While Michelle Wie West will rightly be remembered as an all-time great and a trailblazer in the modern game, she did only manage to win one major title during her career.
Michelle Wie West was one of the biggest stars in golf following the turn of the century. In the early days of her career, it appeared that she was breaking a new record every time she teed it up – featuring on the PGA Tour on a number of occasions and also making the cut in an Asian Tour event.
So it was fitting that she did win a major title, with that triumph coming 10 years ago at the US Women’s Open at Pinehurst. Wie West took the lead during the second round, and never looked back – going on to win by two from Stacy Lewis.
Of course, that US Open was significant as Pinehurst also played host to the men’s event the week before, with Martin Kaymer blowing the field away to win his second major title.
How Rickie Fowler helped Michelle Wie West win the 2014 US Women’s Open
Rickie Fowler had an impressive showing at that event. And speaking on The Scoop, Wie West explained how Fowler’s performance had a huge impact on her going on to win the following week.
“So, what was cool with Pinehurst was it was back to back. The men played first and we played second, and that’s never really been done before. And when we would get to a tournament site on Sunday, you would maybe putt a little bit, maybe go out, but it would be empty,” she said.
“When we got there on Sunday, it was like the final round of the men’s US Open, you can imagine it’s bustling, it’s crazy. And I knew this is happening, and I asked him at the beginning of his week, ‘hey, can I just have your yardage book afterwards? I just want to see your notes’, kind of like a cheat guide.
“He really took it above and beyond, he took so many notes like this bunker you shouldn’t be in for this pin, you shouldn’t be there for that pin. His system of how he did it, I learned a lot from looking at his yardage book. But he also wrote down every single putt that he had on most of the holes, and most of our pin positions were very similar. And on 17, the birdie putt that I made, he actually had the same putt and wrote down the break. It was so helpful.”
How Fowler performed at Pinehurst in the 2014 US Open
While it was apparent for some time that the field were going to need Kaymer to crumble somewhat if they were going to stand any chance of catching the German, there is no question that Fowler had a fantastic tournament.
Fowler fought his way up the leaderboard after opening with two level par rounds in North Carolina. A 67 took him into a tie for second heading into Sunday – still some five shots back of Kaymer. And he managed to hold onto that spot for what remains his best ever finish in the US Open.
No wonder his yardage book proved to be so advantageous to Wie West in the following days.
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