Michelle Wie goes for second major in a row

SOUTHPORT, England - As much as Michelle Wie prefers to look forward, this is one week when it's tempting to get caught up in the past.

That could include her recent tour of New York as the U.S. Women's Open champion or a decade ago when the teen prodigy from Hawaii got her first taste of links golf along the Lancashire coast of England.

Both are relevant memories this week at the Women's British Open.

Wie is among the favorites when the LPGA Tour's third major of the year gets underway today at Royal Birkdale and not just because she won the last major.

Wie has two victories among eight top 10s in her past nine tournaments. She has played in the final group at both majors. Her unique, bent over "table-top" stance while putting has proven to be the perfect complement to her power. She has become a force in women's golf, capped off by her two-shot win at Pinehurst No. 2.

She was introduced at her news conference this week as the reigning U.S. Women's Open champion.

"It's never going to get old," said Wie, smiling. "I think it's amazing that it will be there forever - my name will be on the cup. Once it's engraved, it can't really be taken back. It feels amazing. I'm extremely proud of myself."

And now it's back to work.

"I let myself really bask in it for a few days," Wie said. "And after that ... just because I won a major, it doesn't mean that I'm going to play well in the future. It doesn't guarantee that I'm going to win the British or win anything."

Wie made her links debut just down the road at Formby when she played in the Curtis Cup at age 14. A year later, in her final tournament as an amateur, she closed with 69 at Birkdale in cold, windy conditions and tied for third in the Women's British Open.

Stacy Lewis is No. 1 in the world and the defending champion.

Lexi Thompson won the Kraft Nabisco Championship, followed by Wie at the U.S. Women's Open. It's the first time in 15 years that Americans have won the first two majors of the LPGA Tour season. Beyond the majors, Americans have won 10 of 16 tournaments this year. They are Nos. 1 and 2 on the money list (Lewis and Wie) and occupy eight of the top 15 positions.

Wie will try to become the first American since Juli Inkster in 1999 to win back-to-back majors in the same season.

"I think it's going to be just as hard as the first one," Wie said. "Hopefully, it won't take me quite as long. I'm not going to complain either way. It doesn't change my views on anything. I'm still attacking the game the same way.

"I'm not looking at the game any differently. I'm not looking at myself any differently. It made me more motivated to go out and play better."