28 / 76
28
GOLF
Finland sends four golfers to the Olympic tournament in Rio de Janeiro, a remarkable achievement for a country covered with
snow for five months in a year. Finnish golf started to develop only in the 1980’s but has made great strides after that. Its first
international achievement of note was Mikko Ilonen’s victory in the British Amateur Championship in 2000.
MEN
Mikko Ilonen
* 18 December 1979 Lahti
187 cm, 83 kg
Coach: Timo Rauhala
Mikko Ilonen has been the leading light of Finnish golf ever since his victory at the
British Amateur Championship in 2000. In the following year he turned professional
and tied for ninth place in his first British Open tournament. Mikko took his first
victories in the European Tour in 2007. His best year so far was 2014, when he won the Irish Open and the World
Match Play Championship tournament, finished in tied seventh place at the PGA Championship and rose to the top
50 in the world rankings as the first ever Finnish player.
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS:
2000 British Amateur Championship 1st.
2001 British Open 9th.
2006 British Open 16th.
2014 PGA Championship 7th.
European Tour: 5 wins.
Roope Kakko
* 13 February 1982 Espoo
Present residence: Espoo
183 cm, 79 kg
Coach: Mikael Piltz
Roope Kakko turned professional in 2004 after winning the Finnish Open, a
European Challenge Tour event as an amateur player. In 2015 he became the second Finnish male player to win a
tournament in the European Tour, the Madeira Islands Open. He has also won three tournaments in the Challenge
Tour. Roope’s wife Minea Blomqvist-Kakko is also a professional golfer with two victories in Ladies European Tour.
European Tour: 1 win.