Caroline Ingrid Hedwall (born 13 May 1989) is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the LPGA Tour. In 2013 she became the first player to win five matches in a single Solheim Cup event. As an amateur she was a dominating player, winning the European Ladies Amateur Championship as well as the individual titles at the Espirito Santo Trophy and the NCAA Championship.

Caroline Hedwall
Personal information
Full nameCaroline Ingrid Hedwall
Born (1989-05-13) 13 May 1989 (age 35)
Täby, Sweden
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Sporting nationality Sweden
ResidenceStockholm, Sweden
PartnerFredrika Winqvist
Career
CollegeOklahoma State University
Turned professional2010
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour (joined 2011)
LET (joined 2011)
Professional wins16
Number of wins by tour
Ladies European Tour7
ALPG Tour3
Other6
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipT3: 2013
Women's PGA C'shipT37: 2013
U.S. Women's OpenT31: 2013
Women's British OpenT27: 2010
Evian ChampionshipT17: 2019
Achievements and awards
Ladies European Tour
Rookie of the Year
2011
Ladies European Tour
Player of the Year
2011
Swedish Golfer of the Year2011
Honda Sports Award2010

Early years

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Hedwall started to play golf at age eight, living in Täby outside Stockholm, Sweden, and moved with her family to Löddeköpinge at 15 years of age, coming to represent Barsebäck Golf & Country Club. She is the daughter of Yvonne and Claes Hedwall and has a twin sister, Jacqueline, who, just as Caroline, also played collegiate golf in the United States, at Louisiana State University, represented Sweden as an amateur and turned professional.[1]

Amateur career

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Hedwall's amateur career was very successful. In 2006, 17 years old, she became the second girl to win the Swedish Junior Stroke-play Championship as well as the Swedish Junior Match-play Championship, both championships for players up to 21, during the same season.

As an 18-year-old, she finished lone 7th at her Ladies European Tour debut, the 2007 Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika, at her home course Barsebäck, two strokes better than tournament host Annika Sörenstam.[1] In 2006–2008, Hedwall won six times on the professional Swedish Golf Tour, being an amateur without the possibility to receive any prize money. At the 2008 Telenor Masters at Barsebäck, the two amateur Hedwall twins finished first and second and the SEK 60,000 first prize check went to third placed Sarah Heath, England.

At the 2007 Junior Solheim Cup, the two Hedwall sisters both played on the winning European team. The Hedwall twins were also part of the winning Swedish teams at the European Ladies' Team Championship in 2008 and 2010.[2]

Hedwall won the individual European Ladies Amateur Championship in 2007 and 2009, and both the team and individual title at the amateur worlds, the Espirito Santo Trophy in 2008.[3]

She accepted a golf scholarship to Oklahoma State University in 2008. While at Oklahoma State she was the 2010 NCAA Individual Champion, 2010 NGCA Player of the Year, 2010 Golfstat Cup Winner, 2009 and 2010 First-Team All-American, and Big 12 Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010.[4] In 2010, she also won the Honda Sports Award as the best female collegiate golfer in the nation.[5][6]

She was tied 27th, best Swedish player and low amateur at the 2010 Women's British Open. Before turning professional, Hedwall represented Sweden a last time at the Espirito Santo Trophy at the end of 2010, earning a bronze medal with her team.

Professional career

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Hedwall was the medalist at the final stage of LET Qualifying School, a nine-stroke victory on 19 December 2010 to earn her LET card for 2011. In her first tournament as a professional, she won the 2011 New South Wales Open in Australia on the ALPG Tour in January. On the LET, she won the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open in May, Finnair Masters in July, UNIQA Ladies Golf Open in September, and the Hero Women's Indian Open in December.[7] She was a captain's selection to the European team for the 2011 Solheim Cup in Ireland. She ended the year by winning the LET Player of the Year and LET Rookie of the Year awards.

Hedwall was again a captain's pick for Team Europe at the 2013 Solheim Cup at the Colorado Golf Club in the Denver area. In that event, she became the first player in Solheim Cup history to win five matches in a single competition, helping lead Team Europe to a surprising 18–10 win. It was the Europeans' first successful defense of the Cup, and also the first win for Team Europe on American soil.[8]

In September 2018, Hedwall won the Lacoste Ladies Open de France, with a score of 12-under-par over 72 holes, recording her first professional victory in three years. The following year, she qualified for her fourth Solheim Cup appearance for the European team.

From 2021, Hedwall focused on the Ladies European Tour instead of the LPGA. In November 2022, she won the tour final Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De España, moving her to eighth on the 2022 final Order of Merit and advancing 82 positions to 137th on the world rankings. Despite being ranked 121st, she was picked for the 2023 Solheim Cup by captain Suzann Pettersen. In the Sunday singles, Hedwall delivered one of the best stretches of golf in Solheim Cup history, going from 3 down after 12 holes to flip her match to a 2 up victory over Ally Ewing after birdieing five of the last six holes, preventing the United States from winning.[9]

Awards

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In 2011, Hedwall received Elit Sign number 137 by the Swedish Golf Federation based on world ranking achievements.[10]

The same season she was elected Swedish Golfer of the Year, male or female, amateur or professional.

