Karin Ingrid Andrea Lindblad (born 11 April 2000) is a Swedish amateur golfer. She won the 2021 European Ladies Amateur. In 2022, she set the amateur 18-hole scoring record at the U.S. Women's Open posting a six-under 65[1] and was part of the Swedish team winning the World Amateur Team Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy. She rose to number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in June 2023.[2]

Ingrid Lindblad
Lindblad at the 2022 Scandinavian Mixed
Personal information
Full nameKarin Ingrid Andrea Lindblad
NicknameIggy
Born (2000-04-11) 11 April 2000 (age 24)
Halmstad, Sweden
Height5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Sporting nationality Sweden
ResidenceHalmstad, Sweden
Career
CollegeLouisiana State
StatusAmateur
Professional wins2
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipDNP
Women's PGA C'shipDNP
U.S. Women's OpenT11: 2022
Women's British OpenCUT: 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
Evian ChampionshipDNP
Achievements and awards
SEC Freshman of the Year2020
SEC Player of the Year2020
Mark H. McCormack Medal2023

Career edit

Lindblad grew up in Halmstad and joined the Swedish National Team in 2017. She represented her country at the European Girls' Team Championship, were Sweden won the bronze in 2018. She was then part of the Swedish teams that won the European Ladies' Team Championship in 2019 and 2020, teamed with Frida Kinhult, Sara Kjellker, Maja Stark, Linn Grant, and Beatrice Wallin.[2] She was a member of the 2018 European Junior Ryder Cup team and was selected for the international team at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup and again at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup.

She also excelled individually. In 2017 she won the Irish Girls U18 Open Stroke Play Championship, the Stenson Sunesson Junior Challenge and the Swedish Junior Classics. In 2018 she won the German Girls Open ahead of Alessia Nobilio. She was runner-up at the 2018 Annika Invitational Europe and won the 2019 Annika Invitational USA.[3] In 2019, Lindblad qualified for the 2019 Women's British Open, her first major championship, where she fell short of the cut.[4]

Lindblad was a freshman at Louisiana State University in 2019–20, following in the footsteps of compatriot Madelene Sagström. In her freshman year, she had the best single season scoring average in LSU women's golf history at 70.33, beating Sagström's previous record of 71.48 from 2014 to 2015. She won two individual tournaments, the Magnolia Invitational and the Florida State Match-Up, in her pandemic-shortened freshman season.[5] Lindblad became the first player in program history to earn Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors in the same season.[6] Over her four seasons she captured 11 college titles, a school record.[7]

Over the summer in 2020, she played on the Nordic Golf Tour where she won the Golfhäftet Masters after a playoff with Beatrice Wallin. She then won the Skaftö Open, prevailing in a playoff against Wallin and Linn Grant. With the wins, Lindblad earned a runner-up position behind Grant in the Nordic Golf Tour 2020 Order of Merit.[8]

The wins helped her rise to second spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, behind American Rose Zhang.[3]

In the summer of 2021 she won the European Ladies Amateur Championship in Italy, 3 strokeas ahead of Alexandra Försterling. In 2022, Lindblad had a spectacular spring as a junior at LSU, winning four out of the first five tournaments of the year. She won the SEC Women's Individual Championship by sinking a 38-foot putt for eagle on the final hole. Lindblad posted a 2-0-1 record in team match play to help LSU win its first team league title in 30 years. Reaching nine career LSU wins, she topped Jenny Lidback's previous record of seven set in the 1985–86 season.[5]

Lindblad was runner-up at the 2022 Augusta National Women's Amateur, one stroke behind winner Anna Davis, and played again in 2023.[9]

At the 2022 U.S. Women's Open at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, Lindblad finished leading amateur at tied 11th.[10] Her first round of 6 under par 65, playing together with Annika Sörenstam and with Sophie Gustafson on the bag, was the lowest round ever by an amateur in the U.S. Women's Open and the second lowest round by a European player in the history of the championship. She also beat the amateur scoring records over 36 and 54 holes and tied the 72-hole amateur record in the tournament. Her putting performance was especially noticed, as she holed 66 of 69 putts inside 10 feet and every one of 50 putts from 5 feet or less during the tournament.[11][12]

She accepted an invitation to the 2022 Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed, hosted jointly by the European Tour and Ladies European Tour and held at Halmstad Golf Club, a former Solheim Cup venue in her home town.[13] Men and women played from different tees and Lindblad finished tied 7th among the women and tied 33rd overall, propelling her into the top 250 in the Women's World Golf Rankings.[14]

