Michelle Wie West drops 30-footer at Pebble Beach to end pro career - ESPN

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — There was no other way it could have ended.

After a gloomy week at Pebble Beach where Michelle Wie West struggled to find the bottom of the cup, the 30-foot par putt on the 18th green — the final one of her career — had no reason to drop. And yet, the ball kept rolling, then trickling, and eventually, falling.

All Wie West could do was laugh. This wasn't exactly the ending she envisioned — one where she lasted until the weekend, played well and maybe even competed at her final U.S. Open and her final tournament ever — but it was the ending she got: one more lasting memory in a career that has spanned decades.

«The game is a funny game,» Wie West said after posting a two-day score of 14-over par (79-79) and missing the cut by 8 shots. «Making that long putt on 18 definitely was a sweeter sendoff.»

Wie West said she had been fighting emotions since the first tee on Friday, holding back tears and awaiting the final moments that would arrive. As she stood on the 18th tee behind her husband and caddie Jonnie West, she took a few deep breaths and held back tears just before launching her last tee ball into the fading light.

Next to her, three-time U.S. Women's Open winner Annika Sorenstam, who also was likely player her final major championship, asked her son to take a picture of her and her husband and caddie Mike on the 18th tee. Everyone was trying to hold on to the moment a little longer.

«It definitely feels surreal right now,» Wie West said. «It feels like nothing has changed and everything has changed all at once.»

Then, the walk down the 18th hole and up the green came. As Sorenstam's son walked with the group, Wie West sought out her mom, who was driving a stroller with Wie West's 3-year-old