Sophie Gustafson

Sophie Gustafson
— Golfer —

Gustafson in April 2011
Personal information
Born (1973-12-27) 27 December 1973
Varberg, Sweden
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Nationality  Sweden
Residence Orlando, Florida, U.S.[1]
Spouse Ty Votaw (2006–10)
Career
College Aranässkolan & Komvux University, Sweden
Turned professional 1992
Current tour(s) LET (joined 1994)
LPGA Tour (joined 1998)
Professional wins 28
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour 5
Ladies European Tour 16 (6th all-time)
Other 8
Best results in LPGA major championships
ANA Inspiration T7: 2001
Women's PGA C'ship T6: 2007
U.S. Women's Open T10: 2006
du Maurier Classic T33: 2000
Women's British Open 2nd/T2: 2005, 2006
Evian Championship CUT: 2013
Achievements and awards
Ladies European Tour
Player of the Year		 1998, 2000, 2003
Ladies European Tour
Order of Merit winner		 2000, 2003, 2007, 2009
Ladies European Tour
Stroke Average trophy		 2002, 2003
Swedish Golfer of the Year 2000
Heather Farr Player Award 2012

Sophie Gustafson (born 27 December 1973) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is a member of U.S.-based LPGA Tour and a life member of the Ladies European Tour (LET).[2] 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[3] and represented Europe in the Solheim Cup on each team from 1998 to 2011.[4][5]

Professional career

Gustafson turned professional in 1992 whilst studying marketing, economics and law at Aranasskolan & Komvux University in Sweden.[6] In the next three years she played 12 Telia Tour and four Ladies European Tour tournaments. On the Telia tour she had six top ten finishes. Her best finish on the LET was a 22nd at her home tournament in Sweden.[7][8][9]

1995 saw her join the Ladies European Tour gaining two top 10 finishes in 13 starts.[10] 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[11] and once on the Ladies European Tour at the Déesse Ladies Swiss Open.[12] In 1997 she earned her first win on the Ladies Asian Tour at the Thailand Ladies Open[13] and finished T40th at LPGA Q School to earn non-exempt status for 1998.[6]

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.[3] She also played four times on the LPGA tour, recording a second-place finish at the co-sanctioned Women’s British Open.[6] She also won the Telia Tour Finale[14] and made her debut in the Solheim Cup, replacing the injured Trish Johnson at the last minute.[15] During 1999, Gustafson played on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tours. Her best result was a tie for 2nd at the Ladies' German Open on the Ladies European Tour.[3]

2000 was a breakthrough year for Gustafson. She got her maiden win on the LPGA at the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship,[16] and added a second LPGA title at the co-sanctioned Women’s British Open.[17] She had two other wins in Europe at the Ladies Italian Open and at the Waterford Crystal Ladies Irish Open,[18] and partnered with Carin Koch to win the inaugural TSN Ladies World Cup Golf.[19] She also won 2 and a half out of a possible four points in Europe's Solheim Cup victory at Loch Lomond.[3] The year ended with Gustafson topping the Evian Order of Merit and official Evian moneylist, being voted Swedish Player of the Year by the Association of Swedish Golf Writers and becoming Players' Player of Year'.[18][20]

In 2001 Gustafson won once on both the LPGA Tour at the Subaru Memorial of Naples[21] and Ladies European Tour at the AAMI Women's Australian Open[22] crossing the LPGA Tour career $1million earnings mark. The defence of her LPGA title ended with her losing in a playoff to Annika Sörenstam.[23] In 2002 she played seven LET events, posting four top 10 finishes, ending the season with one victory at the Biarritz Ladies Classic[24] and 3rd place in the Order of Merit as well as winning the Vivien Saunders Stroke average trophy.[3] 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[25][26][27] 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.[28] She won the Samsung World Championship on the LPGA tour,[29] 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,[30] and was part of the winning European Solheim Cup team in her native Sweden.

During 2004 Gustafson struggled with illness due to deep vein thrombosis in her leg.[3] 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.[31] 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.[3] Gustafson made her 5th appearance in the Solheim Cup.[32] and was a member of the International Team in the inaugural Lexus Cup.[33]

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 in Austria.[34] This win gave her the point she needed to become a Life Member of the LET.[2] She earned her thirteenth LET win in 2007 at the De Vere Ladies Scottish Open.

