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Michelle Wie: Rolex Rank – 33, CME Globe Rank – 14
After two very disappointing seasons Michelle Wie seems to be turning her game and her career around and going in the right direction again. The 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champion and four-time Team USA Solheim Cup staple has pulled herself out of a two year slump and is back on track.
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After missing the cut in about half her 2016 starts and recording only a single top-10 finish, Wie has charged through 12 Tour starts this season, missed two cuts, and recorded five top-10 finishes. Equally important, she seems to be gathering momentum as the season progresses. In four of her last five starts she’s finished inside the top-5 and at one of those events, the Meijer LPGA Classic, she finished runner-up. It’s all good news for Michelle Wie fans!
Wie is still struggling to reestablish the pinpoint shot-making precision that characterized her game in 2014, when she outplayed Stacy Lewis coming down the back nine on Sunday afternoon at Pinehurst #2, but season-long stats aren’t capturing the week-to-week incremental improvements in her game. In Arkansas last week, the strongest element of Wie’s game came on the putting surface, where she averaged a stunning 25.33 putts per round. Wie seems to have found the key to turning around the weakest component of her game.
As she continues to improve, Wie builds the reservoir of confidence and mental resilience that’s so essential to sustaining momentum. She knows this. Wie is an experienced competitor and is working hard to be mentally ready for the challenge of this major championship. Is she ready to take that final, crucial step in her comeback and notch a win? All the evidence of her 2017 season is affirmative.