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Mikko Ilonen

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Mikko Ilonen
Personal information
Full nameMikko Ilonen
Born (1979-12-18) 18 December 1979 (age 44)
Lahti, Finland
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight83 kg (183 lb; 13.1 st)
Sporting nationality Finland
ResidenceLahti, Finland
Career
Turned professional2001
Former tour(s)European Tour
Professional wins5
Highest ranking37 (19 October 2014)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour5
Asian Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 2001, 2015
PGA ChampionshipT7: 2014
U.S. OpenCUT: 2010, 2012
The Open ChampionshipT9: 2001

Mikko Ilonen (born 18 December 1979) is a retired Finnish professional golfer who played on the European Tour, winning five times. He is considered to be the greatest golfer from Finland.[2]

Career

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Ilonen was born in Lahti, Finland. He won the 2000 Amateur Championship, and turned pro in 2001. He played mainly on the European Tour, where he won five events.

He won his first professional tournament at the 2007 Indonesia Open, an event co-sanctioned by the European Tour and Asian Tour. He was the first Finn to win a European Tour event[3] and to feature in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

In June 2013, Ilonen won the Nordea Masters event in Sweden for the second time in his career and third tour level victory overall.[4]

In June 2014, Ilonen won the Irish Open at Fota Island in Cork. Ilonen led the tournament from start to finish and ended up one shot clear of Italian Edoardo Molinari.[5]

Ilonen's best major championship finish was tied 7th at the 2014 PGA Championship. In 2014 he finished the season in a career best 18th on the European Tour Order of Merit.

In March 2019, Ilonen announced his retirement from tour golf.[6]

Amateur wins

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Professional wins (5)

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European Tour wins (5)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 18 Feb 2007 Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open1 −9 (66-68-71-70=275) 1 stroke India Shiv Kapur, Philippines Frankie Miñoza,
Australia Andrew Tampion
2 19 Aug 2007 Scandinavian Masters −6 (67-72-67-68=274) 2 strokes France Christian Cévaër, England Nick Dougherty,
France Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, Sweden Peter Hedblom,
Germany Martin Kaymer
3 2 Jun 2013 Nordea Masters (2) −21 (70-63-65-69=267) 3 strokes Sweden Jonas Blixt
4 22 Jun 2014 Irish Open −13 (64-68-69-70=271) 1 stroke Italy Edoardo Molinari
5 19 Oct 2014 Volvo World Match Play Championship 3 and 1 Sweden Henrik Stenson

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2014 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Spain Sergio García Lost to birdie on third extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT T9 T50 T16
PGA Championship
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT
The Open Championship T79 CUT CUT
PGA Championship CUT T7 T54
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

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Results not in chronological order before 2015.

Tournament 2013 2014 2015
Championship T23
Match Play R64 T34
Invitational T65 T66 T45
Champions T21 T46
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

Team appearances

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Amateur

Professional

References

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  1. ^ "Week 42 2014 Ending 19 Oct 2014" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  2. ^ "How many golfers from Finland have won on the European Tour?". European Tour. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Mikko makes history with victory in Jakarta". PGA European Tour. 18 February 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  4. ^ "Mikko Ilonen ends six-year wait by winning Nordea Masters in Stockholm". The Guardian. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Irish Open: Mikko Ilonen earns fourth European Tour success". BBC Sport. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  6. ^ McEwan, Michael (21 March 2019). "Multiple tour winner announces shock retirement". bunkered. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  7. ^ "European Boys' Team Championship – European Golf Association". Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  8. ^ "EGA Events, Results, European Team Championships, European Youths' Team Championship". European Golf Association. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
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