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Michelle Wie West decided to return to golf due to Giuliani’s vulgar remarks

Michelle Wie West decided to return to golf due to Giuliani’s vulgar remarks

Posted June. 05, 2021 07:07,   

Updated June. 05, 2021 07:07

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“I thought there was no chance of coming back,” said Korean-American golfer Michelle Wie West, who retired after getting married to Jonnie West, director Of Basketball Operations at Golden State Warriors and the son of NBA legend Jerry West. After giving birth to her daughter in June last year, she focused on taking care of her daughter. Chronic wrist injuries forced her to retire from golf, but she made a comeback in two years, by participating at the KIA Classic in March this year. Wie said she decided to make a comeback because of what former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani joked about her.

In an interview with The New York Times held during the U.S. Women’s Open on Thursday (local time), Wie said she got mad over Giuliani’s vulgar remarks and decided to return to golf.

Appearing on a podcast program in February, Giuliani told a “funny story” about Wie that happened when they played in a same charity Pro-Am tournament in 2014. “She has a strange putting stance,” said Giuliani, “The press was going crazy because they were trying to take pictures of her panties.” Wie used to bend over as close as 90 degrees when putting.” Wie took to the social media, writing, “I shudder thinking that he was smiling to my face and complimenting me on my game while objectifying me and referencing my ‘panties’ behind my back all day.”

Wie West realized that if she returns to golf, she will get many chances to say what is on her mind. Wie said she realized that she actually had a lot to say and wants to address inequities and ignorance that she had not been aware of as a teenage phenom. “I want my daughter, Makenna Kamalei Yoona West, who will celebrate her first birthday on June 19, to grow up in a world where women athletes are seen and heard, and enjoy equal billing with men,” she added.

Wie West is a five-time LPGA winner, including the one in the U.S. Women’s Open in 2014. Her PGA Tour debut in 2004 drew significant attention. But she is yet to regain her form after return, missing the cut in her first tournament this year.


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com