Björn Hellgren
| Björn Hellgren | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||||
| Full name | Adam Lasse Björn Hellgren | ||||||
| Born | 21 November 1990 Västerås, Sweden | ||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||
| Sporting nationality |  Sweden | ||||||
| Residence | Västerås, Sweden | ||||||
| Partner | Lovisa Bergsjö | ||||||
| Career | |||||||
| College | Florida State University | ||||||
| Turned professional | 2013 | ||||||
| Current tour(s) | Asian Tour | ||||||
| Former tour(s) | Challenge Tour Nordic Golf League Swedish Golf Tour | ||||||
| Professional wins | 7 | ||||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||||
| |||||||
Adam Lasse Björn Hellgren (born 21 November 1990) is a Swedish professional golfer and Asian Tour player. He was runner-up in the 2021 Dormy Open on the Challenge Tour.[1]
Early life and amateur career
[edit]Hellgren was born in 1990 in Västerås. He played ice hockey on one of Sweden's premier teams until he was 15 years old, when he focused on golf.[2]
As a junior, Hellgren won the 2010 Order of Merit on the Skandia Tour, a Swedish under-21 circuit, after recording two victories, two runner-up finishes, and five other top-10s. He finished in second place after Jacob Glennemo at the Qualifying School for the 2011 Nordea Tour. He was runner-up behind Oscar Lengdén at the Swedish Junior Strokeplay Championship in 2011.
Hellgren accepted a golf scholarship to Florida State University and played golf with the Florida State Seminoles men's golf team 2011–2013. [2]
Professional career
[edit]Hellgren left college after two years and turned professional in 2013, after the European Amateur Championship in August. He joined the Nordea Tour and won the first tournament he started in as a professional, the Landeryd Masters. In April 2014, he won the Black Mountain Invitational in Thailand and joined the Nordic Golf League (NGL).[3]
In 2015, he successfully defended his title at the Black Mountain Invitational and made his first cut on the European Tour at the 2015 Nordea Masters in Stockholm, Sweden. During the 2015 Swedish Matchplay Championship, he was hit by an errant tee-shot from Jesper Kennegård, was knocked to the ground, and required medical attention.[4] He got up, dusted himself off, and won the match, won the tournament, and topped the 2015 Swedish Golf Tour Order of Merit.
In 2016, he won the Nordea Tour's Winter Series opener, the Lumine Lakes Open in Spain. At the European Tour's Nordea Masters in June, he finished tied 4th, along with Henrik Stenson, for the biggest paycheck of his career. As a result, he played the rest of the season on the Challenge Tour, where his best finish was a solo 6th place at the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge. On the 2017 Challenge Tour, his best finish was a T10 at the Volopa Irish Challenge. In 2018, he failed to make an impact, and was back on the NGL for the 2019 season.[3]
Hellgren had a 59 in his hand at the 2020 PGA Championship Bråviken Open. He was bogey-free for 17 holes in the second round, with 8 birdies and two eagles, when his birdie putt on the 18th green stopped a few inches short of the hole and his score stayed at 60, 12 under par.[5]
In 2020, Hellgren was back on the Challenge Tour, and recorded a T5 at the Northern Ireland Open. In 2021, he narrowly missed out on his first Challenge Tour title after two opening rounds of 65, as he lost a playoff at the Dormy Open to Félix Mory of France.[6]
In January 2020, Hellgren joined the Asian Tour after finishing tied 9th at Q-School, but only competed in one event, the Bandar Malaysia Open, before play was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned in November 2021 when the 2020–21–22 Asian Tour resumed. Hellgren played in 5 of the season's 8 tournaments, making each cut, and finished 57th on the Order of Merit.[7]
Hellgren climbed to 41st in the Order of Merit on the 2022 Asian Tour, with a tie for 3rd at the Yeangder TPC in Taiwan his best result.[7]
Amateur wins
[edit]- 2008 Sura Open
- 2009 Skandia Tour Elit #5
- 2010 Skandia Tour Elit #5, Skandia Tour Elit #6
Source:[3]
Professional wins (7)
[edit]Nordic Golf League wins (4)
[edit]| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 Aug 2013 | Landeryd Masters | −15 (67-69-65=201) | 1 stroke | Steven Jeppesen
|
| 2 | 28 Jun 2015 | SM Match | 3 and 2 | Anton Wejshag
| |
| 3 | 28 Feb 2016 | Lumine Lakes Open | −14 (69-69-64=202) | Playoff | Oscar Lengdén
|
| 4 | 7 Jul 2023 | Arlandastad Trophy | −10 (68-68-64=200) | 1 stroke |  Jonas Lykke Petersen
|
Swedish Golf Tour wins (3)
[edit]| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 Apr 2014 | Black Mountain Invitational | −13 (67-67-69=203) | 4 strokes | Sebastian Söderberg
|
| 2 | 20 Apr 2015 | Black Mountain Invitational (2) | −6 (67-74-69=210) | 1 stroke | Daniel Jennevret, David Palm
|
| 3 | 1 Aug 2020 | PGA Championship Bråviken Open | −21 (68-60-67=195) | Playoff | Mikael Lindberg
|
Playoff record
[edit]Challenge Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2021 | Dormy Open |  Félix Mory
|
Lost to birdie on second extra hole |
References
[edit]- ^ "Player Profile Björn Hellgren". European Tour. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Player profile Bjorn Hellgren". Florida State University. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b c "Player Profile Björn Hellgren". Golfdata. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "Träffades av boll och var nere för räkning". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "Storspelande Björn Hellgren sköt 60 slag (-12)" (in Swedish). PGA of Sweden. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "Sugrue best of the Irish as Mory secures maiden Challenge Tour title in play-off win". Golf Digest Ireland. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Player Profile Björn Hellgren". Asian Tour. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Björn Hellgren at the European Tour official site
- Björn Hellgren at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
- Björn Hellgren at the Golfdata official site (in Swedish)