Michelle Wie: Can she regain her momentum going in to 2018?

Michelle Wie has gone winless since 2014 but 2018 is her year for a big victory!

Michelle Wie is one of the women on the LPGA Tour I most enjoy watching play the game, even though she’s been winless since 2014.

Wie’s independent, curious, and creative in turn with her approach to golf. Sometimes it doesn’t work for her – that tabletop putting stance, for example – but sometimes it does. For me, Wie’s appeal and her charm lie in the fact that she’s not afraid to try and fail.

And during 2015 and 2016 Wie really failed with that tabletop putting thing. By the time she’d given up on it she had also fallen, all the way down to 174th in the world rankings. That’s where she started the 2017 season. Remember that low point in Wiedom?

Then she ditched the tabletop thing and opted for a Phil-like claw grip, and 2017 started getting better.

I wasn’t the only Wie fan who started ruminating about a 2017 victory to end her long, winless dry spell. And with good reason. Wie was looking good in March, delivering a top-five finish in Singapore and then a solo 6th at Rancho Mirage.

Then there was that five-event run of top-five finishes that started at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational and ended with a runner-up at the WalMart NW Arkansas Championship. The hearts of Wie fandom soared! A 2017 turnaround victory was certain, inevitable.

Until the problems started, first with a neck injury that led to her withdrawal from the U.S. Women’s Open and then outright catastrophe at the Canadian Women’s Open. That T3 Wie managed to sandwich between Bedminster and Ottawa at the Ricoh Women’s British Open was eclipsed by an appendix that demanded removal.

But by the time the Tour teed it up in Korea Wie was back in the field and while she had a bit of rust on her game she was in the field and playing. Wie fans breathed a sigh of relief with her season-ending top-10 finish at the CME Group Tour Championship.

The sparkling fashionista of the LPGA had clawed her way from 174th to 29th in the world rankings by the time everybody started celebrating the holidays. Now Wie fans are asking, again, Is this the year Michelle Wie will end her winless streak?

My bet is that not only will she hoist a trophy, but it will be a big one. Look for Michelle Wie to add a second major championship to her record this year. Will it be Shoal Creek or Royal Lytham & St Anne’s? Stay tuned!

Are you a Michelle Wie fan? Where do you see her ending this long, painful winless spell? Share your thoughts about Wie’s 2018 season on the ForeGals Facebook page.

• Published on 01/04/2018 at 5:15 PM EST
• Last updated on 01/04/2018 at 5:15 PM EST