Weetabix Women's British Open
Dispatches from Southport – By Martin Park
July 29, 2005

Stahle and substance – so who is the best amateur in the world?

There has been a lot of hullabaloo surrounding teenage phenom Michelle Wie's first visit to play in the Weetabix Women's British Open.

An amateur, albeit in name, Wie clearly demonstrates she has more talent in her self confessed ‘podgy' little fingers than both you or I could ever dream of when it comes to negotiating a small white cylindrical sphere around a much larger sphere we know today as Earth.

Some suggest that her ability is almost extra terrestrial at times with the booming 300-yarders whistling off into the sunset and with a gossamer touch around the greens. She is truly a spectacle to behold and has certainly transcended the boundaries of sport with her travails into both the women's and men's professional arena.

Has it been a bit of overkill within the media? Perhaps. But while some detractors can point fingers at the absence of any meaningful amateur titles and without yet making a cut in the men's game, she is certainly a class act from what we've seen on the LPGA, racking up three runner's up spots this year alone.

And when she does turn professional - a date has been mooted that it may be her 16^th birthday on October 11 - she is likely to set off golf's biggest sponsorship auction since Tiger Woods signed up for $60million worth from Titleist and Nike back in 1996.

Some numbers have been suggested for Wie - $10million from Nike – The Sun newspaper in England suggested there would be £50million over five years and there's even been talk of a private jet which would include 300 hours of flying at her disposal.

What's clear is that when she does make a decision to join the play-for-pay ranks, she'll be signing up for a large number.

At this point, spare a thought for Louise Stahle from Sweden. Arguably the best amateur in today's women's game, who next week turns professional when she makes her debut at her home course at Barsebäck in Sweden, a tournament hosted by her idol, Annika Sörenstam.

It would appear at first glance, the only thing Stahle will be signing when she turns pro is a preponderance of autographs.

Stahle is a phenom in her own right and this week is rising to prominence as she holds second spot after a seven under par 65 during her second round here at Royal Birkdale.

Winning the top amateur trophy again is not on her wish list. She wants the big one this week. Under the tutelage of two familiar names in Henri Reis and Pia Nilsson, both of whom aid and abet Annika with her career, it would come as little surprise to the cognoscenti if tall young Swede should she go ahead and become the first amateur woman to win a professional event since Gillian Stewart won the 1984 IBM Classic at The Belfry.

“I have a really high goal,” she beamed. “It's tough, but you have to believe in it. You have to aim high I think if you want to accomplish something and after watching the US Open with Morgan (Pressel) and Brittany (Lang) up on the top, that's an inspiration.

“I think I'll enjoy the pressure and people watching. It's fun and it makes you play better. I've never been in this situation before, so I don't know, I'll just go out there, have some fun and make some putts.”

Given the disparity in playing records and statistics, there is no equilibrium when it comes to what the future holds for both players from a financial standpoint with earnings off the course. 

So will Stahle be signing up to anything soon?

“No, I don't think so. I think all the contracts will be next year. I'm just going to play a couple of events, then try to get my card for the LPGA, so I think everything will happen in the off-season.”

Certainly it helps with the amount of media attention bestowed upon the Hawaiian protégé, in stark contrast to the few clippings published on Stahle by comparison. But when you look at both players' records, Stahle is simply miles ahead…on paper, at least.

For a start, Stahle has won the British Women's Amateur Championship for the last two years, arguably the biggest amateur event in women's golf behind the US Women's Amateur. 

And representing Arizona State University in collegiate golf, she has simply blown the rest of the opposition out of the water with three wins this year alone in her freshman year.

Stahle was named the 2005 National Golf Coaches Player of the Year becoming the fifth Sun Devil to win the NGCA's player of the year and the first since Grace Park in 1998. Naturally, she was freshman of the year and she earned first team NGCA All America honours. She received the GolfStat Cup trophy after leading the scoring average with 71.77. She finished in the top five in eight of the ten events in which she played, including four runners up spots to add to her three victories.

Does it get any better? Well…yes.

The 20-year-old from Lund in Sweden came to the USA as Europe's leading amateur with victories such as the French Amateur Championship in 2002 before graduating to bigger and better things, especially in 2004 where she romped to victory in the St Rule Trophy with a ten under par total for 36-holes around both the Old and New course at St Andrews and also won the Beirut Café Ladies Classic, a professional event on the Swedish Telia Tour, by three shots in Stockholm.

Her scoring average in 2004 was an impressive 71.57 in and when she lifted her first British Amateur title in the links at Gullane, she then made her major debut at Sunningdale, winning the leading amateur prize, the Smyth Salver after tying for 42^nd spot.

She then went over to Sweden and tied for ninth spot at Ullna GC where she led after the first round with a 67 before her idol Sörenstam breezed to victory.

Stahle successfully defended her title at the British Amateur this year at Littlestone GC on England's south coast which gave her an exemption to the Weetabix, which effectively decided the date on which she would turn professional.

She finished the season ranked number one in the GolfWeek/Sagarin performance index, 16 our of her 31 rounds were at par or better and she was named the PAC 10 golfer of the year, the PAC-10 freshman of the year and a first team All-PAC-10 selection. 

She won the 2005 PAC-10 championship coming from four shots back in the final round to win by two shots. She was the medallist at the PING/ASU Invitational and was named the Golf World Collegiate player of the week after her victory in Tucson at the Wildcat invitational.

To cut a very long and distinguished record a bit shorter, Stahle has also helped her country win the Women's World Amateur Championship in Puerto Rico and helped Europe win the PING Junior Solheim Cup in 2003 at Barsebäck.

On that last point, given the fact her performance today was extraordinary and with a proud record in matchplay over the last two years, there have been questions asked to see if she could play for the ‘Big Girls' team this September.

Sadly, as she has not played in six events over two years as a member of the women's European tour, she's not available for selection. Mores the pity for Catrin Nilsmark and her team. Although if she does win here, I'm sure there could be quarter given for such a prestigious talent…or is that wishful thinking?

All of this suggested it might be a good idea for Stahle to go and earn some money playing the game for a living. Put simply, her playing credentials suggest she's got more back up than Star Wars, but it would appear Wie will be the one earning millions before she strikes a ball in anger as a professional.

Expect big things from Stahle in the years to come. She's the real deal here and in the interim period before she turns her thoughts to world domination, she'll have her ‘Sharpie' at the ready for those fans in Sweden.

Martin Park will be reporting back throughout the week of the Weetabix Women's British Open to give LPGA.com fans an update from tournament site. Stay tuned!