They were born within seven weeks of each other in 1989 and graduated from Punahou a year apart. Both have captured our imagination on the golf course for more than half their life.
But it wasn’t until Stephanie Kono moved to Jupiter, Fla., that she and Michelle Wie became friends.
“She lives like five minutes away,” Kono said on a recent trip back to Hawaii. “We hang out all the time when we’re both home. We live so close and have the same group of friends. It’s nice, really nice.”
This year, Kono and Wie will actually be working together on the LPGA tour again, for the first time since 2012.
Kono earned conditional status at the LPGA Qualifying Tournament in December. She came up a shot short of exempt status and isn’t sure how many events she will get into, but is currently playing in the Coates Golf Championship in Ocala, Fla., along with Wie. There are two “re-shuffles” during the year so if she does well her status can improve.
She is hopeful she can play the Lotte Championship — recently confirmed to return to Ko Olina — back home in April.
Wie, the 2014 Lotte champ, should be there too with what many hope is a back-to-the-future look. Last year was most notable for illness and injury for Wie, leading her to take another look at the Casey Nakama-nurtured swing she started with as a little girl at Olomana Golf Links.
She told GolfChannel.com she’s committed to a more “flowing motion” with her swing this year, “like when I was a kid, kind of that carefree motion, trying to make it easier on my body.”
It lasted six holes at last week’s season opener. Wie was stung by a bee on the seventh tee, suffered swelling and ended up missing the cut. She is playing this week in Florida at the Coates Golf Championship.
“I think golf makes everyone crazy on some level. You have to be a little bit crazy to play golf. All golfers are crazy,but at least we’ve got each other.”
– Stephanie Kono, Professional golfer
Kono will be close by. What she likes most about living in Florida — Jupiter specifically — is that there are so many golfers from so many tours so close. She never has trouble picking up a game.
“I think what’s helped my game most is not only being around Michelle, but being around so many golfers from so many different levels,” the three-time UCLA All-American says. “Everyone has the same goal. What’s helped most is being around people who do what you do and understand what it takes.”
Kono had her own health problems last year — for the first time in her career — while playing on the Symetra Tour. She was out two months with a back injury and started back in July.
“I started playing really well toward the end of the season, felt really good about my game,” she recalled. “I wasn’t scoring great, but I felt I was going to play really well soon. I had a lot of confidence going into final stage (of qualifying).”
Missing out on full status by one was tough, but so is golf and Kono talked herself out of any regrets.
“Everybody wishes they could have a shot here or there,” she says. “For me, my wish would be to re-do the first two rounds, when everyone scored well and the conditions were nice. But I played well down the stretch the final day when it was really windy. There was not another shot in me. I had to make some really good putts the last five holes.”
Kono gave up her final year at UCLA when she qualified for the 2012 season. She never broke 70 — her average in college — that season.
Now, she knows she is older. She hopes she is wiser.
“I know how the tournaments work,” Kono says. “I know how to travel. Just the little things will help — knowing courses and how to get around. And, it’s just easier being in Florida. I’ll be more comfortable the second time around.
“What’s different now is how I approach my goals. Four years ago I was very new to all this. I had goals but I was more … hopeful. In the back of my mind I wasn’t quite sure how to achieve them. Now I have a much better idea how to handle myself and do it much better.”
One thing hasn’t changed since she was winning every tournament in sight as a junior, and playing on a victorious Curtis Cup team. She still loves the game and is especially looking forward to a tour that now features 12 former Bruins.
“Oh yeah,” Kono laughs. “If I didn’t love it I wouldn’t do it, because it is hard.
“I think golf makes everyone crazy on some level. You have to be a little bit crazy to play golf. All golfers are crazy, but at least we’ve got each other.”
