Golf: $15m Wie stands tall in pro ranks

She gave up soccer at the age of 6 and turned her back on tennis and baseball because they involved too much running.

Whatever those sports may have lost, golf has already benefited richly with Honolulu schoolgirl Michelle Wie having established herself as one of the biggest attractions in the game.

There is a great deal more to come from the 15-year-old who announced her long-anticipated decision to turn professional at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Honolulu yesterday.

Her golfing talent is unparalleled for someone so young, and she is believed to have signed endorsement deals worth US$10 million ($15 million) per year, making her golf's richest female and one of the highest paid athletes in women's sport.

Swedish world No 1 Annika Sorenstam, the winner of nine career majors, earns about US$6 million a year in endorsements.

Wie has left observers gasping at her length off the tee and her ability to conjure something special when under pressure.

Although yet to win a title at the highest level, she has come desperately close on the LPGA Tour and has produced four top-10 finishes in eight major starts.

The statuesque American, who in January last year narrowly failed to become the first female to make the cut in a men's PGA Tour event at the Hawaiian Open, took up golf as a 4-year-old.

"I played soccer, baseball, tennis and swimming but didn't really like them enough to stick with them," she said.

"Tennis and baseball were a little too hard for me physically, because you have to run a lot. I'm probably a little bit lazy," she added with an embarrassed smile.

"I have to be good at something, and I chose golf when I was about seven years old."

The 1.83m Wie, who in 2003 became the youngest winner of the US women's amateur public links championship, regularly powers her drives beyond 275m.

When Wie missed the 2004 Hawaiian Open cut by one shot after a second-round 68 and making birdies at two of the last three holes, a third of the field failed to match her driving distance.

Three-time major winner Ernie Els described her swing as the best of any female golfer he had seen. World No 1 Tiger Woods was also excited.

"I think it's pretty neat what she's doing, and I wish her all the luck in the world," said Woods, who was surprised to discover Wie was slightly taller than him after the pair walked a few holes together.

For Wie, meeting Woods was an enriching experience.

"In my younger years, at six or seven, I learned my golf mostly from Tiger Woods," she said.

"My dad watched him and I had pictures of Tiger up on the wall and I followed his swing."

The ambitious Wie has made no secret of her desire to break boundaries for women's golf.

"Eventually I want to divide my time between the LPGA and the PGA Tours, and my No 1 ambition is to play in the Masters at Augusta National," she said.

"I also want to open up my own company, either in fashion or in some other business. But all those are long-term aims. ... Finishing school is definitely a top priority."

The world has welcomed Wie with open arms ever since she became, at 10, the youngest player to qualify for the US women's amateur public links championship in 2000. Wie, the professional, is now ready to take on the world.

- REUTERS