WEST CALDWELL, N.J. — Michelle Wie West thought she was prepared to step back into the competitive golf ring. Five wins, a U.S. Women’s Open title and countless professional starts told the 36-year-old that Thursday’s return to the LPGA after three years away wouldn’t feel any different.

Then came 7:37 a.m. at Mountain Ridge Country Club. As she went to tee it up in the first round at the Mizuho Americas Open, her hand shook as she began her first real preparation for next month’s U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club, which is expected to be her final goodbye to competitive golf.

“It was funny, I wasn’t nervous going in, and I get to the first tee, and I’m like, Holy s–t,” Wie West said while laughing after her first round on Thursday. “I was like, Wow. All of a sudden the hole looks so small. Got to a 2-footer and I’m like, ‘I’m not going to hit the hole. No way.’”

It was Wie West’s first competitive start since she rolled in a 30-foot par putt to close the second round of the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, and it was a rocky reminder of all that’s needed to succeed and compete at the top level — and that returning is never as easy as waving goodbye.

She opened with a par but made three straight bogeys before a triple at No. 5. After a double at the ninth, she made the turn in 44, and the bad thoughts that golf can deliver started to seep in.

“Dark, very dark. It got very grim,” Wie West said. “Hole nine, that was dark.

“My husband was talking me off the ledge the whole round, you know. Golf can take you places, and I went places today.”

But as Wie West struggled with the speed of the greens and a right-hand-low grip that won’t be returning, the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champion noticed a father and his young son walking the course with her. Steven and his 7-year-old son, Owen, came out to see the return of one of the most famous faces in women’s golf. They walked every hole with Wie West at Mountain Ridge on Thursday, a father and son soaking in the limited return of a golf icon.

When Wie West waved goodbye three years ago at Pebble Beach, it was a calm end to a career that had a massive impact on women’s golf regardless of any trophy count. She may have never reached the lofty expectations some bestowed on her when she burst onto the scene at 14, but she still commanded the attention of millions. Her personality is magnetic, and she has built a deserved reputation as one of the game’s best people — a child prodigy who was not broken by expectation but instead did her best to encourage those kids who wanted to follow in her footsteps.

“I hope that I’ve inspired girls to go out there and make fearless decisions,” Wie West said at Pebble Beach three years ago.

On Thursday, Wie West reached the 14th hole nine over. Owen and his dad looked on from the 15th tee box across the walkway as Wie West surveyed a slick par putt. She expected the putt to slide left. It did, but not as much as Wie West thought, and it rolled past the hole for another bogey. Wie West waved her hand to mimic the break she thought was coming and tapped in to move to 10 over.

As she arrived at the 15th tee, still thinking about the latest in a long line of missed putts, Owen waited on the back of the tee box wearing a blue Sonic the Hedgehog jacket. Wie West walked to the back of the tee, gave Owen a fist bump and a ball. He flashed a big smile and stuffed the treasure in his pocket.

“At the end of the day, there was a dad and a little kid literally walked all 18 and just made my day,” Wie West said. “For me that’s the best part of my day, right? I just find it so awesome that the kids are out here. They’re having fun. Hopefully, they want to play the game.”

After giving Owen his souvenir, Wie West striped her drive and hit a perfect, sawed-off wedge to 7 feet for birdie.

Michelle Wie West wasn’t sure what to expect in the first round of her tune-up for Riviera, a start she will make thanks to a maternity leave extension on her 10-year U.S. Women’s Open exemption she received for her 2014 win at Pinehurst No. 2. She has been grinding to get her game ready, but this was different. It was a brutal reality check, but one that gave her what she needed — even if it didn’t look like it.

“I think playing under nerves is a skill,” Wie West said. “It’s not something you can just wing it. There are tools and mechanisms that you can utilize to play under pressure, and that’s practice, too, right? So I take those feelings that I felt, the nervy feelings that I felt today, I definitely take that as practice.”

Wie West signed for a 10-over 82. (She said she started to settle down after the four-putt at No. 11.) She’ll go back to the claw grip on Friday. There’s work for Wie West to do. On Thursday, there were flashes of her world-class talent — like the perfect wedge at 15 or the blasted drive at 18. But there were also nerves and competitive rust.

“I’m building from here,” Wie West. “I’ve got to give myself a lot of grace.

“At the end of the day, I put things in perspective, and I build upon it, and you have to learn from these kinds of rounds. That’s just what golf is.”

After Wie West tapped in for a closing par, she walked up the rope line toward scoring. Owen and his dad were there waiting for an autograph. Wie West gave him a high five and a smile.

“I’ll come back after I sign my card,” she said.

As they had all day, Steven and Owen waited for one more glimpse of a golf star who still shines as bright as ever.