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The last time Michelle Wie went home to play in a professional golf tournament, she was still engrossed in studies at Stanford University. Now, the 22-year-old Stanford graduate can focus on her golf game as she plays in her home state for the first time in three years. Ko Olina Golf Club, the site of this week’s LOTTE Championship Presented by J Golf, is located about 30 minutes west of her childhood home in Honolulu.

Wie, who completed her course work in Communications in March, will have the unusual circumstance of being the oldest player in her threesome during the first two rounds of the LOTTE Championship. She is paired with Lexi Thompson, age 17, and Jessica Korda, age 19 – both winners in the last seven months on the LPGA. They are scheduled to tee off at 8:55 a.m. (Hawaii time) on No. 1 in Wednesday’s first round and noon on No. 10 in Thursday’s second round. It is the LPGA’s first tournament in Hawaii since 2009.

Wie first competed as an amateur in a LPGA event at the 2002 LPGA Takefuji Classic when she became the youngest player to Monday qualify for a LPGA event at age 12 years, 4 months, 14 days. In five LPGA starts in Hawaii from 2002-2009, she recorded two runner-up finishes – as a 15-year-old at the 2005 SBS Open at Turtle Bay, two behind winner Jennifer Rosales, and the 2009 SBS Open at Turtle Bay, three behind winner Angela Stanford. Additionally, as a 16-year old, Wie shot a final-round 66 at the 2006 Fields Open in Hawaii – played at this week’s site, Ko Olina – to finish third, one stroke out of a playoff. She also made four of her eight career sponsor exemption starts on the PGA Tour at the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. Wie has won twice on the LPGA, at the 2009 Lorena Ochoa Invitational and the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open.

Here’s a look at Wie’s professional history in tournaments in Hawaii:

Topics: Wie, Michelle, LPGA Lotte Championship