As Michelle Wie West prepared to play her first LPGA Tour event in three years on Thursday, she hoped she had everything she needed.
She didn’t want to bring a case of nerves.
Wie West battled her mental game as well as the greens in carding a 10-over-par 82 at the Mizuho Americas Open in West Caldwell, N.J.
Also the tournament host, Wie West was 118th of 119 finishers at Mountain Ridge Country Club.
“The greens are very tough as it is,” she said. “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 (in). 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.”
The 36-year-old was back on tour for the first time since stepping away from competition after missing the cut at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open. A little more than a year later, Wie West gave birth to her second child.
Wie West has spent much of the time since in various endeavors, including using events like the Mizuho Americas Open to mentor young athletes.
She was happy to play a tournament ahead of next month’s U.S. Women’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,” she said. “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.”
Wie West hit seven of 14 fairways and landed on 10 of 18 greens in regulation. She made one of three sand saves but totaled 37 putts.
She bogeyed Nos. 2-4, then dropped three strokes with a seven on the par-4 fifth.
Her journey on Thursday took her to a “dark, very dark” place, she said. “It got very grim.”
She made double bogey at the par-4 No. 9 to fall to 8 over for the front nine.
More trouble followed with a double bogey at the par-4 11th, but she responded with her first birdie at the par-5 13th. She went bogey-birdie-bogey on the next three holes from there.
“The back nine, I made some good birdies,” Wie West said. “Putting felt a lot better. If you ever see me putt right-hand low (grip) ever again, just yell from outside the ropes, ‘Don’t do it.’
“I think playing under nerves is a skill,” she added. “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,” Wie West continued. “So from then on (from No. 12), 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.”
