Wie Changes Swing For U.S. Women’s Open
{fshare id=6393}
Michelle Wie returns to defend her U.S. Women’s Open title starting Thursday in Lancaster, Pa., but a repeat could be difficult.
Wie has struggled with injuries and illness since she won last year at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. And when the 70th edition of the women’s major championship tees off Thursday at Lancaster Country Club, she will be dealing with a swing change necessitated by a problematic left hip.
Doctors told her that she would completely tear the muscles in the hip unless she stopped swinging violently, so she slowly is adjusting to a new swing that puts less stress on the joint.
“I think the results really haven’t been showing, but every week, it’s been feeling more and more comfortable,” Wie said Tuesday. “Every time you do a big overhaul of anything, it takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. Sometimes it does, but most of the time it takes time to change your swing.
“I feel like every day I’m getting more comfortable with the swing changes. Just with everything in general, I’m feeling healthier and healthier. My hip felt better in Arkansas (last week) than it has the past couple of weeks. And I think I’m taking it day by day and taking it slowly.”
Wie, 25, hasn’t finished higher than a tie for 11th in 14 events this season. She has
fallen to No. 17 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
Her primary challengers for the title this week are expected to be world No. 1 Inbee Park, No. 2 Lydia Ko and No. 3 Stacy Lewis, the runner-up to Wie last year in the Women’s Open.
Park won her sixth career major last month at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, finishing five shots ahead of Sei Young Kim.
“I think as a golfer you want to do good in major championships, and obviously that’s the tournament (where) you put 100 percent of your energy and strategy and everything,” Park said. “So I definitely really do care about the major championships. When I come to major championships, I work extra hard and I try to look at the course a little bit better.”
Lewis is regularly a contender in the majors and is coming off a tie for third in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in her last event.
She is looking forward to the challenge of playing an Open course.
“I like when the golf course is playing its hardest, and that’s what we get at majors,” she said. “It tests every aspect of your game. You can’t just putt it well and get through the week or hit it well and get through the week, you’ve got to do everything well.
“I like the big stage. I like when we’ve got all the attention and we’ve got big crowds. I think I just embrace the challenge of majors and I think you play better when you do that.
