SOUTHPORT, England (AP) – As much as Michelle Wie prefers to look forward, this is one week when it’s tempting to get caught up in the past.
That could include her recent tour of New York as the U.S. Women’s Open champion or a decade ago when the teen prodigy from Hawaii got her first taste of links golf along the Lancashire coast of England.
Both are relevant memories this week at the Ricoh Women’s British Open.
Wie is among the favorites when the LPGA Tour’s third major of the year gets underway Thursday at Royal Birkdale and not just because she won the last major.
Wie has two victories among eight top 10s in her last nine tournaments. She has played in the final group at both majors. Her unique, bent over “table-top” stance while putting has proven to be the perfect complement to her power. She has become a force in women’s golf, capped off by her two-shot win at Pinehurst No. 2.