming the youngest woman (at 12 years old) to qualify for an LPGA event. Also in 2002, Wie reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, a tourney she would later win. Amazingly, Wie was not satisfied with taking on the LPGA. She attempted to compete against men in the 2003 Sony Open on the PGA Tour. Though she missed the bid, she punctuated her year by joining the final grouping in her first LPGA major, and playing in three tournaments in which she was the only female. In 2004, Wie qualified for the Sony Open, becoming the youngest player to ever play on the PGA tour. She missed the cut, but made headlines everywhere for making such an incredible appearance. Wie was also selected for the U.S. golf team, and finished an amazing fourth at the LPGA major event, the Kraft Nabisco Championship. One year later, Wie continues to make headlines, joining the men at the Sony Open once again and earning her highest-ever LPGA finish, a tie for second, at the SBS Open. A week later she made her third appearance of 2006 on the PGA Tour at the 84 Lumber Classic. Wie finished 14 over par after two rounds, 23 strokes behind the leaders, the highest score for the first two rounds. Wie finished out 2006 by competing in the Samsung World Championship on the LPGA Tour, where she finished in 17th place in the 20-player field, 21 strokes behind the leader. From October 11 to 14, 2007, three weeks after beginning her freshman year at Stanford University, Wie played as a sponsor exemption in the limited field Samsung World Championship. She finished 19th out of the 20 players in the tournament, 36 strokes behind the winner. DQ = disqualifiedMC = missed halfway cutWD = withdrew* = limited field, no-cut eventmargin = strokes behind winner or cutline, not applicable in cases of withdrawal, disqualification or matchplay format. Wie graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii in June 2007. On December 19, 2006, she announced that she will be attending Stanford University in the fall of 2007.. She enrolled in September of that year as a freshman. Because she is a professional golfer, Wie is not eligible under NCAA rules to play for Stanford's golf team. Observers of golf have criticized Wie's efforts to play in PGA Tour events through sponsors' exemptions. Wie has made only one cut in a men's tournament, and has made no cuts on the PGA Tour. After missing the cut at the 2007 Sony Open by 14 shots, many sports critics began to doubt whether she ever will. Following Wie's poor performance at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii, AP golf writer Doug Ferguson suggested that her nickname be changed from "the Big Wiesy" to a more appropriate moniker, "the Big Queasy." In the first week of February 2007, it was reported that Wie hurt her left wrist in a fall while running, though when family members acting as her spokespeople were asked by the media, they declined either to give any details on the nature of the injury, other than to report that she was wearing a hard cast, or to state what treatment was done, citing privacy. Initially, her public relations staff reported that she would be away from golf for 4 to 6 weeks but this stretched until the end of May. In response to the lack of information and prolonged absence, some golf fans and LPGA players, including Brittany Lincicome, questioned whether Wie and her parents had fabricated the injury in order to give her a reason to take a break from golf.