JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – After a 5-over 77 on Thursday, Michelle Wie West shot 3-under par 69 on Friday to make the cut on the number at the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship.
She credits her husband Jonnie’s words of wisdom.
“He told me to get my head out of my ass, so I did,” Wie West said. “I got my head out of my ass and I played some golf today.”
Two mud balls on the first two holes rattled Wie West, but she still managed a birdie on the par-5 second. She went on to make four birdies in the first seven holes.
“That was the first time in a really long time where I felt like every hole looked like a birdie hole,” said Wie West, who made her fifth and final birdie on the par-4 10th.
A new mom to her baby girl, Makenna, there are moments of trial for Wie West being across the country and away from her daughter for the first time.
“The guilt is real,” she said. “You go out there and like should I be really here so far away from her? I heard like this baby kind of babble on 18, and I felt myself tear up, but I FaceTimed with her yesterday. She’s always smiling and having a blast and just getting spoiled by her grandparents.”
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In her last few tournaments, Wie West opened with solid Thursday rounds but failed to keep momentum to make the cut. At the ANA Inspiration, she shot a 2-under 70 and followed that with a 7-over 79. The next week at the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open, Wie West carded rounds of 70-77, and at the U.S. Open at Olympic Club, she shot rounds of 74-80, missing the cut in all three events.
Wie West had her breakthrough at the LPGA Mediheal, where she shot rounds of 73-75 to make the cut and followed that with under-par rounds of 69-71.
“It really helped making the cut at Mediheal,” she said. “I felt like I was putting together really solid Thursday rounds, and then Friday it kind of blew up. I felt like Merced was the first week I really kept it together and really fought through and made the cut, and that really helped. Very proud of myself for pushing through [today] and hopefully I can shoot low this weekend.”