Michelle Wie West Announces Return to Competitive Golf
Rudy Giuliani’s crude comments about the golfer spurred her comeback.
Michelle Wie West will compete at the U.S. Women’s Open for the first time since 2018, a comeback that follows wrist injuries, surgery and the birth of her first child. Her return to competition is fueled by frustration: in a new interview with The New York Times, the pro golfer says that vulgar comments about her underwear — voiced by none other than Rudy Giuliani — launched her back into the game.
During a February episode of Steve Bannon’s right-wing podcast War Room, Giuliani recalled a conversation he had with the infamous political commentator Rush Limbaugh. During his retelling, the disgraced politician offered a few choice comments on Wie West: “Now Michelle Wie is gorgeous…And she has a strange putting stance. She bends all the way over. And her panties show. And the press was going crazy,” he said.
Wie West, who responded to Giuliani’s crude remarks with an impressively diplomatic post on Twitter, is now working to change the perceptions of women’s golf and increase resources for the sport. She is pursuing the formation of an inter-sport council that would address the pay disparity between men and women athletes. And from June 3 to 6, Wie West will make her comeback at the U.S. Open, competing to win $1 million of a $5.5 million USD purse (the winner of the men’s U.S. Open will win $2.25 million from a $12.5 million USD purse).
Head to The New York Times to read Wie West’s full interview on her return to competitive golf.
