Michelle Wie West Will Unretire to Compete at 2026 U.S. Women’s Open

The golfer last played professionally three years ago at the same tournament.

Michelle Wie West will return to the golf course to compete in the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Golf fans will see a familiar face back on the court at June’s U.S. Women’s Open as Michelle Wie West plans to unretire and compete in the major tournament in her last year of eligibility.

Wie West notably won the U.S. Women’s Open title back in 2014 at age 24. Winners are eligible to return and play the tournament for up to 10 years after winning via an exemption, but Wie West had two years added onto that because of maternity leave. That means the 2026 tournament will be her last under her current exemption, unless she wins.

Wie West made the announcement herself on Tuesday by posting some throwback photos on Instagram. The tournament will take place on June 4–7, 2026 at Riviera Country Club.

“With one final year of eligibility from my victory in 2014 and the Championship headed to an iconic venue that means so much to me, I am excited to announce that I’ll be teeing it up at the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera in June!”

Wie West was a golf prodigy as a child. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship (this record has since been broken). At the time, Wie West also held the record as the youngest player to qualify for a LPGA event and later was the youngest to make an LPGA cut. Fittingly, at age 13, Wie West made her first cut at the U.S. Women’s Open, and, you guessed it, was the youngest player to do so. She notably competed in the 2004 Sony Open to make her PGA Tour debut. She eventually went professional at age 16.

Although she was expected to be a force in the LPGA and dominate for quite some time, Wie West won five total titles during her professional career before stepping away from golf in 2022. She won one tournament in 2009, followed by one in ‘10, two in ‘14 and scored her final win in ‘18. She last played at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, so it’s fitting once again that she will pause her retirement to play in one final professional tournament.

This won’t be the last we see of Wie West on the golf course. In February, she announced that she would be joining the women’s edition of TGL (WTGL), which is set to kick off in winter 2026. She is already an investor in the TGL squad Los Angeles Golf Club, who just won the title.

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