Tapio Pulkkanen

Tapio Pulkkanen (born 21 May 1990) is a Finnish professional golfer, who plays on the European Tour. He won the 2015 Nordic Golf League and the 2017 Challenge Tour Order of Merit. He is noted for wearing a trilby hat.[1]

Tapio Pulkkanen
Personal information
Born (1990-05-21) 21 May 1990
Kotka, Finland
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality Finland
Career
Turned professional2013
Current tour(s)European Tour
Former tour(s)Challenge Tour
Nordic Golf League
Professional wins9
Number of wins by tour
Challenge Tour1
Other8
Achievements and awards
Challenge Tour
Rankings winner		2017
Nordic Golf League
Rankings winner		2015

Early years

Pulkkanen was born in Kotka, 130 kilometres east of Helsinki in southern Finland. Introduced to the game by his brother, he began playing golf at age 9 at Kymen Golf on the island of Mussalö outside Kotka. At 12 years old, he made his first hole-in-one. At 14 years of age, he quit soccer, to concentrate on golf. He has described that he had a group of boys to practice and compete with at his home club and at the same time, in contrast to a team sport, was responsible for his own game.[1][2]

Amateur career

At age 16, Pulkkanen represented his country abroad for the first time, at the European Young Masters in Austria. The year after, he played for Finland at the European Boys' Team Championship in Denmark. His last year as a junior, he won the Finnish Junior Championship. He also won the Finnish Championship twice.[2]

During his amateur years, Pulkkanen represented Finland at the European Amateur Team Championship three times[3] and at the Eisenhower Trophy twice.[4] At the 2011 European Amateur Team Championship, Pulkkanen finished tied 7th individually in the stroke-play competition, against a 120-man field, which included future European Tour winners Thomas Pieters, Alexander Lévy, Adrián Otaegui and Andy Sullivan. The Finnish team won their last game against Ireland to finish 7th in the championship.

In 2012, still an amateur, he won a professional tournament on the Nordic Golf League, the Finnish Open at Vuosaari Golf.

Pulkkanen's best ranking on the World Amateur Golf Ranking was 46th.[5]

Professional career

Pulkkanen turned professional in early 2013 and was runner-up in his first tournament on the Challenge Tour, the Challenge de Madrid in April.[6] The remainder of 2013 and 2014 were disappointing with a best finish of 34th place.

Pulkkanen played on the Nordic Golf League in 2015, won five events and headed the Order Of Merit. The return to the Challenge Tour in 2016 was again a disappointment with a best finish of 30th place. His 2017 Challenge Tour season started with a second place in the Turkish Airlines Challenge,[7] followed up with another runner-up finish in the D+D Real Czech Challenge.[8] Later in the year he had his first win, taking the Kazakhstan Open after a playoff with Chase Koepka.[9] He finished first in the 2017 Challenge Tour Order of Merit to earn his European Tour card for 2018.

In December 2017, Pulkkanen was tied for third in the Joburg Open, level with Shaun Norris. The event was part of the Open Qualifying Series, with three places available to the 2018 Open Championship. Norris received the entry because he had a higher world ranking, 192 to Pulkkanen's 197.[10] Later in the 2017–18 European Tour season, Pulkkanen earned his biggest paycheck at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the three championship courses of Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews Old Course in Scotland, finishing 4th for €208,728.

Pulkkanen is coached by Tommi Nousiainen and his agent is Johan Elliot at Sportyard International in Stockholm, Sweden. His main equipment sponsor is Callaway.[2]

Professional wins (9)

Challenge Tour wins (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 24 Sep 2017 Kazakhstan Open −17 (67-70-66-68=271) Playoff Chase Koepka

Challenge Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2017 Kazakhstan Open Chase Koepka Won with par on third extra hole

Nordic Golf League wins (6)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 14 Jul 2012 Teho Sport Finnish Open
(as an amateur)		 −14 (66-68-68=202) 4 strokes Pontus Leijon
2 8 May 2015 NorthSide Charity Challenge −7 (71-72-66=209) Playoff Thomas Nørret
3 26 Jun 2015 ECCO German Masters −8 (71-70-70=211) 3 strokes Christian Aronsen
4 12 Jul 2015 Finnish Open −9 (67-71-69=207) 4 strokes Rasmus Hjelm Nielsen
5 31 Jul 2015 Made in Denmark European Tour Qualifier −5 (69-67-75=211) Playoff Eric Blom
6 13 Sep 2015 Kristianstad Åhus Open −8 (70-71-67=208) 3 strokes Daniel Løkke

Other wins (2)
  • 2009 Finnish Golf Tour IV St Laurence (as an amateur)
  • 2010 Finnish Golf Tour V Vuosaari (as an amateur)

Team appearances

Amateur

See also

References
  1. "Tapio Pulkkanen". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  2. "Tapio Pulkkanen". Sportyard International AB. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  3. "European Amateur Team Championship". European Golf Association.
  4. "World Amateur Team Championships – Men's Records". International Golf Federation. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  5. "Tapio Pulkkanen". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  6. "Classy Calmels cruises to victory in Madrid". PGA European Tour. 27 April 2013.
  7. "Heaven for Evans as he takes Turkish title". PGA European Tour. 23 April 2017.
  8. "Suri seals maiden success at Czech Challenge". PGA European Tour. 28 May 2017.
  9. "Pulkkanen wins thriller in Kazakhstan". PGA European Tour. 24 September 2017.
  10. "Sharma romps to maiden win at Joburg Open". European Tour. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  11. "European Boys' Team Championship". European Golf Association.
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