CHASKA, Minn. – Michelle Wie will turn 30 in four months.

Her joints probably feel a lot older.

Since breaking into the golf world’s consciousness shooting 66 as a 13-year-old at the Kraft Nabisco to get into the final Sunday pairing, then wowing PGA Tour pros as a 14-year-old at the Sony Open, Wie has endured more than her share of injuries.

She may only be 29, but she has been playing tour events for 17 years.

All the mileage has taken a toll.

Her wrists, neck, back, hip, knees and ankles have all broken down at some point with the wear and tear.

“I call her a walking cadaver,” David Leadbetter, her swing coach, has cracked more than once. “I don’t think there’s one joint or bone in her body that hasn’t been injured.”

Wie fans might be watching with one eye closed as she makes her return to the game this week from her most recent injury, multiple ailments of the right hand. It’s been so long since she has played healthy, concern runs through more than her own camp.

Is she really ready to play the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship after another long spell away to heal? How much more pounding can her body take? Is rushing back from all these injuries shortening her career’s lifespan, with aching joints appearing to worsen after she was involved in a car accident two-and-a-half years ago? She is battling arthritis in both wrists. She has undergone multiple cortisone injections, and then platelet-rich plasma treatments, after her doctors told her she couldn’t have any more cortisone shots. Most recently, she has been undergoing laser therapy and compression therapy.

“Your hands are everything,” Leadbetter said back in April, when Wie announced she was taking two months off to more fully heal from last fall’s surgery to repair an avulsion fracture, bone spurs and nerve entrapment in her right hand. “You don’t want this to become career ending.”

Leadbetter made that observation as more than Wie’s swing coach.

“She’s almost like a daughter to me,” Leadbetter said. “I’ve known her for so long.

Leadbetter knows Wie’s stubborn nature, how she pushes too hard to play through injuries. Wie acknowledged that stubbornness on Tuesday. She probably shouldn’t have played the International Crown last October. She wasn’t at her best. She appeared to come back from her surgery too quickly this spring. She was 10-over and withdrew after 14 holes of her title defense at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in February, just her second start back. She missed back-to-back cuts in April, at the ANA Inspiration and Lotte Championship. She aggravated her injury in Hawaii, her last start.

“Media-wise and fan-wise, we want Michelle back,” Stacy Lewis said. “I don't think you'll have a player that says otherwise.

“Michelle’s health, I don't know the specifics, but I'd rather see her take more time and really be a hundred percent when she comes back, so she can be the Michelle Wie that everybody has seen on the golf course.

“Over past few years, she has rushed back from a lot of injuries, and it's led to more.”

Wie acknowledged she wanted to play the U.S. Women’s Open two weeks ago, but it would have taken “a miracle” to get ready.

“If I had my choice, I would be playing all through this, but lot of people are in my ear, telling me, reminding me, what has happened in the past,” Wie said. “It's hard to sit out, but you’ve got to listen to people that know what they're talking about.”

Wie considered asking the LPGA for a medical extension to take the rest of this year off, but she decided to commit to the KPMG Women’s PGA after consulting with her doctors.

“My doctors are still saying even if I do take the rest of the year off, it's not something that will get better, just with time,” Wie said. “So, just a matter of rehabbing.”

Wie began chipping and putting two weeks ago and hitting full shots just a week ago.

“Unfortunately, these majors are all really close together,” Wie said. “I'm running on a schedule that's just not really ideal, but the doctors, they gave me advice to wait until the last possible moment to pick up a golf club and that's kind of what I've been doing.”

Leadbetter and Wie are working on a swing that will lessen stress on her arthritic wrists.

“It’s a more body-oriented swing, with the arms, wrists and hands playing less a role,” Leadbetter said. “It’s more about rotation, than sliding.”

Wie, whose five LPGA titles include the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, hasn’t been a factor in an LPGA event for a year. She is focused on making the most of what her ailing body allows.

“Just doing everything I can to get the inflammation down,” Wie said. “Also, kind of working on different biomechanics, and trying to make my swing more sound . . . trying to figure out how I can move forward without aggravating it.”

Wie said earlier this year that she was inspired watching Tiger Woods overcome back surgery to win the Masters. She said watching the NBA Finals did the same for her. She accompanied her fiancé, Jonnie West, the Golden State Warriors director of basketball operations, during the finals.

