Michelle Wie credits Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler ‘cheat sheets’ for U.S. Open win

Michelle Wie takes great pride in her Stanford degree, which she worked hard to attain, but no test she studied for in college was quite as satisfying as the one she passed on Sunday at Pinehurst when she earned her first major title at the U.S. Women’s Open.

It’s also likely that to prepare for the toughest challenge in golf, the 2012 graduate had more help than usual from more friends and colleagues encouraging her and, in the case of PGA Tour stars Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler, sharing their class notes.

“It definitely beats my engineering exams, for sure,” Wie said Sunday about how rewarding it was that the homework and prep work she did, including studying notes that Bradley, Fowler, and their caddies inked during their turns a week earlier on the same course, paid off in the most crucial trial of her career. “I don’t think I’ve ever spent this much time on the yardage books as I did.”

Wie, whose big win moved her up four slots to No. 7 in the world rankings, has become friendly with the 2011 PGA champion and the winner of the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship who popularized the flat-billed cap since moving to Jupiter, Fla., the mecca of professional golf that boasts residents like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as well as her two biggest boosters on the PGA Tour. Each of them hit Twitter to congratulate Wie on her W and tweak each other over who deserved more acclaim for the assist.

Wie credited both, saying the crib notes they shared with her were critical to her finding her way around the venue that hosted the men’s and women’s Opens in consecutive weeks for the first time in history.

“I think without those books I would kind of be a little bit lost and I would have had to figure it out for myself,” said Wie, who conceded she had never analyzed yardage books as much as she did in preparation for last week.

“I kind of sat down early this week with Rickie and Keegan’s book, and their caddie’s books, as well. They had a lot of good notes for me. I think that was a crucial part of my game plan,” she said. “It was kind of a cheat sheet.”

Michelle Wie and friends follow Rickie Fowler last Sunday at the men’s U.S. Open. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

After being inside the ropes as Martin Kaymer put the finishing touches on his eight-shot U.S. Open rout a week earlier, Wie spent some two hours Sunday morning on last-minute cramming for her final round, which she entered as a 2-under co-leader with Amy Yang.

“It was helpful they played last week,” she said about the players jottings about “where to leave [her ball], where to land it.”

Wie took inspiration from others who have been by her side through the good times and bad. Long-time coach David Leadbetter did not let her despair even during years when her body let her down.

“There was a big stretch of time where I was injured,” said Wie, who last week sported brightly colored therapeutic tape on her left leg to help stabilize a wobbly knee.

“My health was not very good. And I worked hard. I never stopped working hard and no matter how hard I worked, there was a point where I just wasn’t getting any better,” she said. “But David kind of talked to me and he said that, you know, sometimes hard work shows overnight and sometimes it shows over a couple of years.”

Wie also leaned on other good friends for inspiration. She picked the brains of 2009 and 2013 U.S. Solheim Cup captains Meg Mallon and Beth Daniel, each of whom made Wie a controversial wild-card pick for her squad.

Pat Bradley, indirectly, aided in Wie’s cause after Keegan forwarded a clip of his aunt’s 1981 U.S. Women’s Open victory.

“I watched a couple of clips on YouTube,” Wie said. “I definitely got goose bumps when we were talking about how amazing it is.”

Wie gave a special shout out to her parents, who had been accused of micro-managing their daughter’s career during her troubled formative years, when the teenaged phenom was generating resentment among women players by challenging men on the PGA Tour without making her bones on the LPGA Tour.

“When I kind of had my downs, when people doubted me, when I even doubted myself, my parents would never let me doubt myself,” she said. “If I even showed an ounce of doubt, they just believed in me so hard that I started to believe in myself again. And I owe them everything.

“Obviously, everything that I’ve done today, winning this championship, winning other events, everything in my career, I owe to them,” she said. “They believe in me, they’re my No. 1 fans. They’re my two eyes. They see everything ... All the ups and downs, they’re obviously there for me every single day. And they’re my No. 1 fans, for sure.”

The best advice Wie received? Probably that from two-time U.S. Women’s Open victor Mallon, who counseled her “just to trust myself and kind of just keep it slow.

“I think definitely a couple of glasses of wine helped my sleep last night, for sure,” she said about going to bed with a share of the lead and her first major championship win on the line.

“I slept like a baby,” said Wie.