Michelle Wie West reacts to her birdie putt on the 18th hole by high-fiving Annika Sorenstam in the second round of the US Women’s Open. Harry How

Michelle Wie West and her caddie and husband Jonnie West approached the bunker fronting the 18th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Friday evening and found her ball in a wet and nearly plugged lie. It wasn’t the way they had envisioned the one-time star and face of women’s golf finishing up her final round of professional competition.

But golf, as Wie West would note a few minutes later, is funny that way. It can beat you down as easily as it lifts you up. Just wait for that next swing for the fortunes to change. She has always known that. And so Wie West lined up her 30-foot par putt, swallowed her emotions and watched her ball use its last ounce of steam to fall into the cup.

A smallish crowd, thinned by the wind and cold, cheered happily as Wie West laughed and traded high fives with her Hall-of-Fame playing partner, Annika Sorenstam, and walked over to wrap her arm around her husband.

Later, holding her 3-year-old daughter Makenna in her arms while she spoke to the media, Wie West said, “Well, the putts didn’t drop all week, and the game is a funny game. And making that long putt on 18 definitely was a sweeter sendoff. It was just such an emotional day starting from 1 tee.”

Michelle Wie West and Jonnie West stand together after she putted out on the 18th green. Harry How

Nine years removed from winning her only major, the 2014 US Women’s Open at Pinehurst, Wie West, 33, decided last year that this US Open would be her last tournament of competitive golf, 18 years after she announced she would turn pro just before her 16th birthday. That last call had much to do with the fact that the Open was being held at Pebble Beach, though Wie West hadn’t played a full round on the seaside links until this week.

For the most part, Wie West already had put competitive golf and her five-win LPGA career in her rearview mirror, not playing full-time on tour since 2018. She chose instead to extend her influence in the game through hosting the new LPGA tournament in New Jersey, doing a podcast and keeping in touch regularly with LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. She’s spent more time tending the garden at her Los Angeles home than hitting balls.

A smallish crowd, thinned by the wind and cold, cheered happily as Wie West laughed and traded high fives with her Hall-of-Fame playing partner, Annika Sorenstam, and walked over to wrap her arm around her husband.

Later, holding her 3-year-old daughter Makenna in her arms while she spoke to the media, Wie West said, “Well, the putts didn’t drop all week, and the game is a funny game. And making that long putt on 18 definitely was a sweeter sendoff. It was just such an emotional day starting from 1 tee.”

Michelle Wie West and Jonnie West stand together after she putted out on the 18th green. Harry How

Nine years removed from winning her only major, the 2014 US Women’s Open at Pinehurst, Wie West, 33, decided last year that this US Open would be her last tournament of competitive golf, 18 years after she announced she would turn pro just before her 16th birthday. That last call had much to do with the fact that the Open was being held at Pebble Beach, though Wie West hadn’t played a full round on the seaside links until this week.

For the most part, Wie West already had put competitive golf and her five-win LPGA career in her rearview mirror, not playing fulltime on tour since 2018. She chose instead to extend her influence in the game through hosting the new LPGA tournament in New Jersey, doing a podcast and keeping in touch regularly with LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. She’s spent more time tending the garden at her Los Angeles home than hitting balls.