Maja Sofia Stark (born 10 December 1999) is a Swedish professional golfer. She won her first major title at the 2025 U.S. Women's Open. She has six

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 ...

titles and earned

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 ...

membership through her victory at the 2022 ISPS Handa World Invitational. As an amateur she was in contention at the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and 2021 U.S. Women's Open, and after turning professional in August 2021 she won two tournaments in three starts on the

Amateur career

Stark grew up in Abbekås,

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

, and joined the Swedish National Team in 2016. She represented her country at the European Girls' Team Championship, where Sweden earned the silver in 2016 and won the gold in 2017. She was then part of the Swedish teams that won the European Ladies' Team Championship in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

, teamed with Frida Kinhult,

Sara Kjellker Sara Cecilia Kjellker (born 7 September 1998) is a Swedish professional golfer and Ladies European Tour player. She was runner-up at the 2023 Hero Women's Indian Open. As an amateur, she won twice on the Swedish Golf Tour (women), Swedish Golf To ...

, Ingrid Lindblad, Linn Grant, and Beatrice Wallin. She was also a member of the 2017 European Junior Solheim Cup team. In August 2019, Stark made two starts in the LET Access Series and was runner-up at both, the Anna Nordqvist Västerås Open and the Swedish PGA Championship. Stark was a freshman at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

in 2019–20, where she won the Hurricane Invitational in just her second career start. She won the 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup at Bay Hill Club and Lodge,

Bay Hill, Florida Bay Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) in Orange County, Florida, Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,884 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Orlando, Florida, Orlando–Kissimmee, Florida, Kissimmee Greater Orla ...

with the International team. She won two individual titles and ended the season ranked No. 4 by GolfStat with a 49–2 record in head-to-head competition against top-100 players in the country. She recorded a stroke average of 70.48, which destroyed the previous school record (71.14) set by

Caroline Hedwall Caroline Ingrid Hedwall (born 13 May 1989) is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the LPGA Tour. In 2013 she became the first player to win five matches in a single Solheim Cup event. As an amateur she ...

in 2010. Stark rose to 6th place in the

World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by The R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs ...

in July 2020 and received an exemption for the 2020 U.S. Women's Open as one of the 20 leading amateurs, her first major championship, where she finished tied for 13th. At the 2021 U.S. Women's Open she was tied for 9th after the third round, and finished tied for 16th after a final round of 74.

Professional career

Stark turned professional in August 2021, with the intention to play on the Swedish Golf Tour and by invitations on the

(LET), aiming to qualify for the

through

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. She won her first professional title, the PGA Championship by Trelleborgs Kommun on the LET Access Series, in her second career start the same month. In early September, Stark claimed her first LET title at the Creekhouse Ladies Open, finishing four shots ahead of compatriot Linn Grant, in the process earning membership of the LET. Less than a month later, she won her second LET title at the Estrella Damm Ladies Open. Stark started her 2022 LET season strong. She was runner-up and low woman at the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge in Thailand, fending off all but Sihwan Kim of the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf professional golf tours, tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on ...

. On the two stops of the LET's Australian swing, she was runner-up at the Australian Ladies Classic, one stroke behind Meghan MacLaren, and won the Women's NSW Open by five strokes ahead of compatriot Johanna Gustavsson. In July she won the Amundi German Masters by one stroke over Leonie Harm and Jessica Karlsson, re-taking the top spot in the Order of Merit ahead of Linn Grant and Johanna Gustavsson. In August, she won the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland with a commanding five stroke margin. The event, co-sanctioned between the LPGA and LET, was played concurrently with a tournament on the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

on the same course. The victory earned her membership of the

. Stark made her LPGA debut as a member at the Portland Classic where she finished top-10, three strokes behind winner Andrea Lee. Stark started 2023 with a runner-up finish at the LPGA Tour's Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January, and won her sixth LET title four shots ahead of Linn Grant at the Lalla Meryem Cup in February. In September, she 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 ...

for the first time in her career. She went 2–1–1 in the event, including a Sunday singles win against the reigning U.S. Open champion, Allisen Corpuz to help Team Europe stage a comeback from behind to retain the cup. In April 2024, Stark finished solo second to world number one Nelly Korda at the 2024 Chevron Championship, at that time, her career-best finish in a major championship. Stark won her first major title at the 2025 U.S. Women's Open at Erin Hills in

Erin, Wisconsin Erin is a town in Washington County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,664 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Thompson is located in Erin. Erin is home to Erin Hills golf course which hosted the 2017 U.S. Open g ...

. She secured a two-stroke margin of victory and became the first Swedish winner of the event since

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 2006.

Awards, honors

In her sophomore year 2020–2021 at

, Stark was awarded

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

Player of the Year, and was the Big 12's lone WGCA First Team All-American. In 2024, she was awarded honorary member of the PGA of Sweden.

Amateur wins

*2013 Skandia Tour Distrikt #2, Skandia Tour Regional #6, Skandia Distrikt Skåne Final *2015 Skandia Tour Riks #1, Skandia Tour Elit #2, Skandia Tour Riks #4 *2017 Skandia Tour Elit #1 *2020 Hurricane Invitational *2021 Heroes Ladies Intercollegiate, Mountain View Collegiate Source:

Professional wins (9)

LPGA Tour wins (2)

Co-sanctioned by the

Ladies European Tour wins (6)

Co-sanctioned by the WPGA Tour of Australasia.
Co-sanctioned by the

LET Access Series wins (1)

Co-sanctioned by the Swedish Golf Tour.

Other wins (1)

*2016 Wake Up Skurup! Open (Swedish Mini tour Futures Series) (as an amateur)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (2024 Women's PGA − 2025 U.S. Women's Open, current) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times, current)

World ranking

Position in

Women's World Golf Rankings The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by 12 women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPG ...

at the end of each calendar year.

Team appearances

Amateur * European Girls' Team Championship (representing Sweden): 2016, 2017 (winners) * European Ladies' Team Championship (representing Sweden):

(winners),

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

* Junior Solheim Cup (representing Europe): 2017 *

Arnold Palmer Cup The Arnold Palmer Cup is an annual team golf competition for college/university golfers. It is named for Arnold Palmer. From 2018 it has been contested between a United States team and an International team representing the rest of the world. The ...

(representing the International team):

(winners) Source: Professional *

International Crown The Hanwha LifePlus International Crown is a biennial women's professional team golf tournament on the LPGA Tour. Eight national teams of four players each (32 players in total) participate in the match play event. Beginning in 2025, the field ...

(representing Sweden):

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

(tie, cup retained),

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Solheim Cup record

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Maja Swedish female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Ladies European Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Oklahoma State Cowgirls golfers Olympic golfers for Sweden Golfers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Golfers from Skåne County People from Skurup Municipality 1999 births Living people 21st-century Swedish sportswomen