Matilda Maria Castren (born 18 January 1995) is a Finnish

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

playing on the

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

. In 2021 she won the

LPGA Mediheal Championship The LPGA Mediheal Championship is a women's professional golf tournament in California on the LPGA Tour. A new event in 2018, it was held at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, an adjacent suburb south of San Francisco. The course hosted the ...

to become the first player from Finland to win on the

Career

Castren won the 2011 Doral Publix Junior Classic in the U.S. and the 2013 Skandia Junior Open in Sweden, and was runner-up at the 2013 Portuguese Ladies Amateur. She represented Finland at the 2011, 2012 and 2013 European Girls' Team Championship, the 2014, 2015 and 2016 European Ladies' Team Championship, and at the 2014 and 2016

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fre ...

. She was also on the winning Vagliano Trophy team in 2017. Castren played college golf at Florida State University beginning in 2014 and graduated in May 2017 with a degree in International Affairs, after winning seven individual titles in collegiate competition during her time with the

Florida State Seminoles women's golf The Florida State Seminoles women's golf team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of golf. The Seminoles compete in Division I (NCAA), Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA ...

team, a school record. She was named second-Team All-American by the Women's Golf Coaches Association and ''Golfweek'' in 2014 and was a three-time All-ACC selection (2014, 2016 and 2017) as one of only three players in school history. She set school record for lowest career stroke average (72.52) over her four-year varsity career. Castren played two seasons on the Symetra Tour in 2018 and 2019, before she finished T26 at the

LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament 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 th ...

to earn her card for the 2020 LPGA Tour. In only six starts she earned enough to qualify via the money list for her first major, the

2020 Women's PGA Championship The 2020 KPMG Women's PGA Championship was the 66th Women's PGA Championship. It was originally scheduled to be played June 25–28 at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. It was rescheduled to October 8–11 as a result of the COV ...

, where she was T9 after a first round of 69 and finished the tournament T23. In her rookie season on the

, she won the 2021

in just her 15th career LPGA Tour start. In July, Castren claimed her first

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal str ...

(LET) title after she shot a final round of 68 to win the 2021

Gant Ladies Open The Ladies Finnish Open is a professional women's golf tournament held in Finland. It was played as part of the Swedish Golf Tour (women), Swedish Golf Tour 1998–2011, the LET Access Series 2012–2019, and after a one year hiatus, added to the L ...

in her native Finland. She needed to secure a victory on the LET to become a member of the tour and be eligible for the 2021 European Solheim Cup Team.

Amateur wins

*2011 (1) Doral Publix Junior Classic 16-18 *2013 (1) Skandia Junior Open Girls *2014 (2) Florida State Match-Up, Web.com/Marsh Landing Intercollegiate *2015 (1) Jacksonville Classic *2016 (3) Florida Challenge, NCAA Shoal Creek Regional Championships, Jim West Challenge *2017 (1) Clemson Invitational Source:

Professional wins (3)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

Ladies European Tour wins (1)

Symetra Tour wins (1)

Results in LPGA majors

''Results not in chronological order before 2023.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Team appearances

Amateur * European Girls' Team Championship (representing Finland): 2011, 2012, 2013 * European Ladies' Team Championship (representing Finland):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, 2016 *

(representing Finland):

, 2016 * Vagliano Trophy (representing the Continent of Europe): 2017 (winners) Source: Professional * Solheim Cup (representing Europe):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

(winners)

Solheim Cup record

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castren, Matilda Finnish female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Ladies European Tour golfers Olympic golfers for Finland Golfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Florida State Seminoles women's golfers Sportspeople from Espoo 1995 births Living people