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Michelle Wie was born in Honolulu,
Hawaii. Her parents were immigrants from the Republic of
Korea (South Korea) who came to the United States in the 1980s. On
October 5, 2005, a week before her 16th birthday, Wie announced that she was
turning professional. She signed sponsorship contracts with Nike
and Sony
reportedly worth more than 10 million dollars per year.
She enrolled at Stanford University in September, 2007 as a
freshman, but as a professional golfer, Wie is not eligible under NCAA rules to play for Stanford's
golf team. During her first three years at Stanford, she attended
only during the fall and winter quarters, running from late September through
mid-March each year. She took leaves of absence during the rest of the year to
play professional golf.
Wie began playing golf at the age of four. In 2000, at
the age of ten, she became the youngest player ever to qualify for the Women's
U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. In 2001, at the age of 11, she won both
the Hawaii State Women’s Stroke Play Championship and the Jennie K. Wilson
Women’s Invitational, the oldest and most prestigious women’s amateur
tournament in Hawaii. She also advanced into match play at the Women's U.S.
Amateur Public Links Championship.
So far on the LPGA she has won twice and has represented
the USA in the Solheim Cup in 2009 and was undefeated.
2009, Wie won her first professional individual
tournament, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara,
Mexico, a limited field event on the LPGA Tour, posting a score of thirteen under
par 275 for a two-stroke margin over fellow American Paula Creamer,
It was Wie's 81st professional tournament and her 66th LPGA Tour event. She
then finished second in the Ladies European Tour season-ending Dubai Ladies Masters tournament on
December 2009, shooting a 15-under-par 273, which put her three shots behind
winner In-Kyung Kim.
In August 2010, she posted a three-shot win over a full
field at the CN Canadian Women's Open, held at St. Charles Country Club in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, for her second career professional victory. In her next LPGA event,
she finished second in the 54-hole P&G NW Arkansas Championship
two weeks later, but losing to Yani Tseng by one stroke after giving up an
overnight three-stroke lead.