Maja Stark, the Swede who signed off from the amateur game with top-20 finishes in the U.S. Women's Opens of 2020 and 2021, is half-golfer and half-musician. Indeed, when she won last month’s New South Wales Open – this was her third victory since joining the Ladies European Tour last August – she bought herself a violin.
Plenty of winners will opt for a new watch or car but, in terms of originality, Stark’s violin is up there with the elephant that Sri Lanka’s Tiru Fernando chose for herself after an LET victory in the ‘80s. Louis Oosthuizen’s tractor – his preference when he won the 2010 Open – is also worth a mention.
You would not want to alarm parents who are out to find the best way of rearing a long-hitting golfer, but the drum kit which Stark wanted by way of an eighth birthday present could well have given her some extra yardage. (In winning last year’s Creekhouse Ladies Open at Kristianstad GC, she caught the green of the 517-yard 18th with a dri...