As receipant number 47, Hedwall was in 2015 awarded the Golden Club by the Swedish Golf Federation for outstanding contributions to Swedish golf.[11]

Amateur wins

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Professional wins (16)

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Ladies European Tour wins (7)

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No. Date Tournament Winning
score
To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Winner's
share ()
1 28 May 2011 Allianz Ladies Slovak Open 71-67-67=205 −11 2 strokes   Christel Boeljon 52,500
2 2 Jul 2011 Finnair Masters 69-65-68=202 −11 2 strokes   Christel Boeljon 30,000
3 4 Sep 2011 UNIQA Ladies Golf Open 73-67-64=204 −12 4 strokes   Caroline Afonso 30,000
4 11 Dec 2011 Hero Women's Indian Open 67-68-69=204 −12 2 strokes   Pornanong Phatlum 33,000
5 9 Sep 2012 UNIQA Ladies Golf Open 67-66-70=203 −13 4 strokes   Laura Davies
  Mikaela Parmlid
30,000
6 9 Sep 2018 Lacoste Ladies Open de France 69-71-70-62=272 −12 2 strokes   Stacy Lee Bregman 41,250
7 27 Nov 2022 Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De España 70-68-69-67=274 −18 Playoff   Morgane Métraux 97,500

Ladies European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2022 Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De España   Morgane Métraux Won with birdie on fourth extra hole

Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning
score
To par Margin of
victory
Runner-up Winner's
share (AUD)
1 23 Jan 2011 Bing Lee Samsung NSW Women's Open 67-68-70=205 −11 1 stroke   Lydia Ko (a) 18,750
2 20 Jan 2013 Mount Broughton Classic 67-65=132 −12 4 strokes   Emma de Groot 4,500
3 27 Jan 2013 Bing Lee Samsung Women's New South Wales Open 66-69-68=203 −13 2 strokes   Lydia Ko (a) 18,750

Swedish Golf Tour wins (6)

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No. Date Tournament Winning
score
To par Margin of
victory
Runner-up Winner's
share (SEK)
1 25 Aug 2006 Swedish Match-play Championship (as an amateur) 7 and 5   Johanna Lundberg 27,000[a]
2 10 Jun 2007 Isover Ladies Open (as an amateur) 67-70-72=209 −4 3 strokes   Sohvi Härkönen 27,000[a]
3 4 Aug 2007 SI · Gefle Ladies Open (as an amateur) 73-70-72=215 −1 Playoff   Florence Lüscher 36,000[a]
4 18 Aug 2007 Hotel Falköping Ladies Cup (as an amateur) 72-71=143 −1 1 stroke   Nuria Clau 20,000[a]
5 22 Sep 2007 PGA Gibson Open (as an amateur) 73-71-69=213 −3 5 strokes   Marianne Skarpnord 27,000[a]
6 10 May 2008 Telenor Masters (as an amateur) 72-68-71=211 −2 3 strokes   Jacqueline Hedwall (a) 60,000[a]
  1. ^ a b c d e f As Hedwell was an amateur, she received no prize money. The winner's share was allocated to the best placed professional.

Results in LPGA majors

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Results not in chronological order.

Tournament 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Chevron Championship T56 T3 T64 T46 CUT T66 CUT
Women's PGA Championship CUT T37 CUT 71 CUT 67 CUT T53 CUT CUT
U.S. Women's Open CUT T31 T38 CUT CUT CUT CUT
The Evian Championship ^ T19 T50 CUT CUT T40 T54 T17 NT
Women's British Open CUT CUT T27 T30 CUT CUT CUT T28 CUT CUT T44 CUT T66

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.

  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Chevron Championship 0 0 1 1 1 1 7 5
Women's PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 4
U.S. Women's Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 2
The Evian Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 5
Women's British Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 5
Totals 0 0 1 1 1 3 44 21
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (four times)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Ladies European Tour career summary

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Year Tournaments
played
Cuts
made
Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10s Best
finish
Earnings
()
Order of Merit
rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
2006 1 1 0 0 0 0 11 n/a n/a 71.25
2007 1 1 0 0 0 1 7 71.50
2008 2 1 0 0 0 0 13 73.20
2009 1 0 0 0 0 0 CUT 77.00
2010 2 2 0 0 0 1 T8 71.28
2011 20 19 4 1 0 8 1 278,528 3 70.97 14
2012 6 5 1 1 0 3 1 80,780 29 70.55 3
2013 5 4 0 1 0 1 2 57,441 34 71.47 11
2014 6 5 0 0 0 1 T5 44,883 43 71.28 12
2015 5 3 0 0 0 1 T8 39,332 50 72.28 25
2016 10 7 0 2 0 4 2 110,095 8 71.50 17
2017 3 2 0 0 0 0 T12 22,404 56 72.11 49
2018 10 8 1 2 0 5 1 124,013 3 70.58 10
2019 13 12 0 2 3 6 T2 165,390 6 71.15 13
2020 6 4 0 0 2 2 3 70,639 17 72.28 25
2021 13 13 0 0 0 0 T12 61,879 35 72.24 28
2022 18 15 1 1 0 9 1 213,335 8 71.20 14

