U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

June 2, 2026

Michelle Wie West

The Riviera Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome to the interview area our 2014 champion Michelle Wie West. Michelle, I know you're here for a very specific reason, but why this one to make your return?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: The fact that it's here at Riviera means so much to me and my family, and it's amazing to be here. It feels really magical to be on property playing the U.S. Women's Open, and I feel so honored to be here.

Q. You have your whole family here. Obviously Kenna was here in '23, but this one she might remember. How did that sort of factor into the decision-making?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: It's a big factor. Last time I retired at Pebble Beach and McKenna was 2 and doesn't really have any memories. Hopefully being 6 now, she'll have a lot more memories of being here this week.

Yeah, it's amazing having a whole family. I mean, it was a big ticket request going to the USGA, a lot of friends and family, being in L.A. It's going to be a lot of fun seeing a lot of familiar faces in the crowd.

Q. You've been out to Riviera before. From a golf course perspective, what should players expect?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: It's truly a second-shot golf course. It's one of my favorite golf courses. I think every hole is so amazing, it's so fun. You have to place it in the right places. If you short-side yourself or in the wrong places, it's a tough golf course.

It's been fun watching the guys play it at Genesis Invitational and been talking to the guys a lot about course management, what do they do and whatnot. It's really cool that fans will be able to watch us play and kind of maybe compare notes to how we play against the guys.

Q. I know you just talked a little bit about it, but you were here with the Tour, LPGA Tour at a time when this wasn't the norm and it's become the norm now. How significant and special is it to see the growth in women's golf and coming to some of the most iconic venues in all the game?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, I'm such a big believer that we need to continue to play at venues like Riviera, where golf courses are -- the fans know it. I think fans now know each hole. 10 is iconic. I think there's a lot of iconic holes. 8's iconic, 6.

I think the more we can have venues like Riviera, I think the more it elevates the women's game. I think that the whole entire experience this week has been elevated by the USGA, a lot of fun gifts, but also just really upgraded the player services aspect of it in terms of recovery. We have facials and nail services this week, which is fun.

Overall, I think that every year feels like the tournaments get bigger and better. I think the USGA has done an amazing job pushing the purse forward and also thanks to ally too. We need to just keep pushing and keep getting better.

Q. What does your preparation look like for this week? There's a lot going on in your life off the golf course.

MICHELLE WIE WEST: There was a lot of practice -- it's kind of funny practicing for one specific tournament, but it was really nice. I started practicing probably after Thanksgiving and didn't make the announcement until March, April. April maybe, May even? I forget. I had a few months in there where I was practicing where no one was knowing why, and I was just kind of out there in silence.

It was really therapeutic. It was really nice to be out there practicing. But I'm very excited also not to practice again. I like being retired.

Q. Was that a hard mindset shift for you to make having to practice and get back in the groove after not doing it for several years?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, the last three years there were phases where I wouldn't touch a golf club for months, you know. To start practicing again, it felt awkward in the beginning for sure. The first couple of weeks, it was hard to even fill 30 minutes on a putting green. Now like I get lost in a groove and I'm out there for three or four hours putting. I'm like, wow, look.

I had to text my friends, like give me some putting drills. I forgot everything. I was dusting off my Foresight in the garage and finding all the things.

It's been really fun being able to go through the practice journey, kind of in silence and no noise. It was almost very therapeutic for me to do that because that has never happened once in my career. So it was very nice.

Q. Everyone's really wondering this, it's a really important question. Just looking forward to the answer here. You have played professional golf for so many years, but now coming back after taking a little bit of a hiatus, you are a mom now. So in your golf bag, we were all wondering what kind of snacks do you carry? Are they mom snacks? Are they kid snacks? Are they a little of both? Share the tea.

MICHELLE WIE WEST: I'm a huge PB&J gal. I have to say my snacks, I feel like I've got a really good groove. I had to kind of remember what I ate on the golf course, but I do some Phat Fudge, which is like this performance fudge of some sort. I like these like dried sweet potato snacks that I've been doing. A little bit of Magic Mind, a little bit of caffeine.

Q. So some bites you can share with the kids and some caffeinated ones?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: A lot of caffeine. I think after being a mom, the most important thing to note is almost everything I eat and drink will have caffeine in it.

Q. It's hard to follow that, but I remember you said at Pinehurst maybe you and Rickie had shared like notes and stuff, and you said you've been talking to some of the guys this week. Who have you talked to, and what piece of advice have they given you?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, I'm at the same course as Collin Morikawa, Kurt Kitayama, Maverick McNealy. Talking to them a lot, but talking a lot with Collin about what do you do on 10? It's the first question I ask any PGA player, what do you do on 10? It's been really interesting to learn what they do.

Yeah, it's been great just to like feed off of them. I don't think you can use yardage books like you used to in 2014. There's new USGA rules in terms of yardage books, so learning all of those.

Q. You talked about kind of the growing popularity of women's golf, and a couple of years ago the NBC Sports commentators were talking about the hope of having a Caitlin Clark crossover moment. I was wondering what your thoughts were on what do you think might cause that? Is it a steady growth? Just what are your thoughts on that?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, I think the most amazing part about golf is the connectivity of the game. I think golf brings people together. I think it's always surprising to be like, oh, that person plays golf? In a foursome, you'll find people who are completely different walks of life, and I think that's so cool about the game. I think more we can cultivate that and the culture of the game.

I think it's really cool when we have pro-ams to have other athletes, celebrities there who enjoy the game, are fans of the LPGA Tour. So it's really -- I think that's the way to keep growing it as well.

Q. I know your daughter has been leaving notes for you and giving you some advice on how to handle yourself on the golf course. What's been her biggest piece of advice this week?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: My daughter is like the best sports psychologist I've ever had honestly. But I think this week, my husband and I were talking about this a lot, I'm going to try to live by the words I tell my daughter. I always tell her before a game or a tournament, whatever, I say I don't care about the results. All I care about is a good attitude and that you try your hardest. Right? That is my number one goal this week, is to go out there and try hard and have a good attitude.

There were times at Mizuho I did not have a good attitude out there, so I want to change that this week and I want to have a good attitude.

Q. Is she really why you're here this week? I see you smiling and looking at her and having that moment with her. What is that like to get to share that?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, it's everything. Being able to share this with her -- even the last couple months, just practicing, we talk a lot before she goes to bed, and I tell her what I do while she's at school. I had a tough day at practice. This is what I overcame. This is what I was working on. I was really excited that I got to do this.

We start to share our stories, and she's extremely insightful. So it's been really fun to kind of talk to her about it.

Yeah, honestly, like it's fun. I'm really excited to play in WTGL and for her to watch that. She loved the match we went to. So it's been really cool.

Q. What has been the most challenging aspects of transitioning from a playing career to a professional and a business life?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, that's a great question. I think when you do something your whole life and you transition out of that, it definitely takes you a beat to really realize your why.

Fortunately for me, towards the end of my career, the things I was really passionate about were growing the game and connecting with the next generation, and really being able to do that with my tournament, Mizuho Americas Open, has been really fulfilling. I really feel like I have the time and the mental and emotional capacity to do the things I'm really passionate about.

Now being three years out, I kind of see the fruits of what I've been doing. Recently coming on as a par-3 course designer and really being able to grow the game that way as well too. It's all things that I'm really passionate about, and I'm really happy that I have the time now to do so.