Michelle Wie admits mistakes, but doesn’t regret turning pro at 16

Michelle Wie finally won her first major nearly 10 years after turning pro at the age of 16. Wie won the US Women’s Open Sunday, shooting 2-under par to win by two strokes. She celebrated like a proper 24-year-old by partying, drinking out of the trophy and twerking against a wall.

Wie’s major victory was a long time coming. It came so long after all the hype around her that it wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as it would have been had it come years ago. Finally winning a major validated Wie’s career and all the hype surrounding her. It also gave her a chance to reflect on her career and criticism she’s received for seemingly underachieving since turning pro at such a young age.

Wie told “The Dan Patrick Show” that she has no regrets about her career path.

“My parents never pushed me to do anything. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world to turn pro at 16. I did it on my birthday because I wanted to give myself a birthday present,” Wie told Patrick.

“I wouldn’t give anything back. It’s hard. You know, parents don’t have a guidebook. Parents don’t have a manual on how to handle kids especially in this situation. We certainly made mistakes along the way, but we all learned from it.

“We all had a blast. It was great, but it’s definitely been a roller coaster. Definitely given my parents a lot of gray hairs over the years, but it’s been a really fun journey.”

The major victory was the fourth win of Wie’s professional career, though she has finished in the top five of majors several times. She also is fully immersed in golf now after graduating from Stanford two years ago. She was trying to be a student half the year and professional golfer the other half. Splitting her focuses probably hindered her golf development, but she is happy about her decision to go to college.

“It was the best four and a half years of my life,” Wie told Patrick of her time at Stanford.

Wie also says that despite being a pro golfer, she wasn’t even that big of a deal on campus. She says former Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck, who lived two doors down from her, was the real star.

“He’s a really cool guy,” Wie said of Luck. “He’s definitely a nerd. We’re all nerds at Stanford.”

Had Wie never won a major, maybe she would question her development and path to becoming a pro. Since she did win a major at still a relatively young age, she can now relax and realize that her career has developed the way it should have.