Pontus Widegren Explained

Pontus Widegren
Birth Date:14 October 1990
Birth Place:Danderyd, Sweden
Weight:76kg (168lb)
College:University of California, Los Angeles
Yearpro:2013
Extour:European Tour
Challenge Tour
Swedish Golf Tour
Award1:AJGA Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award
Year1:2008

Pontus Widegren (born 14 October 1990) is a Swedish professional golfer and European Tour player.[1]

Amateur career

Widegren has played golf since he was seven and began competing when he was 12. At 13, he became the youngest Club Champion at Stockholm Golf Club. He ranked as high as sixth on the AJGA circuit where he was runner-up at the 2008 Junior Players Championship. In November 2008, he was awarded the AJGA Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award for his "respect for fellow players, as well as tournament staff and volunteers."[2]

Widegren became a member of the Swedish National Team in 2005. He won the 2007 Junior Golf World Cup in Japan with scores of 68-65-74-68=275, and won the silver in 2006 and 2008. He also won the bronze at the 2008 Eisenhower Trophy in Australia with Jesper Kennegård and Henrik Norlander. In 2010, he won the St Andrews Trophy with the Continental European team.

Individually, he lost the final of the 2006 French International Boys Championship to Sean Einhaus 1 up. Widegren won the 2009 Swedish Junior Strokeplay Championship with scores of 76-65-68-72=281 (–9) following a play-off. In 2012, he finished 4th at the European Amateur in Ireland.

Widegren attended the University of California, Los Angeles 2009–13 and played for the UCLA Bruins men's golf team, where he won twice and was named All-American.[2] He played in four consecutive Palmer Cups, recording 3-1-0 in matches against U.S. competition in his first appearance.[3]

Professional career

Widegren turned professional after he graduated in 2013 and joined the Challenge Tour. He finished runner-up at the 2013 Norwegian Challenge, and had a one shot advantage heading into the final day of the 2015 Madeira Islands Open, a dual-ranked Challenge Tour and European Tour event, ultimately tying for fourth.[4]

Widegren secured his European Tour card at the 2016 European Tour Qualifying School.[5] In his rookie season in 2017, Widegren finished tied for third at the D+D Real Czech Masters.[6] [7]

Amateur wins

Source[8]

Team appearances

Amateur

Source[8]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pontus Widegren Biography . European Tour . 18 November 2016.
  2. Web site: Men's Golf Roster: Pontus Widegren . UCLA Bruins . 30 January 2024.
  3. Web site: Pontus Widegren . Arnold Palmer Cup . 30 January 2024.
  4. Web site: Widegren Chasing Dream Victory in Madeira . European Tour . 18 November 2016.
  5. News: Sex svenskar klarade Europatourkval . 30 January 2024 . Göteborgs-Posten . 17 November 2016 . sv.
  6. News: Johansson . Jesper . Pontus Widegren trea i Tjeckien . 30 January 2024 . Svensk Golf . 2 September 2017 . sv.
  7. News: Huggan . John . South African overcomes a year full of struggles to claim Czech Masters title . 30 January 2024 . Golf Digest . 3 September 2017.
  8. Web site: Pontus Widegren . World Amateur Golf Ranking . 18 November 2016.
  9. Web site: European Boys' Team Championship – European Golf Association . 22 January 2023.