Gustafson was a member of Europe's Solheim Cup team in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Personal life

In 2006, Gustafson married former LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw,[35] who left his post following the 2005 Solheim Cup. They divorced in January 2010.[36] Gustafson has a severe stuttering problem and rarely speaks to the media. During the 2011 Solheim Cup she made an exception and spoke on-camera with Golf Channel.[37]

Professional wins (28)

LPGA Tour (5)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 30 Apr 2000 Chick-fil-A Charity Championship −10 (65-69-72=206) 1 stroke United States Amy Fruhwirth
United States Kelly Robbins
2 20 Aug 2000 Weetabix Women's British Open
(co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour)		 −10 (70-66-71-75=282) 2 strokes United States Becky Iverson
England Kirsty Taylor
3 21 Jan 2001 Subaru Memorial of Naples −16 (68-64-70-70=272) 3 strokes Australia Karrie Webb
4 12 Oct 2003 Samsung World Championship −14 (72-69-69-64=274) 2 strokes United States Beth Daniel
Australia Rachel Hetherington
5 27 Sep 2009 CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge −20 (65-69-66-68=268) 4 strokes Mexico Lorena Ochoa

Note: Gustafson won the Weetabix Women's British Open before it became a major championship.

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–4)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2000 Mizuno Classic Canada Lorie Kane Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2 2001 Chick-fil-A Charity Championship Sweden Annika Sörenstam Lost to par on second extra hole
3 2008 Safeway Classic Sweden Helen Alfredsson
United States Cristie Kerr		 Kerr won with birdie on first extra hole
4 2009 Evian Masters Japan Ai Miyazato Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour (16)

Other (8)

Results in LPGA majors

Results not in chronological order before 2014.

Tournament 1998 1999 2000
Kraft Nabisco Championship DNP T79 DNP
LPGA Championship DNP T54 T40
U.S. Women's Open DNP T20 T31
du Maurier Classic DNP DNP T33
Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Kraft Nabisco Championship T7 T25 T51 T48 T66 CUT T44 T42 T64
LPGA Championship CUT CUT CUT T74 CUT T44 T6 CUT T16
U.S. Women's Open 11 CUT CUT CUT T58 T10 CUT CUT CUT
Women's British Open ^ T42 T11 8 CUT 2 T2 T33 T24 T33
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Kraft Nabisco Championship T10 T15 CUT T63 CUT
U.S. Women's Open T19 CUT 56 CUT DNP
Women's British Open T43 3 CUT CUT DNP
LPGA Championship T25 T57 T30 WD CUT
The Evian Championship ^^ CUT DNP

^ 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
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Kraft Nabisco Championship 0 0 0 0 2 4 15 12
U.S. Women's Open 0 0 0 0 1 4 15 7
Women's British Open 0 2 1 3 4 6 13 10
LPGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 16 9
du Maurier Classic 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
The Evian Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals 0 2 1 3 8 17 61 39

LPGA Tour career summary

Year Tournaments
played 		Cuts
made 		Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10s Best
finish 		Earnings
($) 		Money
list rank 		Scoring
average 		Scoring
rank
1994 1 1 0 0 0 0 T75 612 n/a 77.25 n/a
1995 1 0 0 0 0 0 MC n/a n/a 82.00 n/a
1996 1 1 0 0 0 0 MC n/a n/a 75.00 n/a
1997 2 2 0 0 0 1 5 30,154 n/a 72.50 n/a
1998 4 2 0 1 0 1 T12 81,915 n/a 74.58 n/a
1999 21 11 0 0 0 1 T6 80,800 96 73.27 115
2000 21 18 2 1 0 4 1 544,390 13 71.93 17
2001 25 23 1 1 0 7 1 617,327 15 71.55 25
2002 20 15 0 0 0 0 T11 165,093 57 72.40 47
2003 22 17 1 1 0 6 1 635,372 18 71.11 17
2004 21 11 0 0 1 3 T3 167,843 65 73.48 124
2005 26 21 0 1 1 7 2 484,839 28 72.59 46
2006 25 21 0 1 1 6 T2 655,548 17 71.57 21
2007 19 16 0 1 0 6 T2 469,748 30 71.84 16
2008 23 17 0 2 1 5 T2 646,303 28 71.85 33
2009 22 17 1 1 0 7 1 792,359 17 71.54 26
2010 21 18 0 0 0 1 T10 231,715 45 72.70 59
2011 21 19 0 0 1 2 3 427,586 26 72.44 39
2012 22 16 0 0 0 0 T12 158,089 65 73.28 85
2013 15 2 0 0 0 0 T45 13,751 135 74.33 135
2014 3 0 0 0 0 0 MC 0 n/a 77.33 n/a

