Roundup: Michelle Wie Wins The U.S. Women's Open

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It was a thriller that anyone watching will not soon forget if nothing else for Michelle Wie's sunny (and amazing) attitude after a 16th hole double bogey left her with just a one-stroke lead. Her 8-iron to 17 and ensuing 25-footer for birdie will go down as one of the great recoveries that also capped off a spectacular two weeks at Pinehurst.

Doug Ferguson's game story lede:

Michelle Wie finally delivered a performance worthy of the hype that has been heaped on her since she was a teenager.

Wie bounced back from a late mistake at Pinehurst No. 2 to bury a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole, sending the 24-year-old from Hawaii to her first major championship Sunday, a two-shot victory over Stacy Lewis in the U.S. Women's Open.

Karen Crouse's NY Times story lede:

Michelle Wie’s strategy for the 69th United States Women’s Open was to laugh in the face of disaster. She made it her mantra. When bad shots happen, smile and move on.

And Stuart Hall at USWomensOpen.com:

When Michelle Wie arrived at the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open as a wide-smiling, big-dreaming 13-year-old, one of the first questions posed to her was whether she could win the national championship.

“I guess everyone comes here to win,” she said at the time. Wie tied for 39th that year, but the subsequent years brought disappointments, frustrations and even more questions.
Until Sunday.

Not to be overlooked, Hall also has shout-outs to runner-up Stacy Lewis, third place finisher and new pro from Northern Ireland Stephanie Meadow, and veteran Juli Inkster who gave non-millennials a thrill.

The USGA’s final round photo gallery includes some spectacular images.

The SI/golf.com team kicked around the significance of Wie's win in their Confidential:

LYNCH: Every sports update I heard on my car radio today covered Wie's quest for a major, which is hardly standard practice for a Women's Open. She never really stopped being the face of women's golf, even as she struggled throughout her career. Among the casual fans, she remained the most famous female golfer in the world. Now her game has the stature of her reputation and her brand.

BAMBERGER: Michelle Wie has not won enough to be regarded a superstar. Her power and her ability to hit shots high and low and with fade spin or draw spin, to say nothing of her improved putting, gives her enormous upside. In terms of stature in the game, she's way ahead of Rickie Fowler, but miles behind, say, Inbee Park.

VAN SICKLE: Wie has been the biggest name in women's golf for quite some time, she just hasn't had the wins to go with it. She's definitely the face of American women's golf until she piles up a few more wins, but she's a dream for LPGA marketing.

PASSOV: The only woman that truly moves the needle is Wie, and her win is great for women's golf -- and great for golf, period.

Garry Smits kicks off the inevitable and important remembrances of Wie when she wasn't a U.S. Women's Open champion. These reminders are important for telling the story of who she was, who she became and how she overcame things other child prodigies have not been able to deal with.

Wie signed multi-million dollar deals with Nike and Sony when she turned professional at 16. She didn't need to win to be rich, and she often didn't.

As anyone who has followed her career knows, the next decade was a flurry of meaningless starts in PGA Tour events ("oh, how nice ... Michelle only missed the cut by three"), attempts to make the Masters by playing in the men's Public Links and U.S. Amateur, several brushes with the rules during tournaments, an accusation that her father, B.J., was giving swing advice during a tournament and frequent changes in caddies and management (she's on her ninth caddie).

Wie was fast becoming the poster child for burn-out and her parents the poster children for doing everything wrong in how to handle a prodigy.

But things began settling down.

Who knows what it meant, but Wie did work off of the yardage books of Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler, and she thanked them on Twitter after her win. Jason Sobel talked to Bradley about his small role in Wie's win.

“I’m so pumped she’s playing well. I’m happy for her. She deserves it.”

Below is the Twitter conversation between Wie and Bradley during the aftermath of Wie's first major win. She also thanks Rickie Fowler, who apparently helped her as well.

Sobel, Mell and Hoggard with short notes to wrap the week from Pinehurst.

For Twitterers, Wie set new precedents for a major winner Tweeting thanks, photos and news.

This of the trophy is a classic:

 

And a trophy selfie, posted by Golf Channel but re-Tweeted by Wie:



Golf Central's look back at Wie's various career highlights and lowlights is worth a refresher course viewing.

 

The USGA’s YouTube recap is heavy on music and cuts, light on highlights. Foxworthy!