Gabriel Hjertstedt

Gabriel Hjertstedt
Personal information
Full nameGabriel Hjertstedt
Born (1971-12-05) 5 December 1971 (age 52)
Umeå, Sweden
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight62 kg (137 lb; 9.8 st)
Sporting nationality Sweden
ResidenceScottsdale, Arizona
Career
Turned professional1990
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
Japan Golf Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia
Professional wins2
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 1998, 1999, 2000
PGA ChampionshipT16: 1999
U.S. OpenT30: 2001
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 1994, 1999
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour of Australia
Rookie of the Year
1990

Gabriel Hjertstedt (born 5 December 1971) is a Swedish professional golfer. In 1997, he became the first Swede to win on the U.S.-based PGA Tour.

Early life and amateur career

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Hjertstedt was born in Umeå, Sweden. His family relocated to Australia when he was eleven and he learned to play golf there. He joined the Swedish National Team and won bronze at the 1989 European Boys' Team Championship with Max Anglert, Pierre Fulke, Klas Eriksson and Rikard Strångert, shooting 69-69 in the stroke play, five strokes ahead of Massimo Florioli in second.[1]

Hjertstedt was part of the Swedish team winning the 1990 Eisenhower Trophy in Christchurch, New Zealand with Klas Eriksson, Mathias Grönberg and Per Nyman, registering the tournament's second lowest individual score behind Grönberg. His team finished a total of 13 stokes ahead of the United States team that included David Duval and Phil Mickelson in second place.[2]

Professional career

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Hjertstedt turned professional in 1990 and joined the PGA Tour of Australasia, where he tied for 7th at the New Zealand Open and for 4th at the Australian Masters at Huntingdale Golf Club. In 1992, he played on the Japan Golf Tour, where he tied for 16th at the Pepsi Ube Kosan Open and 17th at the Acom International.[3]

He played on the European Tour from 1993 to 1996. In his rookie season Hjertstedt was runner-up at the Open de Lyon behind Costantino Rocca. In 1994, he was again runner-up at the Open de Lyon and also at Peugeot Open de France at Le Golf National, a stroke behind Mark Roe.[3]

Hjertstedt tied for 9th at PGA Tour Q-School to join the U.S.-based PGA Tour in 1997. In his rookie year he won the B.C. Open in New York the same week that Europe won that year's Ryder Cup at Valderrama Golf Club, to become the first Swede to win on the PGA Tour.[4] He followed up in 1999 by claiming his second PGA Tour title at the Touchstone Energy Tucson Open after he birdied the first hole in a playoff with Tommy Armour III.[5]

He represented Sweden in the Dunhill Cup in 1994 and again in 1999, where he tied for 3rd together with Jarmo Sandelin and Patrik Sjöland, after he lost to Australia's Craig Parry on the first playoff hole in the semi-final. He did not play any PGA Tour-sanctioned events after 2009, until he appeared on the PGA Tour Champions in 2022. He has served as golf coach based at Scottsdale National Golf Club with clients such as Kevin Chappell and Graham DeLaet.[6]

Amateur wins

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Professional wins (2)

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PGA Tour wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 28 Sep 1997 B.C. Open −13 (70-69-66-70=275) 1 stroke United States Andrew Magee, United States Chris Perry,
United States Lee Rinker
2 28 Feb 1999 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open −16 (67-68-73-68=276) Playoff United States Tommy Armour III

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1999 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open United States Tommy Armour III Won with birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Masters Tournament CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Open T34 T30 CUT
The Open Championship CUT CUT
PGA Championship CUT T16
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Team appearances

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Amateur

Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Sellberg, Lena (August 1989). "Mera Brons i Bagen, Boys! EM Boys" [More Bronze in the Bag, Boys! European Boys' Team Championship]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 8/1989. pp. 51–52. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Record Book 1990 World Amateur Golf Team Championships" (PDF). World Amateur Golf Council. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Gabriel Hjertstedt". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Hjertstedt wins B.C. Open". The Robesonian. Lumberton, North Carolina. Associated Press. 29 September 1997. p. 2B. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  5. ^ "Hjertstedt wins Tucson playoff". Eugene Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. 1 March 1999. p. 2B. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  6. ^ Franzén, Eric (17 July 2023). "Så bärgade Gabriel Hjertstedt den första svenska segern på PGA Tour". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 July 2023.
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