Team appearances

Professional

Solheim Cup record

Year Total
matches 		Total
W-L-H 		Singles
W-L-H 		Foursomes
W-L-H 		Fourballs
W-L-H 		Points
won 		Points
%
Career 31 13-12-6 3-4-1 7-1-4 3-7-1 16.0 51.6
1998 2 0-1-1 0-0-1 halved w/ M. Mallon 0-1-0 lost w/ L.Hackney 7&5 0.5 25.0
2000 4 2-1-1 0-1-0 lost to B. Burton 4&3 1-0-1 won w/ T. Johnson 3&2,
halved w/ T. Johnson		 1-0-0 won w/ T. Johnson 3&2 2.5 62.5
2002 3 2-1-0 1-0-0 def. C. Kerr 3&2 1-1-0 lost w/ K. Icher 4&3,
won w/ L. Davies 1 up		 2.0 66.7
2003 5 3-2-0 1-0-0 def. H. Bowie 5&4 2-0-0 won w/ E. Esterl 3&2,
won w/ S. Pettersen 3&1		 0-2-0 lost w/ I. Tinning 2 dn,
lost w/ L. Davies 2&1		 3.0 60.0
2005 5 1-2-2 0-1-0 lost to J.Inkster 2&1 1-0-1 halved w/ T. Johnson,
won w/ C. Koch 5&3		 0-1-1 lost w/ K Stupples 2&1,
halved w/ S. Pettersen		 2.0 40.0
2007 4 0-2-2 0-1-0 lost to P.Hurst 2&1 0-0-2 halved w/ S. Pettersen,
halved w/ S. Pettersen		 0-1-0 lost w/ G. Nocera 3&2 1.0 25.0
2009 4 1-3-0 0-1-0 lost to B. Lincicome 3&2 1-1-0 lost w/ S. Pettersen 4&2,
won w/ J. Moodie 4&3		 0-1-0 lost w/ S. Pettersen 1 dn 1.0 25.0
2011 4 4-0-0 1-0-0 def. S. Lewis 2 up 2-0-0 won w/ S. Pettersen 1 up,
won w/ C. Hedwall 6&5		 1-0-0 won w/ C. Hedwall 5&4 4.0 100.

See also

References

  1. ↑ LPGA.com, LPGA 2013 Player Guide
  2. 1 2 "Gustafson named Life Member of the Ladies European Tour". LPGA. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Sophie Gustafson Player Profile". LET. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  4. ↑ "1990-2003 Solheim Cup Teams" (PDF). LPGA. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
  5. ↑ "2005 European Solheim Cup Team". LPGA. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
  6. 1 2 3 "Full Career Biography" (PDF). LPGA. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  7. ↑ "1992 Results". Golfdata from golf.se. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  8. ↑ "1993 Results". Golfdata from golf.se. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  9. ↑ "1994 Results". Golfdata from golf.se. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  10. ↑ "1995 Results". Golfdata from golf.se. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  11. ↑ "Rörstrand Ladies Open". Golfdata from golf.se. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  12. ↑ "Déesse Ladies Swiss Open". Golfdata from golf.se. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  13. ↑ "Thailand Ladies Open". Golfdata from golf.se. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  14. ↑ "Telia Ladies Finale Johannesberg". Golfdata from golf.se. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  15. ↑ "Tough play being the reserve". BBC. 2002-09-17. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  16. ↑ "Chick-fil-A Charity Championship 2000". GolfWeek Magazine. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  17. ↑ "Gustafson hangs on for victory". BBC. 2000-08-20. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  18. 1 2 "Gustafson voted LET player of the year". Golf Today. 2000-08-20. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  19. ↑ "Swedes hold off English pair". BBC News. 2000-09-17. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  20. ↑ "Gustafson gets gong". BBC News. 2001-02-01. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  21. ↑ "Gustafson bags Naples title". BBC News. 2001-01-21. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  22. ↑ "Gustafson holds off Webb". BBC News. 2001-03-11. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  23. ↑ "Sorenstam eyes Tiger showdown". BBC News. 2001-05-07. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  24. ↑ "Gustafson wins Biarritz thriller". LET. 2002-10-05. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  25. ↑ "Gustafson cruises to third Irish victory". LET. 2003-06-15. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  26. ↑ "Sophie snaps up HP Open". LET. 2003-08-10. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  27. ↑ "Gustafson completes Irish double". BBC. 2003-08-17. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  28. ↑ "Evian Tour 2003 Awards". LET. 2003-10-13. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  29. ↑ "Gustafson on top of the World". LET. 2003-10-13. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  30. ↑ "Gustafson out in Japan". BBC. 2003-11-29. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  31. ↑ "Australia, England and Sweden favourites". LET. 2005-02-10. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  32. ↑ "Meet the 2005 European Solheim Cup Team". LET. 2005-09-02. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  33. ↑ "Annika Sorenstam heads Lexus Cup field". Golf Today. 2005-12-07. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  34. ↑ "Gustafson back in the winner's circle again". LPGA. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  35. ↑ "Sophie Gustafson weds Ty Votaw". LET. 2006-07-08. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  36. ↑ LPGA golfer Gustafson, Votaw divorce
  37. ↑ Golf Channel, Sophie's choice: Speaking out 25 September 2011.
  38. ↑ "Sophie Gustafson Stats". LPGA. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
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