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.

Early years

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.

Amateur career

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. 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.

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.

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. In 2010, she also won the Honda Sports Award as the best female collegiate golfer in the nation.

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

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. 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.

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.

Awards, honors

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

For the 2011 season, she was elected Swedish Golfer of the Year, male or female, amateur or professional.

In 2012, she was awarded honorary member of the PGA of Sweden.

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

Amateur wins

Professional wins (18)

Ladies European Tour wins (7)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of victoryRunner(s)-upWinner's share (€)
128 May 2011Allianz Ladies Slovak Open71-67-67=205−112 strokesNetherlands Christel Boeljon52,500
22 Jul 2011Finnair Masters69-65-68=202−112 strokesNetherlands Christel Boeljon30,000
34 Sep 2011UNIQA Ladies Golf Open73-67-64=204−124 strokesFrance Caroline Afonso30,000
411 Dec 2011Hero Women's Indian Open67-68-69=204−122 strokesThailand Pornanong Phatlum33,000
59 Sep 2012UNIQA Ladies Golf Open67-66-70=203−134 strokesEngland Laura Davies Sweden Mikaela Parmlid30,000
69 Sep 2018Lacoste Ladies Open de France69-71-70-62=272−122 strokesSouth Africa Stacy Lee Bregman41,250
727 Nov 2022Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De España70-68-69-67=274−18PlayoffSwitzerland Morgane Métraux97,500

Ladies European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12022Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De EspañaSwitzerland Morgane MétrauxWon with birdie on fourth extra hole

Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of victoryRunner-upWinner's share (AUD)
123 Jan 2011Bing Lee Samsung NSW Women's Open67-68-70=205−111 strokeNew Zealand Lydia Ko (a)18,750
220 Jan 2013Mount Broughton Classic67-65=132−124 strokesAustralia Emma de Groot4,500
327 Jan 2013Bing Lee Samsung Women's New South Wales Open66-69-68=203−132 strokesNew Zealand Lydia Ko (a)18,750

Swedish Golf Tour wins (8)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of victoryRunner-upWinner's share (SEK)
125 Aug 2006Swedish Match-play Championship (as an amateur)7 and 5Sweden Johanna Lundberg27,000
210 Jun 2007Isover Ladies Open (as an amateur)67-70-72=209−43 strokesFinland Sohvi Härkönen27,000
34 Aug 2007SI · Gefle Ladies Open (as an amateur)73-70-72=215−1PlayoffSwitzerland Florence Lüscher36,000
418 Aug 2007Hotel Falköping Ladies Cup (as an amateur)72-71=143−11 strokeSpain Nuria Clau20,000
522 Sep 2007PGA Gibson Open (as an amateur)73-71-69=213−35 strokesNorway Marianne Skarpnord27,000
610 May 2008Telenor Masters (as an amateur)72-68-71=211−23 strokesSweden Jacqueline Hedwall (a)60,000
714 Jun 2014St Ibb Ladies Open71-69-66=206+21 strokeSweden Natalie Wille32,000
811 Oct 2014Svedala Ladies Open67-69-72=208−51 strokeSweden Johanna Björk60,000

Results in LPGA majors

Results not in chronological order.

Tournament2008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Chevron ChampionshipT56T3T64T46CUTT66CUT
Women's PGA ChampionshipCUTT37CUT71CUT67CUTT53CUTCUT
U.S. Women's OpenCUTT31T38CUTCUTCUTCUT
The Evian Championship ^T19T50CUTCUTT40T54T17NT
Women's British OpenCUTCUTT27LAT30CUTCUTCUTT28CUTCUTT44CUTT66

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

LA = low amateur CUT = missed the halfway cut NT = no tournament "T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Chevron Championship00111175
Women's PGA Championship000000104
U.S. Women's Open00000072
The Evian Championship00000275
Women's British Open000000135
Totals0011134421
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (four times)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Ladies European Tour career summary

YearTournaments playedCuts madeWins2nd3rdTop 10sBest finishEarnings (€)Order of Merit rankScoring averageScoring rank
200611000011n/an/a71.25
2007110001771.50
20082100001373.20
2009100000CUT77.00
2010220001T871.28
2011201941081278,528370.9714
2012651103180,7802970.553
2013540101257,4413471.4711
2014650001T544,8834371.2812
2015530001T839,3325072.2825
201610702042110,095871.5017
2017320000T1222,4045672.1149
201810812051124,013370.5810
201913120236T2165,390671.1513
2020640022370,6391772.2825
202113130000T1261,8793572.2428
2022181511091213,335871.2014

LPGA Tour career summary

YearTournaments playedCuts madeWins2nd3rdTop 10sBest finishEarnings ($)Money list rankScoring averageScoring rank
2008100000CUTn/an/a77.50n/a
2009100000CUT77.00
2010110000T2772.75
2011660000T12126,8016471.70n/a
201218130002T5216,0745772.2744
2013232100363763,1041471.0820
2014181401012359,0164672.2368
201518110000T2698,1179372.98103
20161860001594,7339972.5795
201719110000T11125,2409271.8181
20181770001T996,18810471.4551
201913110000T12154,0948871.5068
20201010000T1528,24912373.57121
2021400000CUT0n/a75.88n/a
2022100000CUT0n/a72.00n/a
2023320001T668,98414471.90n/a

Source:

World ranking

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

YearWorld rankingSource
2006456
2007380
2008409
2009625
2010352
201137
201240
201323
201455
2015141
2016171
2017170
2018123
2019125
2020139
2021233
2022125
2023118
2024232

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record

YearTotal matchesTotal W–L–HSingles W–L–HFoursomes W–L–HFourballs W–L–HPoints wonPoints %
Career179–7–12–2–13–1–04–4–09.555.8
201142–1–10–0–1 halved w/ R. O'Toole1–0–0 won w/ S. Gustafson 6&51–1–0 won w/ S. Gustafson 5&4 lost w/ S. Pettersen 1 up2.562.5
201355–0–01–0–0 defeated M. Wie 1 up2–0–0 won w/ A. Nordqvist 4 & 2 won w/ A. Nordqvist 2 & 12–0–0 won w/ C. Masson 2 & 1 won w/ C. Masson 2 & 15100.0
201541–3–00–1–0 lost to M. Wie 6&40–1–0 lost w/ A. Nordqvist 5&41–1–0 won w/ A. Nordqvist 4&3, lost w/ C. Masson 1 dn1.025.0
201920–2–00–1–0 lost to N. Korda 2 dn0–1-0 lost w/ A. Nordqvist 7&500.0
202321–1–01–0–0 def. A. Ewing 2 up0–1-0 lost w/ A. Nordqvist 2 dn150.0

External links