Linda Maria Wessberg (born 13 June 1980) is a Swedish professional golfer who has played on the LPGA Tour and on the Ladies European Tour, where she has three victories. She represented Europe at the 2007 Solheim Cup.[1]

Linda Wessberg
Wessberg at the 2010 Women's British Open
Personal information
Full nameLinda Maria Wessberg
Born (1980-06-13) 13 June 1980 (age 43)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Sporting nationality Sweden
ResidenceGothenburg, Sweden
PartnerPeter Sällqvist
Children1
Career
CollegeOklahoma State University
Turned professional2003
Current tour(s)Ladies European Tour (joined 2004)
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour (2007–2009)
Swedish Golf Tour (joined 2003)
Professional wins8
Number of wins by tour
Ladies European Tour3
Other5
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipCUT: 2007, 2008
Women's PGA C'shipT46: 2007
U.S. Women's Open57th: 2008
Women's British OpenT7: 2007
Evian ChampionshipDNP
Achievements and awards
Swedish Golf Tour
Order of Merit winner
2003
Medal record
European Golf Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Gleneagles Women's team

Early life and amateur career edit

Wessberg was born in Gothenburg and as a junior was attached to Delsjö Golf Club, to later join Hills Golf Club. In 2001 she won the Swedish Junior Matchplay Championship, and was part of the winning Swedish National team at the 2001 European Ladies' Team Championship in Galicia, Spain.

She spent four years at Oklahoma State University and majored in General Business and minored in Economics. Playing on the Oklahoma State Cowgirls golf team she won the Road Runner Invitational, and finished sixth individually in the 2003 NCAA National Championship.[1]

Professional career edit

Wessberg turned professional after graduating in June 2003 and joined the Swedish Golf Tour, where she was Player of the Year after winning the Ladies Finnish Open and the Swedish Matchplay Championship. In 2004 she won the Swedish PGA Championship and the tour championship, the Telia Ladies Finale.

LET and Solheim Cup edit

Wessberg joined the Ladies European Tour (LET) in 2004. She was runner-up at the Ladies Open of Portugal, three strokes behind Cecilia Ekelundh, and T3 at the Open de France Dames, to finish ninth on Order of Merit and close runner-up to Minea Blomqvist for the LET Rookie of the Year title.

In 2005, Wessberg was runner-up at the Open de España Femenino, before securing her first LET title at the 2006 Wales Ladies Championship of Europe at Machynys Peninsula G&CC. She defeated Laura Davies by one stroke, winning with a birdie at the 72nd hole.[2]

In 2007, she was runner-up at the Ladies English Open and claimed her second LET victory at the 2007 Vediorbis Open de France Dames in Arras, northern France, where she carded a final-round 65 in heavy rain to finish a shot ahead of Trish Johnson.

Wessberg was a captain's pick for the 2007 European Solheim Cup team, where she defeated Cristie Kerr in the singles and recorded a 75% points win rate.[3]

LPGA Tour edit

Wessberg joined the LPGA Tour with conditional status in 2007 and played in 13 tournaments. She recorded three top-10s, including a T7 in the 2007 Women's British Open at St Andrews, and finished the season ranked 65th in earnings.

In 2008, she competed in 22 events with her best finishes being T8 at both the LPGA Corning Classic and Kapalua LPGA Classic. She finished 75th on the Money List.

Ladies European Tour edit

Wessberg earned her third LET title at the 2009 UNIQA Ladies Golf Open in Austria, defeating England's Laura Davies at the second sudden-death playoff hole at Golfclub Föhrenwald in Wiener Neustadt. After this win, she returned to play in Europe full time.

In 2010, she was 23rd on the Money List and in 2011 she ended the season ranked 14th on the Money List, which was her third-best career season, after third place finishes at both the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open and the Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters. In 2012, she recorded a T4 at the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open and T7 at the World Ladies Championship in China. In 2013, her best results were T4s at the UniCredit Ladies German Open and Sanya Ladies Open in China, two strokes behind winners Charley Hull and Lee-Anne Pace, respectively.

In 2015, Wessberg played only in five tournaments and took some time out due to the arrival of her first child. When she returned in 2016 she was runner-up at the Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald Links, and finished the season 13th on the Order of Merit. She also won the Ladies Norwegian Open, an event on the LET Access Series.

Wessberg won a gold medal for Sweden in the 2018 European Golf Team Championships together with Cajsa Persson, after they beat the French team in the final at Gleneagles.[4]

In 2022, Wessberg made a hole-in-one at the Hero Women's Indian Open, to lead the tournament with a seven-under 65 after the opening round. She finished T12.[5]

Personal life edit

Wessberg was introduced to her life partner, former professional ice-hockey player Peter Sällqvist, by Carin Koch in 2008. She gave birth to their daughter Sigrid in 2015.[6]

Amateur wins edit

Professional wins (8) edit

Ladies European Tour wins (3) edit

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 20 Aug 2006 Wales Ladies Championship of Europe 67-67-69-71=274 −14 1 stroke   Laura Davies
2 24 Jun 2007 Vediorbis Open de France Dames 70-68-74-65=277 −11 1 stroke   Trish Johnson
3 13 Sep 2009 UNIQA Ladies Golf Open 70-68-70-71=279 −9 Playoff   Laura Davies

LET Access Series wins (1) edit

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 20 Aug 2016 Ladies Norwegian Open 69-70-64=203 −13 3 strokes   Jenny Haglund

Swedish Golf Tour (4) edit

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 15 Jun 2003 Felix Finnish Ladies Open 72-73-71=216 E 2 strokes   Jenni Kuosa
  Hanna-Leena Ronkainen (a)
2 28 Jun 2003 SM Match   Anna Berg
3 28 Aug 2004 Skandia PGA Open 66-72-69=207 −3 1 stroke   Helena Svensson
4 19 Sep 2004 Telia Ladies Finale 75-70-67=212 −7 1 stroke   Mianne Bagger

Team appearances edit

Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record edit

Year Total
matches
Total
W–L–H
Singles
W–L–H
Foursomes
W–L–H
Fourballs
W–L–H
Points
won
Points
%
Career 2 1–0–1 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–1 1.5 75%
2007 2 1–0–1 1–0–0 def C. Kerr 0–0–1 halved w/M. Hjorth 1.5 75%

Notes and references edit

  1. ^ a b "Linda Wessberg Bio". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Wessberg claims maiden victory in Wales". LET (Ladies European Tour). 20 August 2006. Archived from the original on 25 October 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  3. ^ "Alfredsson picks Hjorth, Tinning and Wessberg". LET (Ladies European Tour). 21 August 2007. Archived from the original on 23 August 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  4. ^ "European Golf Team Championships Results" (PDF). European Championships. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Hole-In-One Helps Wessberg Take Early Lead In India". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Linda Wessberg om livet som mamma på touren" (in Swedish). Svensk Golf. Retrieved 25 October 2022.

External links edit