“It was pretty inspiring, to see, actually, a tough series, lot of injuries and lot of people playing while they're injured,” she said. “I learned a lot from that, inspired by their tenacity and willingness to win, and doing whatever it takes to be out there. That’s actually what inspired me to be out here this week.”

Phil Mickelson has always had a way with words. And he's had a way with social media since he joined the party last year.

So it was only a matter of time before he found a way to mix the number two together.

Welcome to #PhiresidewithPhil, a video series Mickelson launched on Twitter and Instagram Tuesday, where the five-time major champ tells his followers stories of life on the PGA Tour while sitting next to a flickering candle.

If the first edition is a sign of things to come, we're in for some dookies doozies.

We won't spoil it for you, but listen all the way until the end. It does not stink.

First edition of “Phireside with Phil.”

I’ll be sharing some interesting stories that have taken place through the years and will hopefully have some guests in the future too. #PhiresidewithPhil pic.twitter.com/4NDVTPNKmt

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) June 18, 2019

We'll see you next time on #PhiresidewithPhil ... or as the kids say, deuces.

CHASKA, Minn. – Brooke Henderson and Lexi Thompson couldn’t get hotter at a better time.

With three major championships over the next seven weeks, they’ll be looking to make the most of their winning form. They each have a chance this week to reach No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings for the first time.

Henderson won the Meijer Classic last week, Thompson the ShopRite Classic two weeks ago.

Ladbrokes makes Henderson the co-favorite to win the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship with Jeongeun Lee6 at 11/1 odds, with Thompson at 12/1 odds.

With two victories and a second-place finish in her last seven starts, Henderson has climbed to world No. 5. There’s a load of world ranking points up for grabs in the three upcoming majors.

Henderson reached world No. 2 after winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2016 and stayed there for seven weeks. She could get to No. 1 with a victory this week, depending what current world No. 1 Jin Young Ko and others do.

Thompson can also get to No. 1 for the first time with a first- or second-place finish, depending what Ko and others do, but she says she doesn’t get caught up in the world rankings.

“Honestly, I don't think about rankings at all,” Thompson said. “I know I'm No. 2 right now, but I'm just going into every event wanting to win. What I've been doing best is focusing on my game and not trying to force anything, or thinking of the outside picture, or results or anything.”

What does Henderson think she needs to do to narrow the gap between herself and players who have held the No. 1 ranking?

“It always comes down to short game, and I’ve worked really hard on my wedges, especially the last two seasons,” Henderson said. “I feel like I've made really big improvements there. I feel a lot more comfortable when I have those shots inside a hundred yards, knowing that I can make birdie, really easily, or hit it close and save par. I think that really gives me a lot of confidence, momentum, knowing that I can do that a little bit easier than I could before.

“I think a big thing, if I was ever to get to the No. 1 spot, it would have a lot to do with putting. I'm working with my sister and dad on that, pretty much every single week, to try to be a better green reader and maybe make my stroke a little bit more consistent.”

CHASKA, Minn. – If Danielle Kang wins the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for the second time in three years, it might be because of “Tour Boyfriend Things.”

That’s what Maverick McNealy is calling his assistance.

Kang revealed at season’s start that she was dating McNealy, the former Stanford star and up-and-coming Web.com Tour pro. He’s here this week helping Kang scout Hazeltine National Golf Club. He walked with her in a practice round and played Tuesday’s pro-am with her.

“He calls it 'Tour Boyfriend Things,' throws the golf balls, shows me different lies, what kind of shot I might get,” Kang said. “And if he sees something, he just goes, `Hey, remember, it's going to be really into the grain over there.

“We joke around that he dates me for my ball-striking, and I date him for help around the greens.”

Kang says the routing McNealy took around the course Tuesday wasn’t that helpful.

“He took lines today that were not even in play for us, because he played my tees,” Kang said. “He's going over these trees. My caddie goes, `I can't caddie for him. I don't know where he's going.’ He's hitting it so far, 330 into the wind.”

But McNealy’s offering other direction.

“We definitely help each other out, drills on the greens, and speed, and asking him if he sees anything that I should know on the golf course.”

Apparently, Kang wouldn’t mind a test as difficult as what McNealy plays week to week. She relishes tough setups.

“Any golf course that is the most penalizing golf course would be the golf course I like to play,” Kang said. “I want it to be absolutely demoralizing, penalizing. I don't want anyone to be OK if they miss the fairway.

“There’s so much more that comes with golf when things go wrong. So, I like it when things go wrong.”