Michelle Wie already has accomplished two of her biggest goals – graduating from Stanford and winning the U.S. Women’s Open. But she wants more, which is why she is trying to tee it up again in the Women’s PGA Championship this week at Hazeltine.
Wie is coping with an injury to her right hand. She began her season in Thailand in February, but had to withdraw as defending champion at the HSBC Women’s World Championship the following week. After a month off, she missed the cut in the first major of the year and her hometown event in Hawaii, and then withdrew from the U.S. Women’s Open.
Wie didn’t start hitting balls again until last week. Her motivation came from being courtside at the NBA Finals with her fiance, Jonnie West, an executive for the Golden State Warriors. She saw Stephen Curry tape up his dislocated finger and Klay Thompson make two free throws after tearing knee ligaments.
”I sat pretty close to the court and when you’re there you really notice a lot of small things,” she said. ”You also notice that being an athlete, you’re not ever going to be 100 percent, always going to go through something and it was a confirmation to me being like, `It’s OK that you’re hurt.’
”That’s just part of being an athlete and you just have to go through it and find a way to compete.”
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