Kalle's family moved to a new house just 15m from a golf course when he was two years old so it was no surprise that he took up the game when he was only four, playing with his father and older brother. He was an all-round sportsman in his youth, excelling at tennis, badminton and squash. Indeed, he gave up golf when he was 13 to concentrate on tennis but he returned to the game at 17 and went on to play for his native Finland, winning the Finnish Amateur, the Greek Open Amateur and the European Club Cup on the way. Kalle turned professional in 1994 and won a Swedish Tour card, which in turn brought him a European Challenge Tour Ranking. It was through the Challenge Tour that he graduated to the European Tour and, as one of Finland's few playing professionals, he had not had too much difficulty in attracting sponsors. In fact, ten Finnish companies are backing him on four-year agreements.