Michelle Wie makes lists every day of what she’s grateful for. This week in Singapore, simply being there counts.
Wie’s colorful career feels somewhat like a broken record. She climbs to the mountaintop only fall back down from injury. We’re still waiting to see Wie at her peak.
At a press conference Tuesday at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, 29-year-old Wie talked more about this latest hurdle.
“I got into a car accident two years ago with my right hand on the wheel and got rear-ended,” said Wie. “That’s what happened with the neck at (the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open at) Bedminster and I had an avulsion fracture in my right hand. So a piece of the bone had chipped off.
So they just went in there and cleaned it up, cleaned up a little bit of scar tissue since I was with it for almost two years now. So the surgery went good. It was a pretty easy, normal procedure, and yeah, it’s taken quite a bit, but I think I’m back on track.”
The car accident, by the way, also goes on Wie’s list of gratefulness.
“I mean, you know, as unfortunate as the car accident was,” she said, “it could’ve been a lot worse, too. Fortunate to be alive.”
Wie’s dramatic victory in Singapore last year, the tournament known as “Asia’s major,” ended a victory drought that spanned 83 events and dated back to 2014.
She’s had to reinvent her swing for the umpteenth time since then, trying to keep her divots more shallow and wrist-friendly.
While the swing keeps changing, the goal does not: win majors.
“I guess as an old person now, a veteran out on tour, physio and recovery is key for me,” she said. “My life kind of revolves around it.
“I travel with my private physio and we have treatment every day, whether it’s getting needles in, whether it’s icing; I have my devices that I carry around with me. It’s everything. It’s eating right, drinking right. It’s just a whole thing.”
Wie underwent surgery last fall after competing in the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship. She returned to competition last week in Thailand, where she finished T-23.
Wie became ambidextrous over the offseason, though she can’t paint as much as she used to because the injury was to her dominant hand (right).
“I can use chopsticks in my left hand,” she said. “That’s a nice little party trick. It’s not a cool party trick, but it seemed cool in my head before I said it, and then it didn’t seem very cool.”
