Peter Hedblom

Peter Hedblom
Hedblom at the 2006 Barclays Scottish Open
Personal information
Full namePeter Mikael Hedblom
Born (1970-01-20) 20 January 1970 (age 54)
Gävle, Sweden
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight87 kg (192 lb; 13.7 st)
Sporting nationality Sweden
ResidenceGävle, Sweden
Spouse
Anna
(m. 1999)
Children3
Career
Turned professional1988
Former tour(s)European Tour
Challenge Tour
Professional wins9
Highest ranking77 (2 November 2008)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour3
Asian Tour1
Challenge Tour4
Other2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipCUT: 2008
U.S. OpenT11: 2005
The Open ChampionshipT7: 1996

Peter Mikael Hedblom (born 20 January 1970) is a retired Swedish professional golfer, who won three times on the European Tour and lost in playoffs four times on the same tour. He finished tied 7th at the 1996 Open Championship. In 2003, he and his sister became the first brother and sister siblings who had won on the European Tour and Ladies European Tour respectively.

Early years

[edit]

Hedblom was born in Gävle, Sweden. When he was just a few years old, he followed his father Olle, a former bandy player, who later became a golf club professional, to the golf course at Gävle Golf Club. Peter became a member at seven and early showed great talent, but was actively involved in ice hockey before that. His younger sister Marlene did not start her golfing career until the age of 12, but also later became a tournament professional. Through their early careers, the two siblings were supported by their parents, Olle and Agneta.[2]

His father Olle was an elite player himself and once won the Scandinavian Foursome, together with best friend William Löfqvist, who was a well-known goaltender of the Swedish national ice hockey team and the best golfer in northern Sweden. However, Olle's own career was interrupted by a serious leg injury, when he as a bandy coach ran into the ice after the game to talk to the referee, but was hit by the ice machine. Olle's priority became supporting the golf careers of his children[3]

In 1981, 11 years old, Hedblom won the unofficial Swedish youth championship, Bankboken Cup, at his age level and again in 1984 at the next level.[4]

Hedblom and his father won the Swedish Father and Son Championship four years in a row 1985–1988.[4]

Amateur career

[edit]

He won the 1987 Swedish Boys under 19 Championship when he was 17.[4][5] The following year he won the Doral Junior Classic in the United States and the Nordic Championship. At his home course he shot an eight under par 28 on the last nine, to win the Junior District Championship by a big margin.

He was a member of the Continental Europe team that won the 1986 Jacques Léglise Trophy and also played in the event in 1987.[4]

He finished second in the Swedish Junior Stroke-play Championship in 1988 and turned professional later the same year.[6]

Professional career

[edit]

Hedblom has played mainly on the European Tour, on which he has won three tournaments. His best year-end ranking on the Order of Merit was 29th in 2008. His first win on the European Tour was at the Moroccan Open in 1996.

As a 20-year-old, he qualified for his first Open Championship in 1990, but did not make the cut. In 1996, he qualified for his third Open, to take place at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, England 18–21 July. In the second round, Hedblom tied the course record 65 and played in the next to last group on Saturday with Jack Nicklaus. Hedblom finally finished a career major championship best tied 7th, with Fred Couples, Greg Norman and Greg Turner, six strokes from winner Tom Lehman.[7]

Hedblom didn't win on the tour again until 2007 when he was victorious at the Maybank Malaysian Open, which was co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour. He picked up his third win at the 2009 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, Scotland, his first tour title on European soil, a reward for him, who lost a play-off – the fourth of his career – the previous week in the KLM Open.[8]

During his career, he has also won four tournaments on the Challenge Tour.

He represented Sweden in the 1996 Dunhill Cup, where Sweden advanced to the semifinal, where they lost to the tournament-winning United States team and tied third.

Personal life

[edit]

Hedblom has not moved abroad, like many other successful Swedish golfers have, and always lived in his hometown Gävle in Sweden, close to his relatives. He has always been a fan of the local ice hockey team, Brynäs IF, who was dominating in Sweden in the 1970s.[6]

He broke his leg in 2001. This mishap came about when he participated in a yearly ice hockey game for golfers.

