MIZUHO AMERICAS OPEN

May 7, 2026

Michelle Wie West

Mountain Ridge Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Joining us after the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open is Michelle Wie West. Michelle, can you just take us through some of the emotions and feelings you had on the first tee today?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, it was funny, I wasn't nervous going in, and I get to the first tee and I'm like hole S-h-i-t. I now spell my curse words because I'm a mom.

I was like, wow. Hole all of a sudden looks so small. Got to a two-footer and I'm like, I'm not going to hit the hole. No way.

So happy that I played today ahead of the U.S. Open. I think -- I mean, as much practice as you can do, as many money games as you can play, there is literally nothing in the world that compares to the first round of a tournament.

So I thought today was great experience. I felt like the back nine I made some good putts, hit some good shots, almost brought it back to single digits. I'm excited for tomorrow. Just going to try to go as low as possible and keep acquiring those feels.

Q. Yeah, tournament golf, like you said, is obviously very different. What was the hardest part out there?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Putting. The greens are very tough as it is. I got so nervy out there. I think I was just shocked at how nervous I got, then double down on these greens are tough. These girls are really good out here.

I think it's just such a great reminder for people watching on TV that these girls out here are dialed. They're playing on these conditions week after week and tough as these greens are they're handling it great.

So for me today it was just -- the greens felt exponentially harder. It was nice having my husband on the bag. Saw a lot of friendly faces out there.

You know, as tough as it was, took a lot of positives from it. Yeah, excited how the tournament has been run and a lot of positives.

Q. Yeah, this is a bit different from your normal day-to-day now. First competitive round since 2023. How do you put a day like this in perspective?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, it's all about putting it in perspective, right? My husband was talking me off the ledge the whole round, you know.

Golf can take you places, and I went places today. But, you know, it's just -- you got to see the big picture at the end of the day. I'm so proud of what we built here. I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to have the space to play today.

The back nine I made some good birdies. Putting felt a lot better. If you ever see me putt right-hand low ever again, just yell from outside the ropes, don't do it.

So, it was fun out there. No matter what, I had a lot of fun playing with Yana, a lot of fun playing with Lilia. It's just great to be out here. It's great to feel the vibes.

Q. Just one last one from me. You said you were doing something special for the moms that are out here playing. Can you tell us what that is or is it a surprise?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: We are still working on it. Still a work in progress. I think they're keeping me slightly in the dark too because I am technically a mom.

So, yeah, we'll see.

Q. You said golf can take you places and you went some places today. Where did it take you today?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Dark, very dark. It got very grim.

Q. At what point did it get...

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Oh, hole two. Hole two, hole three, hole five. Seven was good. Hole nine was -- that was dark.

Q. At what point in the round did you start to feel normal? Did you ever feel settled?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: I did. I think playing under nerves is a skill. It's not something you can just wing. There is tools and mechanisms that you can utilize to play under pressure, and that's practice, too, right?

So I take that feelings that I felt, the nervy feelings that I felt today, I definitely take that as practice. Because hole 12, although I did four-putt, I told Johnny, all four of the putts felt really good.

So from then on I really started to feel a lot of confidence using the tools and mechanisms that I know that will bring me back. From then on, you know, I shot even, which I thought in these conditions was pretty solid considering where I started.

So I'm building from here. I've got to give myself a lot of grace.

Q. What are the takeaways as you look toward Riviera from this round in particular?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: I am not going putt right-hand low. I'm clawing it, you guys. I'm committing to the claw.

Q. After hole 14, bogeyed 14 and walk to the 15 tee box and there is a boy standing there and you gave him a ball. What's the mindset between getting dark as you say but having the wherewithal...

MICHELLE WIE WEST: Yeah, at the end of the day there was a dad and a little kid literally walked all 18 and just made my day. I go through a lot of golf balls in my round and I end up giving a lot of them to kids.

For me that's the best part of my day, right? I just find it so awesome that the kids are out here. They're having fun. Hopefully they want to play the game.

But Yana and I had a funny moment on that tee. She saw me give the ball to a little kid. Funny enough, our story goes back before Mizuho. She came to watch me play at Aviara when she was a kid around that kid's age and I guess she came in for a high five. I tried to give her a ball and she said no. So we were laughing about that today.

So it's all full circle. You just never know. The little interactions that you have with these kids, like where that can end up. I find that so cool.

Q. Did it ever loosen up for you? As you said, I was there in the back at 11 when you had that four-putt. Did that at some point just say like it can't get any worse than this?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: I don't know. It could get worse. That was a tough pin. That was a really tough pin. Like I said, these girls -- I think if you look at my round today, I think the one takeaway that you can get from that is these girls out here are amazing.

They make these golf courses look a lot easier than they actually are. That pin position on 11 was terrible. It was hard. You would've thought would've made some easier pins for me today, but nope.

I know, I think that I just went out there and I stayed positive. My husband is such a good, positive energy for me. At the end of the day like I put things in perspective and I build upon it, and you have to learn from these kind of rounds. That's just what golf is.

Q. I was going to say, looking back on past when you were kind of more dialed as you were saying, does it give you a greater appreciation for the level of discipline, the level of commitment it took previously now that you have this experience?

MICHELLE WIE WEST: For sure. I felt like -- not that I felt like, I actually practiced really hard, but the amount that you have to be dialed in to compete out here is extraordinary.

So I tip my hat to even single one of these players out here that grind week and week out. I think they're amazing.