Sami Välimäki (born 16 July 1998) is a Finnish professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the European Tour. In his 6th European Tour start, he won the 2020 Oman Open.
| Sami Välimäki | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||
| Born | 16 July 1998 Nokia, Finland | ||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||||
| Sporting nationality |  Finland | ||||
| Residence | Pirkkala, Finland | ||||
| Career | |||||
| Turned professional | 2019 | ||||
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour | ||||
| Former tour(s) | Pro Golf Tour Finnish Tour | ||||
| Professional wins | 8 | ||||
| Highest ranking | 68 (17 January 2021)[1] (as of 17 November 2024) | ||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||
| European Tour | 2 | ||||
| Other | 6 | ||||
| Best results in major championships | |||||
| Masters Tournament | DNP | ||||
| PGA Championship | CUT: 2021, 2024 | ||||
| U.S. Open | CUT: 2020 | ||||
| The Open Championship | T68: 2023 | ||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||
| |||||
Amateur career
editDuring 2018, Välimäki was selected for the Europe team in the Bonallack Trophy and for the Continent of Europe team in the St Andrews Trophy. He played for the Finnish team that won the 2018 European Amateur Team Championship and represented Finland in the 2018 Eisenhower Trophy. He reached as high as 10th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking during 2018. While still an amateur, Välimäki also played a number of Nordic Golf League events during 2017 and 2018.
Professional career
editVälimäki turned professional in early 2019 after the completion of his military service in Finland. He played mostly on the Pro Golf Tour during 2019. He won his first professional victory in February at the Open Casa Green Golf in Morocco.[2] He won twice more on the tour in August and also won the end-of-season Castanea Resort Championship for his fourth win of the season. Despite his four wins he only finished second in the Order of Merit.[3]
After his third win on the 2019 Pro Golf Tour, Välimäki earned a place on the Challenge Tour,[4] but later he qualified for the European Tour for 2020 by finishing 8th in qualifying school. In his fifth start of the 2020 season, he won the Oman Open, beating Brandon Stone in a playoff.[5]
In October 2023, Välimäki claimed his second European Tour win at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, beating Jorge Campillo in a playoff.[6]
Personal life
editVälimäki is a cousin of Finnish NHL player Juuso Välimäki.[7]
Amateur wins
edit- 2016 Ticino Championship, Finnish Junior Match Play Under-18
- 2017 Portuguese International Amateur Championship, Ticino Championship
Source:[8]
Professional wins (8)
editEuropean Tour wins (2)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 Mar 2020 | Oman Open | −13 (74-67-64-70=275) | Playoff |  Brandon Stone
|
| 2 | 29 Oct 2023 | Commercial Bank Qatar Masters | −18 (67-67-67-69=270) | Playoff |  Jorge Campillo
|
European Tour playoff record (2–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2020 | Oman Open | Brandon Stone
|
Won with par on third extra hole |
| 2 | 2023 | Commercial Bank Qatar Masters | Jorge Campillo
|
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
Pro Golf Tour wins (4)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 Feb 2019 | Open Casa Green Golf | −14 (68-66-67=201) | 2 strokes |  David Heinzinger
|
| 2 | 17 Aug 2019 | Starnberg Open | −13 (68-64-68=200) | 1 stroke | Thomas Rosenmüller
|
| 3 | 24 Aug 2019 | EXTEC CzechOne Open | −13 (67-66-67=200) | 3 strokes |  Ondřej Lieser
|
| 4 | 1 Oct 2019 | Castanea Resort Championship | −19 (67-63-67=197) | 4 strokes | Ondřej Lieser
|
Finnish Tour wins (2)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 Jun 2019 | NRG Open | −11 (73-65-67=205) | Playoff | Peter Erofejeff
|
| 2 | 20 Jun 2024 | SM Reikäpeli | 3 and 2 | Eetu Isometsä
| |
Results in major championships
editResults not in chronological order in 2020.
| Tournament | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | |||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | |||
| U.S. Open | CUT | ||||
| The Open Championship | NT | T68 | CUT |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships
edit| Tournament | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Championship | T64 |
| Match Play | |
| Invitational | |
| Champions | NT1 |
1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Team appearances
editAmateur
- European Boys' Team Championship (representing Finland): 2015, 2016[9]
- European Amateur Team Championship (representing Finland): 2018 (winners)
- Bonallack Trophy (representing Europe): 2018
- St Andrews Trophy (representing the Continent of Europe): 2018 (winners)
- Eisenhower Trophy (representing Finland): 2018
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Week 3 2021 Ending 17 Jan 2021" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "Tour-Rookie Sami Välimäki wins in Morocco". PGA of Germany. 10 February 2019.
- ^ "Trophies for Sami Välimäki and Hurly Long". PGA of Germany. 2 October 2019.
- ^ "Third win and direct Challenge Tour promotion for Sami Välimäki". PGA of Germany. 25 August 2019.
- ^ Huggan, John (1 March 2020). "Finland's Sami Valimaki, just 18 months out of military service, wins Oman Open". Golf World. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ "Qatar Masters: Sami Valimaki beats Jorge Campillo in play-off & Scott Jamieson retains Tour card". BBC Sport. 29 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
- ^ Mastey, Remy (9 February 2024). "Juuso Välimäki Opens up About Cousin Playing at Waste Management Phoenix Open". The Hockey News. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
- ^ "Sami Valimaki". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ "European Boys' Team Championship – European Golf Association". Retrieved 22 January 2023.
External links
edit- Sami Välimäki at the European Tour official site
- Sami Välimäki at the PGA Tour official site
- Sami Välimäki at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
- Sami Välimäki at Olympedia
- Sami Välimäki at Olympics.com
- Sami Välimäki at Olympiakomitea.fi (in Finnish)
