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Each year, nearly 10,000 dreamers try to qualify for the U.S. Open. It doesn’t matter what your background is; if you are an amateur or a professional; if you are young or old; or if you are male or female. Everyone has an opportunity to earn a spot in the championship.
A woman has never qualified to play in the U.S. Open, but in 2006, 16-year-old Michelle Wie West came closer than anyone in the championship’s 125-year history.
That May, Wie West earned medalist honors in the Kahuku, Hawaii, local qualifier with an even-par 72. In doing so, she became the first female to advance through U.S. Open local qualifying since two-stage qualifying began in 1959. Though there was a 36-hole sectional qualifier in her native Hawaii, Wie opted for the one at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., to be closer to that year’s LPGA Championship in northern Maryland, which started three days after the U.S. Open qualifier.
To relive the anticipation, excitement and drama of her quest, we caught up with those who witnessed it at Canoe Brook.
BETH MAJOR (USGA): In 2006, Michelle was the biggest story in golf besides Tiger.
RON SIRAK (Golf World): She had been a household name for about five years at that point. In 2003 [at age 13], she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links (WAPL) and made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open. But I think what really grabbed everyone’s attention was when she started playing against men.
DOUG FERGUSON (Associated Press): At 14, she only missed the cut by one at the [PGA Tour’s] Sony Open. The only comparison you can make is Tiger and what he did in the Junior Ams and U.S. Am.
MAJOR: When she reached the quarterfinals of the 2005 U.S. Amateur Public Links [in Lebanon, Ohio], we ran out of media credentials and were fielding hundreds of calls and emails every day. Her photo was on the front page of The New York Times sports section.
CRAIG SMITH (USGA): Then she wins her U.S. Open local qualifier in Hawaii [in May 2006]. Our historians were looking in the archives to see if it had ever been done before. It had not. We knew we had a huge story.
MICHELLE WIE WEST: It wasn’t so much of a statement thing, I just thought it would be cool to play in the men’s U.S. Open. I wanted to make history and show other girls not to be afraid of any barriers.
SIRAK: That captured everyone’s imagination. Everything about her was compelling. A 6-foot-tall Korean-American who was only 16 years old, could hit it 285-290 [yards], and was taking on the men. It was perfect.
BRIAN MAHONEY (Metropolitan Golf Association): In 2006, Canoe Brook was a big qualifier because you had all the Tour guys who were in town for the Westchester Classic later that week. It was 153 players for 18 spots.
MAJOR: That year’s U.S. Open was at Winged Foot so there was already a lot of buzz in the New York metro area about golf. Add in Michelle – a player on the precipice of doing something never done before – and it was a perfect storm.
SMITH: Normally those qualifiers have a half dozen writers and maybe a local video crew or two. We had more than 200 writers, plus satellite trucks from ESPN and Golf Channel. We had to create a makeshift media center.
TOM RINALDI (ESPN): I venture to say ESPN has never covered U.S. Open qualifying before or since, so that is a testament to the attention she garnered in the sports world.
RICH LERNER (Golf Channel): When I got to Canoe Brook, I saw ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio there. If they were sending one of their best NFL reporters to cover a golf event, you knew this was no ordinary qualifier.
MAHONEY: We contacted the Short Hills Mall to secure additional parking, then shuttled people to the golf course. We brought in dozens of additional volunteers, plus police officers to help with security and extra food and drink.
JEFF HALL (USGA): At that time, groups for U.S. Open qualifiers were generated randomly by a computer program. But I had a conversation with [USGA executive director] David Fay and Mike Davis about making sure we had two people with Michelle who could handle the attention they’d be getting.
RICK HARTMANN (Wie West’s fellow competitor): We got a call ahead of time and right away we knew it was going to be a circus because this was a huge deal.
DAVID GOSSETT (Wie West’s fellow competitor): I met Michelle when I was practicing at the David Leadbetter Academy. She must have been 12 years old and you took one look at her swing and you could tell right away she was impressive. Four years later we were playing together for a spot in the U.S. Open.
HALL: Rick was an experienced player who had made the cut in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and David was a U.S. Amateur champion and PGA Tour winner. Most importantly, they were both great guys and we knew they could handle it.
MAHONEY: They teed off just before 9 a.m. on the first hole of the South Course, which is across the main road.
RINALDI: I was covering it for SportsCenter. They came to me for a live look-in just before she teed off to set the scene and convey what the atmosphere was like. There were easily a thousand people surrounding the tee and going well down the fairway. That number only grew throughout the day.
GENE WESTMORELAND (MGA): It was an impressive field with major champions and PGA Tour winners, but 90 percent of the fans were following Michelle’s group. It was like Arnie’s Army.
HARTMANN: Early on it was like hitting down a tunnel, it was so narrow with everyone trying to get a better view.
MAHONEY: After seven or eight holes, we sent volunteers out who grabbed ropes and walked behind the players so they didn’t get swallowed up in the crowds.
