Colin Sheridan: Golf will be much the poorer without Michelle Wie West

Her retirement last week came as no surprise. Marriage, motherhood and injuries have brought fresh focus to her life, which will undoubtedly be richer for her latest choice.

Michelle Wie West exponentially elevated the profile of a sport that had long languished in the shadow of its male equivalent.

MICHELLE Wie West, the one time wunderkind of ladies golf, announced last week that she was stepping away from the professional game at the age of 32. 

She does so having won five LPGA tournaments, including the 2014 US Open. Some would argue that given her prodigious talent, it is a career unfulfilled. It's just as arguable, however, that the opposite is true; given the scrutiny her life and choices have been under since the age of ten, it's perhaps miraculous she had a successful career as an adult at all. Her greatest achievement may well be leaving it all behind on her own terms, with her sanity intact.