LPGA Tour career summary

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Year Tournaments
played
Cuts
made
Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10s Best
finish
Earnings
($)
Money
list rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
2008 1 0 0 0 0 0 CUT n/a n/a 77.50 n/a
2009 1 0 0 0 0 0 CUT 77.00
2010 1 1 0 0 0 0 T27 72.75
2011 6 6 0 0 0 0 T12 126,801 64 71.70 n/a
2012 18 13 0 0 0 2 T5 216,074 57 72.27 44
2013 23 21 0 0 3 6 3 763,104 14 71.08 20
2014 18 14 0 1 0 1 2 359,016 46 72.23 68
2015 18 11 0 0 0 0 T26 98,117 93 72.98 103
2016 18 6 0 0 0 1 5 94,733 99 72.57 95
2017 19 11 0 0 0 0 T11 125,240 92 71.81 81
2018 17 7 0 0 0 1 T9 96,188 104 71.45 51
2019 13 11 0 0 0 0 T12 154,094 88 71.50 68
2020 10 1 0 0 0 0 T15 28,249 123 73.57 121
2021 4 0 0 0 0 0 CUT 0 n/a 75.88 n/a
2022 1 0 0 0 0 0 CUT 0 n/a 72.00 n/a
2023 3 2 0 0 0 1 T6 68,984 144 71.90 n/a

Source:[12]

World ranking

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Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year World
ranking
Source
2006 456 [13]
2007 380 [14]
2008 409 [15]
2009 625 [16]
2010 352 [17]
2011 37 [18]
2012 40 [19]
2013 23 [20]
2014 55 [21]
2015 141 [22]
2016 171 [23]
2017 170 [24]
2018 123 [25]
2019 125 [26]
2020 139 [27]
2021 233 [28]
2022 125 [29]
2023 118 [30]

Team appearances

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Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record

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Year Total
matches
Total
W–L–H
Singles
W–L–H
Foursomes
W–L–H
Fourballs
W–L–H
Points
won
Points
%
Career 17 9–7–1 2–2–1 3–1–0 4–4–0 9.5 55.8
2011 4 2–1–1 0–0–1 halved w/ R. O'Toole 1–0–0 won w/ S. Gustafson 6&5 1–1–0 won w/ S. Gustafson 5&4
lost w/ S. Pettersen 1 up
2.5 62.5
2013 5 5–0–0 1–0–0 defeated M. Wie 1 up 2–0–0 won w/ A. Nordqvist 4 & 2
won w/ A. Nordqvist 2 & 1
2–0–0 won w/ C. Masson 2 & 1
won w/ C. Masson 2 & 1
5 100.0
2015 4 1–3–0 0–1–0 lost to M. Wie 6&4 0–1–0 lost w/ A. Nordqvist 5&4 1–1–0 won w/ A. Nordqvist 4&3,
lost w/ C. Masson 1 dn
1.0 25.0
2019 2 0–2–0 0–1–0 lost to N. Korda 2 dn 0–1-0 lost w/ A. Nordqvist 7&5 0 0.0
2023 2 1–1–0 1–0–0 def. A. Ewing 2 up 0–1-0 lost w/ A. Nordqvist 2 dn 1 50.0

References

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  1. ^ a b "Sveriges nya supertvillingar" [Sweden's new super twins]. Svensk Golf. No. 10. September 2007. pp. 106–110.
  2. ^ Swedish Golf Federation: European Ladies' Team Championship
  3. ^ Swedish Golf Federation: Espirito Santo Trophy
  4. ^ http://www.lpga.com/content/2011PlayerBiosPDF/Hedwall,Caroline-11.pdf[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "OSU's Caroline Hedwall Receives Honda Award". GTR Newspapers. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Past Honda Sports Award Winners For Golf". CWSA. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Caroline Hedwall". Ladies European Tour.
  8. ^ "Euros win Solheim on U.S. soil". ESPN. Associated Press. 18 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  9. ^ Paisley, Kent (24 September 2023). "Caroline Hedwall goes from unlikely captain's pick to out-of-nowhere hero with incredible singles comeback". Golf Digest. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  10. ^ "Svenska Golfförbundet, Utmärkelser, Elitmärket, 2011-" [Swedish Golf Federation, Awards, Elite Sign, 2011-] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Svenska Golfförbundet, Utmärkelser, Guldklubban, 2001-2010" [Swedish Golf Federation, Awards, The Golden Club, 2010-2020] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Caroline Hedwall results". LPGA. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  13. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2006.
  14. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2007.
  15. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2008.
  16. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 29 December 2009.
  17. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2010.
  18. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 27 December 2011.
  19. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2012.
  20. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2013.
  21. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 29 December 2014.
  22. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2015.
  23. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2016.
  24. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2017.
  25. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2018.
  26. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2019.
  27. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2020.
  28. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 27 December 2021.
  29. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2022.
  30. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2023.
  31. ^ a b "European Team Championships". European Golf Association. 16 October 2015.
  32. ^ "International matches". European Golf Association. 16 October 2015.
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