Michelle Wie won’t be teeing it up in next week’s LPGA season opener at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Sources told GolfChannel.com that she’s also not likely to play in the following week’s Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio in Florida.
Wie, who turned 30 in October, is still rehabilitating from the lingering hand and wrist injuries that caused her to shut down play early in each of the last two seasons. In October of 2018, she underwent surgery to repair an avulsion fracture, bone chips and nerve entrapment in her right hand.
In her return last February, she tied for 23rd at the Honda LPGA Thailand, but pain followed her the rest of the year. She withdrew in the first round of her title defense at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, the week after Thailand. She missed cuts playing through pain at the ANA Inspiration, the Lotte Championship and the KPMG Women’s PGA before shutting down play again to rest and rehabilitate in the second half of last season.
Wie declined an interview request this week but told GolfChannel.com late last year that while she wanted to play the Diamond Resorts, she wasn’t going to rush her return.
“I’m very determined to play next year,” she said last fall. “There is no hard, set date for my return . . . I’m doing everything I can to get there, but at the same time, I have to learn to listen to my body. If I’m not ready, I’m not ready.”
Wie’s time away was still newsworthy. In August, she got married to Jonnie West, the Golden State Warriors director of basketball operations and son of Los Angeles Lakers legend Jerry West. Also, last month, CBS announced that she signed on to do broadcasting duties for a select number of the network’s PGA Tour events, including the Masters.