Sophie Gustafson (born 27 December 1973) is a Swedish professional golfer. She was a member of the U.S.-based

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

and is a life member of the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. Most of the players on the tour are European, with members from more than 40 countries internationally. Despite its name, the tour also has tournaments in A ...

(LET). She has five LPGA Tour and 23 international wins in her career, including victories on five of the six continents on which golf is played: North America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia. She is a four-time LET Order of Merit winner and represented Europe in the

Solheim Cup The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian- American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving forc ...

on each team from 1998 to 2011. She won the

Women's British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tou ...

in 2000, the year before it was recognized as a major championship by the LPGA Tour and finished runner-up in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Early life

Gustafson grew up in

Särö Särö () is an area in Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 3,165 inhabitants in 2010. It is located south of Gothenburg on the Särö peninsula. Geographically, the peninsula marks the transition from the Bohuslän archipelago in ...

, outside

Kungsbacka Kungsbacka () is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Kungsbacka Municipality in Halland County, Sweden, with 19,057 inhabitants in 2010. It is a part of Greater Gothenburg Metropolitan Area. It is one of the most affluent parts of Sw ...

on the west coast of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. At young ages, she practiced many different sports with her two elder brothers –

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

and

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

. When she was ten years old, a 9-hole golf course was built close to her home and Gustafson and her family began playing. At 14 years of age, she quit other sports, to concentrate on golf and got the opportunity to represent nearby situated Kungsbacka Golf Club, with 27 holes and better practice facilities. Showing great talent, she turned professional at 18 years of age in 1992, whilst studying marketing, economics and law at Aranäs High School in Kungsbacka.

Professional career

In 1993 she won the Swedish Junior Match-play Championship, which at the time, due to Sweden's "open golf"-policy was not restricted to amateurs only, but it was without prize-money and unique that it was won by a young professional. From 1992 to 1994, Gustafson played 12 Telia Tour and four

tournaments. On the Telia Tour, she had six top-10 finishes. Her best finish on the Ladies European Tour was a 22nd at her home tournament in Sweden. 1995 saw her join the Ladies European Tour gaining two top-10 finishes in 13 starts. 1996 was her first full year on the Ladies European Tour. She gained her first professional wins, winning once on the Telia Tour at the Rörstrand Ladies Open and once on the Ladies European Tour at the Déesse Ladies Swiss Open. In 1997 she earned her first win on the Ladies Asian Tour at the Thailand Ladies Open and finished T40th at LPGA Q School to earn non-exempt status for 1998. In 1998 Gustafson won twice on the LET at the Donegal Irish Ladies' Open and at the Marrakech Palmeraie Open, finish second on the Order of Merit and was voted Waterford Players' Player of the Year. She also played four times on the

, recording a second-place finish at the co-sanctioned

. She also won the Telia Tour Finale and made her debut in the

, replacing the injured

Trish Johnson Patricia Mary "Trish" Johnson MBE (born 17 January 1966) is an English professional golfer. She won three times on the LPGA Tour and 19 times on the Ladies European Tour. As a senior she has won both senior women's major championships, the U ...

at the last minute. During 1999, Gustafson played on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tours. Her best result was a tie for second at the

Ladies' German Open The Ladies German Open was a professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour schedule. It was held annually from 1984 to 2014 except for two interruptions, 1992 to 1994 and 2002 to 2007. Winners Tournament highlights * 2011: Diana Luna ...

on the Ladies European Tour. 2000 was a breakthrough year for Gustafson. She got her maiden win on the LPGA Tour at the

Chick-fil-A Charity Championship The Florida's Natural Charity Championship Hosted by Nancy Lopez was a golf tournament for professional female golfers that was part of the LPGA Tour from 1992 through 2006. For most of those years it was known as the Chick-fil-A Charity Champions ...

, and added a second LPGA title at the co-sanctioned Women's British Open. She had two other wins in Europe at the

Ladies Italian Open The Ladies Italian Open () is a professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour held in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Ita ...

and at the Waterford Crystal Ladies' Irish Open, and partnered with

Carin Koch Anna Carin Pernilla Hjalmarsson Koch (née Hjalmarsson; born 23 February 1971) is a Swedish professional golfer who previously played on the Ladies European Tour and on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She was captain of the 2015 European Solheim Cup t ...

to win the inaugural TSN Ladies World Cup Golf. She also won 2 and a half out of a possible four points in Europe's Solheim Cup victory at Loch Lomond. The year ended with Gustafson topping the Evian Order of Merit and official Evian moneylist and becoming Players' Player of Year'. In 2001 Gustafson won once on both the LPGA Tour at the Subaru Memorial of Naples and Ladies European Tour at the AAMI Women's Australian Open crossing the LPGA Tour career $1million earnings mark. The defence of her LPGA title ended with her losing in a playoff to

Annika Sörenstam Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 96 international p ...

. In 2002, she played seven LET events, posting four top-10 finishes, ending the season with one victory at the Biarritz Ladies Classic and third place in the Order of Merit as well as winning the Vivien Saunders Stroke average trophy. She made 15 of 20 cuts on the LPGA, with her best finish an 11th. In 2003, she won three out of eight LET events and secured another LET Order of Merit title. She also won her third LET Players' Player of the Year award and the Vivien Saunders Stroke Average trophy. She won the Samsung World Championship on the LPGA tour, her 4th LPGA win, crossing the $2million LPGA Tour career earnings mark. She became the first woman to compete in a men's Japan Golf Tour event, and was part of the winning European

team in her native

. During 2004 Gustafson struggled with illness due to

deep vein thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of venous thrombosis involving the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A minority of DVTs occur in the arms. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, redness, and enl ...

in her leg. Her best finish of the year was a tie for third on the LPGA tour where she led the tour in driving distance at 270.2 yards. At the start of 2005, Gustafson represented Sweden with Carin Koch in the 2005 Women's World Cup of Golf in SA. Three LET events in 2005 yielded a second-place finish at the Weetabix Women's British Open and 3rd place on the LET Money List. On the LPGA Tour she had seven top 10 finishes and tied her career low round of 64 at the

Wendy's Championship for Children The Wendy's Championship for Children was an annual golf tournament for professional female golfers on the LPGA Tour from 1999 through 2006 in the Columbus, Ohio area. The tournament was played at the New Albany Country Club in New Albany, Ohio fr ...

