- I'm very tagged.
Always fun to compete but it feels extra special, says Stark about being in the starting field when writing history at Vallda.
- I have heard that the girls are tagged to meet the boys, says Stark about what she heard from the female player colleagues.
Hope for equal conditions
That the ladies should have similar conditions at Vallda has been a big topic of conversation in the days before the competition.
Maja Stark really hopes it will be so.
- I hope that there will be equal conditions.
I have played a competition with a similar format (at amateur level) and then it was not successful at all.
It was way too far for the girls but now I think for sure that they have thought about this for an extra long time so it will be good.
Mature in the game
Stark really does justify the name in the form she is in. And she knows why it has gone so well lately.
- I have been very consistent, have taken my medicine when I have not beaten good second blows.
Then just try to save the bogey instead of risking getting a double or triple.
I'm a little more mature I think.
So mature that she has now asserted herself at the absolute top level in the world with her 12th place in the US Open 2020 and 16th this Sunday in the same competition.
Filled with confidence
-If it can go well at the US Open, it can certainly go well here too, says Stark, who has never played a European tour competition before.
A cocky self-confidence that you do not often meet when it comes to an amateur in a professional competition.
She sees herself able to be at the top in this competition.
- Yes absolutely.
The pros are not as far away as you think and age is nothing either.
Yuka Saso, who won the US Open, is a year and a half younger than me.
It is mostly that you have this amateur title that makes people think that you do not aim as high as everyone else.
Hope to beat Sörenstam and Stenson
How does it feel to play in the same competition as Stenson and Sörenstam?
- It feels cool that both are here.
What would it be like to beat Annika Sörenstam in a competition?
- It would have been something to brag about, it would have felt good, laughs Stark.
You have pretty good opportunities ...?
- Yes, I think so.
Grant equally victorious
Maja Stark is not alone in having high expectations of herself as an amateur.
Linn Grant is even ranked even higher, as number three in the world.
She is also on site at Vallda together with the talented wedges Ludvig Åberg, Eslövs GK, ranked fifth in the world and Vincent Norrman, Haninge GK, ranked 11th.
And Grant is, if possible, even more cocky than Stark in terms of chances this week.
- I think that both me and Maja always go in to win competitions.
I look at it that way in this case as well.
I think we have a good chance, says Linn Grant about her and Stark's chances.
So do you think you have a chance to beat Stenson and Sörenstam?
- Yes, I think so, says Grant with a big smile.
She believes that good self-confidence is a prerequisite for success.
- I can have no other attitude than to go in to win.