“The Big Wiesy” must be the richest 16-year-old golfer in history after signing lucrative contracts with Sony and Nike (worth a reputed US$10 million) on her move to the paid ranks at the end of last year.

At her first pro tournament - the 2005 Samsung World Championship - she was disqualified after a spectator noticed she had taken an illegal ball drop; not quite the start that she might have wanted; but then she certainly made headlines.

Michelle Who?

For Tiger Woods to be the golfing idol of a teenager may not be so unusual, but to possess a golfing talent that one day could allow them to compete against him is. That this childhood fantasy belongs to a young girl named Michelle Wie is the primary reason for an understandably great deal of media attention.

Born October 11, 1989 in Honolulu, Hawaii, Michelle Wie began playing golf at a little over four years old. Taught by her father B.J. Wie, by age 11, Michelle was regularly winning most of the amateur tournaments she played in.

In May of 2001, Michelle won Hawaii’s most prestigious women’s tournament, the ‘Jennie-K’ by nine shots. In June she became the youngest golfer and first female to qualify for the Manoa Cup, a match-play event for men that has been held since the early 1900s. In March 2002, now six feet tall, Wie played in her first LPGA tour event. She failed to make the cut at the Takefuji Classic in Hawaii but still managed to turn some heads with her 280-yard drives and her understanding of the game.

In June 2003, Michelle became the youngest winner in the history of the Women’s Amateur Public Links, with a 1 up victory over Virada Nirapathpongporn at Ocean Hammock. Due to a special exemption, Michelle Wie became the youngest person, and just the fourth female, to play in a PGA tour event when she teed off at the Sony Open on January 15, 2004 - missing the half way cut by just one stroke. She came close to making her first cut at a PGA event at the 2005 John Deere Classic but a late collapse in the second round saw her miss the cut by two strokes.

What really sets Michelle apart from her peers are her outspoken ambitions:

"Tiger has broken down barriers and it would be great if I could help women to compete against men.” But doing that is a personal choice for me and I’m not saying women should play against men.”