. Gustafson made her 5th appearance in the

. and was a member of the winning International Team in the inaugural

Lexus Cup The Lexus Cup was an annual golf tournament played between 2005 and 2008 for professional women golfers contested by a team representing Asia and an international team representing the rest of the world. It was sanctioned by the LPGA Tour,

. In 2006 Gustafson played in just three LET events but finished fourth on the New Star Money List after claiming her first victory in almost three years at the Siemens Austrian Ladies Golf Open at Golfclub Fohrenwald in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...

in Austria. This win gave her the point she needed to become a Life Member of the LET. She earned her thirteenth LET win in 2007 at the De Vere Ladies Scottish Open. Gustafson was a member of the European

team in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Awards, honors

In 1998, she earned Elite Sign No. 116 by the

Swedish Golf Federation The Swedish Golf Federation (, SGF) is the governing body for the sport of golf in Sweden, founded in 1904. The federation is responsible for administering the Rules of Golf, as laid down by The R&A, at the national level. It organizes tournamen ...

, on the basis of national team appearances and national championship performances. In 2000, Gustafson was voted

Swedish Golfer of the Year Swedish Golfer of the Year is awarded annually by the Swedish Golf Federation. The award is individual and awarded since 1966 to the Swedish golfer with the best overall golf performance each year, either in a series of achievements or a single ...

, professional or amateur, male or female, by the Association of Swedish Golf Writers. As receipant number 26, Gustafson was in 2001 awarded the Golden Club by the Swedish Golf Federation for outstanding contributions to Swedish golf. In 2004, she was awarded honorary member of the PGA of Sweden.

Personal life

In 2006, Gustafson married former LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw, who left his post following the 2005 Solheim Cup. They divorced in January 2010. Gustafson, in her words, has a "severe

stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

problem" and rarely speaks to the media. During the

2011 Solheim Cup The 2011 Solheim Cup was the 12th Solheim Cup matches, held 23–25 September in Ireland at Killeen Castle in County Meath, northwest of Dublin. The biennial matches are a three-day contest for professional female golfers, between teams of 12 t ...

she made an exception and spoke on-camera with

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply "Golf" or "NBC Golf") is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently ba ...

. During her LPGA Tour career, she lived in Orlando, Florida. After retiring, she moved back to Särö, Sweden. Since 2015, Gustafson only played in a few tournaments. Instead she began a career as a caddie for LET player

Beth Allen Elizabeth Grace Nell Allen (born 28 May 1984) is a New Zealand actress. She has been acting since an early age and has appeared in several small productions and commercials since 1993. Her first major television role was in Cloud 9's '' The Le ...

. They parted ways after the

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open is one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, ...

in July

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. Gustafson is interested in driving motorcycle.

Amateur wins

*1993 Swedish Junior Match-play Championship

Professional wins (26)

LPGA Tour wins (5)

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–4)

Ladies European Tour wins (16)

Ladies European Tour playoff record (4–1) ''Note: Gustafson won the Weetabix Women's British Open once before it was recognized as a major championship on the LPGA Tour in 2001.'' ''Notes:'' *¹ Co-sanctioned by LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour *² Co-sanctioned by ALPG Tour and Ladies European Tour

Swedish Golf Tour wins (2)

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Rörstrand Ladies Open *

Telia Ladies Finale

Other wins (4)

*1997

Thailand Ladies Open The Thailand Ladies Open was a professional golf tournament in Thailand on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour. It featured on the Ladies European Tour in 2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the ...

(Ladies Asian Tour) *1998

Lalla Meryem Cup The Lalla Meryem Cup is a women's professional golf tournament in Morocco under the high patronage of His Majesty Mohammed VI of Morocco, King Mohammed VI. It was held in Rabat until it moved to Agadir in 2011. It moved back to Rabat in 2016. The ...

(Morocco) *2000 TSN Ladies World Cup Golf (team event with

) *2003 Catalonia World Matchplay Championship

Results in LPGA majors

''Results not in chronological order before 2014.'' ^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001
^^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013 CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1999 Kraft Nabisco – 2001 Kraft Nabisco) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2006 U.S. Open – 2006 British Open)

LPGA Tour career summary

* official through 23 November 2014

Team appearances

Professional *

Praia d'El Rey European Cup The Praia d'El Rey European Cup was an annual professional golf tournament played at Praia d'El Rey, Portugal. It was played in 1997, 1998 and 1999 between teams of men representing the European Seniors Tour and ladies representing the Ladies Eur ...

(representing Ladies European Tour): 1998 (tie), 1999 (winners) *

(representing Europe):

(winners),

(winners) *

(representing International team):

(winners) *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(representing Sweden): 2005, 2008 *

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament *European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fie ...

(representing Sweden): 2010 (winners), 2011 (winners)

Solheim Cup record

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gustafson, Sophie Swedish female golfers Ladies European Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers Solheim Cup competitors for Europe Golfers from Orlando, Florida Sportspeople from Varberg Golfers from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 1973 births Living people