Michelle Wie, in a January 2009 interview:

Getting my (LPGA) card is a big triumph for me. I'm really proud of myself. There were times in the past couple of years, with all the injuries and the stress, when I was so tired all the time. I took four or five naps during the day. All I wanted to do was sleep.

But this is a new beginning. I feel so much more energized now.

Even before I broke my wrist in early 2007, my whole right side was really hurting from when I hit a cart path on my downswing in my first year as a pro. I would compensate with my shoulder, elbow, neck, everything. One thing led to another, and it affected my whole swing.

Then I fell, near Palo Alto, and I didn't tell my parents. I fell on my butt, and I thought it was a tailbone injury. I thought I'd have a huge bruise. But then I saw my wrist was twisted in a weird way. The more I moved it, the more it hurt. I just hid it in my sleeve. I didn't want my parents to worry about me, because when they worry, I worry. Turns out I broke three bones. My parents were shocked when I told them. I needed a cast, and to be honest, I wanted to put my whole body in a cast.

I was in a pretend world. I didn't want to face reality. I wanted to act like everything was OK. The more I played, the more it hurt. The worse I played, the more I tried to practice. It was a never-ending cycle. I thought everything would be fine once I got my cast off, but then I did and my left arm had shrunk. I'd hit a couple balls and I needed to get the cast back on. I would cry, then get frustrated at myself for crying, and then I'd cry some more. It got to the point where I couldn't lift a golf club at all.

There were times when I was like, "Is this really all worth it?" I felt crappy. I would mis-hit all these shots that I knew I could make, that I had made before. It was terrible. But when you hit that one good shot, it reminds you why you play the game. I wanted to taste that again.

I've learned to respect my body. I'm eating better, trying to keep my body toxin-free. And I'm getting there. Pain-wise, I'm almost all better. I'm not scared all the time of something hurting when I swing. The hardest part is getting rid of all the compensation. Because of the pain, there were little things I did to protect my swing. I'm still trying to iron those out.

And there's another thing I'm working on. I know some people in the media want me to play like I did at 14. For a while, I did too. But I started realizing you can never be who you were five years ago. You can only move forward and become more mature. I think my parents have realized that, too.

Everyone was really stressed out for a while. I think we all needed to take a chill pill.

Stanford helps with that. My schedule is great. All my classes are in the morning, when it can get pretty cold up in Palo Alto. Every afternoon, though, it's perfect weather, so I practice until it gets dark. After that, I do some homework. It's a good balance. I can't just be playing golf. I need something else in my life. I live with athletes and they call me "a civilian." I like that.

School really calms me. Yes, I might have to sacrifice some good grades. I always put golf in front of school. But it's a great time in my life right now.

And yes, I do want to play against men again. Definitely. It's always been my dream, and I'm not giving it up. But for now, I just want to try to be the No. 1 woman golfer in the world.

I'm really excited now. And I'm so excited to feel excited again. I think it's going to be a great time ahead. I'm finally happy.