His son Kasper, born 1994, works as an instructing golf professional at Gävle Golf Club.[9]

When his sister Marlene won the Biarritz Ladies Classic on the Ladies European Tour in 2003, the two of them became the only brother and sister siblings, who have won on the European Tour and Ladies European Tour respectively.

Amateur wins

[edit]
  • 1987 Swedish Boys Championship
  • 1988 Doral Junior Classic (USA), Nordic Amateur Championship

Professional wins (9)

[edit]

European Tour wins (3)

[edit]
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 10 Mar 1996 Moroccan Open −7 (68-67-74-72=281) 1 stroke Argentina Eduardo Romero
2 11 Feb 2007 Maybank Malaysian Open1 −8 (73-71-68-68=280) 1 stroke France Jean-François Lucquin
3 30 Aug 2009 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles −13 (72-68-68-67=275) 1 stroke Sweden Martin Erlandsson

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (0–4)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2003 Canarias Open de España England Kenneth Ferrie, Republic of Ireland Peter Lawrie Ferrie won with birdie on second extra hole
2 2003 Nissan Irish Open Denmark Thomas Bjørn, New Zealand Michael Campbell Campbell won with birdie on first extra hole
3 2008 Maybank Malaysian Open India Arjun Atwal Lost to par on second extra hole
4 2009 KLM Open England Simon Dyson, Republic of Ireland Peter Lawrie Dyson won with birdie on first extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (4)

[edit]
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 27 May 1990 Jede Hot Cup Open −4 (71-74-66=212) 1 stroke Sweden Robert Karlsson
2 23 Jun 1991 Formula Micro Danish Open −8 (71-65-67-73=276) 3 strokes Sweden Per G. Nyman
3 15 Sep 1991 Upsala Golf International −2 (69-71-71=211) 1 stroke Sweden Fredrik Almskoug, United States Chris Cockson
4 15 Jul 2001 Volvo Finnish Open −14 (66-69-69-70=274) Playoff Denmark Mads Vibe-Hastrup

Challenge Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2001 Volvo Finnish Open Denmark Mads Vibe-Hastrup Won with birdie on fourth extra hole

Sources:[10][11][12]

Other wins (2)

[edit]
  • 2003 Älvkarleby Open (Swedish mini-tour)
  • 2014 SPM Open (Swedish mini-tour Future Series)

Results in major championships

[edit]
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT T96 T7 CUT CUT
PGA Championship
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
U.S. Open T11 T21
The Open Championship CUT CUT CUT
PGA Championship CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013
U.S. Open T65
The Open Championship
PGA Championship

Note: Hedblom never played in the Masters Tournament.

  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Results in World Golf Championships

[edit]
Tournament 2009
Match Play
Championship
Invitational
Champions T70
  Did not play

"T" = Tied

Team appearances

[edit]

Amateur

Professional

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Week 44 2008 Ending 2 Nov 2008" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Morsgrisar, Agneta Hedblom: Golfen blev ett sätt att leva" [Agneta Hedblom: Golf became a way of living]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 6. June 2009. pp. 104–105.
  3. ^ "Tränare, pappa, barn" [Coach, dad and child]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 3. June 1997. pp. 70–72.
  4. ^ a b c d Golf - Den stora sporten [Golf - The Great Sport] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. 2004. pp. 210, 211, 225, 227, 233.
  5. ^ "Mästarparet heter Jennifer och Peter" [The champions are named Jennifer and Peter]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 10. October 1987. pp. 77–78.
  6. ^ a b "Peter den store" [Peter the great]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 4. April 1994. pp. 106–112.
  7. ^ "Det gyllene mötet" [The golden meeting]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 9. September 1996. pp. 70–72, 116.
  8. ^ "Hedblom takes title at Gleneagles". BBC Sport. 30 August 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  9. ^ "Tre generationer i golfens tjänst" [Three generations serving the game of golf]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 1. January 2015. pp. 58–64.
  10. ^ "Banrekord av Peter i Mariestad". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 6. June 1990. p. 109.
  11. ^ "Resultat Formula Micro Danish Open". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 8. August 1991. p. 64.
  12. ^ "Resultat Uppsala Golf International". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 11. November 1991. pp. 75, 78.
[edit]