In August 2022, Lindblad was part of the Swedish team winning the World Amateur Team Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy, beating team United States, with the better tie-breaking non-counting score.[15][16]

Lindblad rose to number 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in June 2023, after rival Rose Zhang turned professional. Her compatriot, Ludvig Åberg, simultaneously occupied the men's number 1 spot.[3] She won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top-ranked golfer at the conclusion of the major tournaments of 2023. This gained her entry into the 2024 U.S. Women's Open and Women's British Open.[17]

Amateur wins edit

  • 2015 Junior Masters Invitational, Jönköping Junior Open by FJ
  • 2017 Irish Girls U18 Open Stroke Play Championship, Stenson Sunesson Junior Challenge, Swedish Junior Classics, Bokskogen Junior Open
  • 2018 German Girls Open, Jönköping Junior Open
  • 2019 Annika Invitational USA, Teen Tour Elite #1, Magnolia Invitational
  • 2020 Florida State Match Up
  • 2021 Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, LSU Tiger Golf Classic, European Ladies Amateur Championship, Jackson T. Stephens Cup
  • 2022 Moon Golf Invitational, Clover Cup, Clemson Invitational, SEC Women's Golf Championship, Battle at the Beach
  • 2023 Clemson Invitational, Cougar Classic, Illini Women's Invitational at Medinah
  • 2024 Clemson Invitational

Source:[3][18]

Professional wins (2) edit

Nordic Golf Tour (2) edit

No. Date Tournament Winning
score
To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Ref
1 7 Aug 2020 Golfhäftet Masters (as an amateur) 70-65-65=200 −16 Playoff   Beatrice Wallin [19]
2 29 Aug 2020 Didriksons Skaftö Open (as an amateur) 68-65-65=198 −9 Playoff   Linn Grant
  Beatrice Wallin
[20]

Results in LPGA majors edit

Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Chevron Championship
U.S. Women's Open T30 T11 LA
Women's PGA Championship
The Evian Championship NT
Women's British Open CUT CUT CUT CUT
  Did not play

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

Team appearances edit

Amateur

Source:[21][22]

References edit

  1. ^ "Another year, another amateur grabs the first-round spotlight at the U.S. Women's Open. Meet Ingrid Lindblad". Golf Digest. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Ingrid Lindblad Presentation". Swedish Golf Federation. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Ingrid Lindblad". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Knight bags one of 11 spots at AIG Women's British Open with help from Ashridge pro". GolfNorth. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Roster: Ingrid Lindblad". LSU Tigers. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  6. ^ "2020 U.S. Women's Open: Inside the Field". USGA. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  7. ^ "A League of Her Own: LSU's Ingrid Lindblad adds 11th win to illustrious career, helps No. 3 Tigers to runner-up finish at Clemson Invitational". Tiger Rag. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Linn Grant i topp på Ekerum" (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  9. ^ Leonard, Tod (27 March 2023). "Looking for favorites at the 2023 Augusta National Women's Amateur? We've got 12 of them". Golf Digest. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  10. ^ Melton, Zephyr (2 June 2022). "A 'fearless' amateur playing with Annika holds the U.S. Women's Open lead". Golf Magazine. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  11. ^ "U.S. Women's Open: Drömstart för Ingrid Lindblad" [U.S. Women's Open: Dream start for Ingrid Lindblad] (in Swedish). Svensk Golf. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  12. ^ "U.S. Women's Open: 10 Stats to Know: Round 4". USGA. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Ingrid Lindblad klar för stortävling på hemmaplan" (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Ingrid Lindblad". Women's World Golf Rankings. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  15. ^ "WATC 2022 France". International Golf Federation. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  16. ^ Leonard, Todd (27 August 2022). "U.S. charge comes up short as Sweden women win World Amateur Team title". Golf Digest. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  17. ^ "Ingrid Lindblad Awarded Mark H. McCormack Medal as World's Leading Female Amateur Golfer". WAGR. 16 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Ingrid Lindblad Results". Golfdata. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  19. ^ "2020 Golfhäftet Masters". Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  20. ^ "2020 Didriksons Skaftö Open". Golfdata. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  21. ^ "European Team Championships". European Golf Association.
  22. ^ "International matches". European Golf Association.

External links edit