FERGUSON: I flew in from Columbus and arrived about halfway through her first round. When I went out on the course, I couldn’t believe it. There were more fans following Michelle than Phil Mickelson had on Sunday at The Memorial [Mickelson finished T-4].
WIE WEST: The support from the fans was AMAZING. I was pretty used to big crowds by that point so it didn’t surprise me, but it gave me so much adrenaline in the beginning.
GOSSETT: It felt more like a PGA Tour event with several thousand fans and lots of cameras following us around. I had played with Tiger, Phil, Ernie and others, so it wasn’t too distracting for me, but it was definitely unusual.
SIRAK: Typically there were a few hundred fans at a qualifier like that, mostly friends and family of the players. In 2006 they had so many fans they had to close the gates at noon for fear of overrunning the place.
MAHONEY: We had a police officer standing by the entrance gate with a tally counter. When we got to 5,000, which was our max capacity, he put his arm out and stopped the flow of spectators.
LERNER: As that first round unfolded, she quickly established that she belonged in the field of 153. It became clear not only was she going to post a respectable score, she might actually pull this off.
MAJOR: She drove it in a divot on the 15th, a long par 4. It looked like she might get relief from casual water, but a Rules official didn’t grant it. Undeterred, Michelle pulls out a fairway wood and gouges it out, knocks it right on the green. People were shaking their heads in amazement.
FERGUSON: On the final hole of the morning round her approach missed the green and nestled down in this ugly lie. It looked like she was going to make bogey, but then she hits this beautiful chip and it hits the flagstick and drops in for a birdie. The place went crazy.
SIRAK: The interest was building throughout the morning, but when she chipped in on 18 the excitement level went through the roof.
FERGUSON: She shot a 68 and was T-13. You started doing the math with 18 spots available and she had a legitimate chance.
HARTMANN: That 68 was the worst she could have shot. It easily could have been 65. She hit it to 15 feet every hole. She putted fine, too, just burned some edges.
MAHONEY: Michelle started her second round on the 1oth tee of the North Course, which is right near the clubhouse. It was just a sea of humanity.
LERNER: I was doing live reports for Golf Channel checking in every few holes. I kept hearing fans turn to the person next to them and say some variation of “Wow, she’s just as good as the guys she’s playing with!”
SMITH: At that time, they only updated scoring every nine holes, so I’d have someone call me after every hole and tell me what Michelle made. With about six or seven holes to go, I really thought she was going to make it.
SIRAK: From tee to green, she was as good as anyone in the field. But her putter betrayed her down the stretch. She was 2 under through 30 holes, then missed a 4-footer at the 31st and a 2-footer at the 32nd.
LERNER: Going in we knew it was a long shot, but she gave the fans and media a reason to hold onto hope longer than we thought was possible. There was real tension deep into the last nine.
FERGUSON: You look at the results and see that she finished T-59 and five strokes away from qualifying, but it was a lot closer than that. You can’t judge her performance on the final result, but where she was with an hour to go, and she was right on the cut line.
SIRAK: I think some of the fans and local media who were there cheering for Michelle took it harder than she did.
WIE WEST: I am proud of giving myself that opportunity and so grateful to the fans at Canoe Brook who walked with me for all 36 holes. They were so supportive and even when I ran out of steam at the end, they helped carry me through when I wanted to give up.
RINALDI: I spoke with her after the round and was especially impressed with how she dealt with the pressure and scrutiny. Most 16-year-olds would be disappointed if they got a few questions wrong on a social studies test. Yet she was so positive and did it with grace and humility beyond her years.
HARTMANN: She handled it so well all day. Extremely gracious, very sweet. And my God was she good. I walked away from that day thinking she was going to rule the golf world.
SIRAK: Michelle wasn’t overwhelmed by the stage she was on. Her composure was extremely impressive. She was even making jokes afterward.
WIE WEST (after the round in 2006): “I felt like I was playing great. I hit [those putts] the way I wanted to. I guess my ball is afraid of heights. It didn’t want to go in the hole.”
MAJOR: For as many fans as she already had before that day, she gained many more with her poise, tenacity and sense of humor. That day was a huge part of her development, both as a golfer and as a person.
LERNER: I walked away from that day thinking she wasn’t just “really good for 16” or “really good for a woman,” she was really good, period. She could compete with the best at any level.
SIRAK: The impact of that day was enormous for women’s golf. We were getting a glimpse of what is possible. I truly believe we are going to see a woman playing full-time on the PGA Tour one day. It might not be tomorrow, but I think it’s going to happen within 10 years.
WIE WEST: I just hope that more girls take this chance and aren’t scared and never limit themselves to anything.
FERGUSON: She’s done a lot of impressive things in her career – and may not be done yet – but to me that day was the peak of excitement, the height of Wie-mania.
LERNER: It was a great day for the game of golf. For those of us who cover the sport, it was a gift. She turned what would have been an ordinary qualifier into a historic event.
Mike Trostel is the executive producer for content for the USGA. Email him at mtrostel@usga.org.
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