Dale Whitnell came out on top for his first DP World Tour title at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed — co-hosted with the Ladies European Tour.

The Englishman was smiling on Sunday at Ullna Golf and Country Club after a stunning 96-yard hole-out eagle on day one set the tone and he rode the momentum with a second-round 61 and a halfway six-shot lead.

Nerves began to jangle as that advantage was cut to two with two to play as Sean Crocker piled on the pressure on, but Whitnell birdied the 17th to allow him to enjoy his walk up the last and sign for a 70 and a three-shot win at 21-under.

Anne van Dam was the leading women’s player at 15-under after a 69, alongside Yannik Paul who carded a closing 72.

“It’s awesome,” said a clearly emotional Whitnell. “It tested me out there. It’s been a long road for me, I’ve got so many people to thank: my fiancée Angie, my little dog, Craig my coach who I didn’t know flew out today, my mum and dad, Callaway, Travis Mathew, all my friends and family.

“It’s been a long time coming, I’m ecstatic. It means everything to me, it’s what I get up every day for. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. I’ve dreamt of this for a long time.”

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Following on from Patricia Isabel Schmidt’s success at the Belgain Ladies Open — where she held off Dubai’s Chiara Noja for the crown — the Ladies European Tour heads to Sweden for a double-header beginning with the Helsingborg Open.

Allerum Golf Club is the first stop this week as the Helsingborg Open returns for the first time since 2015. Then there is a quick trip to Ullna Golf Clubfor the $2 million Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed.

But first comes the Helsingborg, where 132 players from 28 nations will compete for a €300,000 purse over 54 holes from Friday to Sunday.

There will be a strong home contingency on show as four-time Solheim Cup star Caroline Hedwall, Johanna Gustavsson and collegiate stars Andrea Grimberg Lignell and Louise Rydqvist are in the field.

Spain’s Ana Pelaez Trivino will be looking to take advantage of Race to Costa del Sol leaders Aditi Ashok’s and Linn Grant’s absence, and a win would take her top of the standings.

The same can also be said for Czech Klara Davidson Spilkova, while Noja has the chance to move into second position with a win.

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Hosted by 10-time Major Champion Annika Sörenstam, the tournament was a first-of-its-kind event when it was staged in 2021 and sees 78 men and 78 women compete on the same course for one prize fund and one trophy.

Co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the Ladies European Tour, home favourite Grant made history at Halmstad Golf Club in 2022 as the first female winner of the event, storming to a nine-stroke victory on home soil.

The 23-year-old Swede had a season to remember in 2022 going on to win the ‘LET Rookie of the Year’ after claiming four victories in her first year on Tour and was crowned the Race to Costa del Sol champion, following in the footsteps of fellow Swede Sörenstam.

“I’m really excited to come back and defend my title in front of Swedish fans,” said Grant.

Linn Grant

“I played the first round with Annika last year and it was such an incredible experience to win against a mixed field. It’s a unique event and I am proud that Sweden is pushing to bring female and male golfers together both on and off the golf course.

“I think my victory last year was a big step in our sport and I hope it brings women’s golf into the spotlight and it gets people’s eyes on us a little bit more. To be able to speak Swedish and hear everyone out there cheering for you, it was amazing, and I can’t wait to get back in June to defend my title.”

Ryder Cup star Noren will return to his hometown of Stockholm for the mixed tournament and is excited to tee it up in front of family and friends, as he aims to impress the Swedish fans.

“I’m looking forward to coming back to Sweden,” said Noren, a previous winner of his home open in 2011 and 2015. “I played last year and thought it was amazing. Linn Grant obviously ran away with it and she played unbelievable, but I think the tournament is really great and I am proud it is taking place in Sweden.

“Going to Stockholm, especially to Ullna, it’s a really cool place right on a lake with very interesting holes, and it will be good for both the men and women in competition mode.

“Being in Sweden and being a dad to a little girl, I like for women to have the same opportunities. I grew up watching an LET event at my home course and we loved it as kids trying to get their balls after 18, and just watch them play.”

Sörenstam added: “Linn and Alex are fantastic golfers in their own right, both proven winners on the global stage, and both are even better people, so I look forward to welcoming them to Stockholm for this fantastic tournament. Linn played our ANNIKA Foundation events as a junior, so it was really special to see her win last year. The Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed is so unique and I know the fans in Sweden will come out to support both the men and women this summer.”

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By John Huggan
Foursomes partners at Royal County Down in the 2007 Walker Cup matches, fellow Northern Irishmen Rory McIlroy and Jonathan Caldwell both turned professional not long after playing their parts in Great Britain & Ireland’s one-point loss to the United States. Before this week and in the 14 years since, they had amassed a cumulative 261 appearances on the European Tour, winning 14 times and earning €37,211,442 between them.

Unfortunately for Caldwell, the now 37-year-old’s contribution to those numbers amounted to just 47 European Tour starts, only €223,079 in prize money and zero victories. As McIlroy went on to have the “can’t miss” career his prodigious talent long made obvious, Caldwell struggled. A lowly 243rd on the European Tour Order of Merit at the end of 2009, he lost his card. Since then and in near anonymity, he has largely plied his trade on the likes of the EuroPro (where he won twice) and Challenge Tour. Search the European Tour website for his name and a trio of victories do show up. But all came in different years at various stages of the qualifying school process. Which tells its own story of the professional existence Caldwell has endured.

Until now that is. Less than two years on from finally regaining his card at the 2019 Q school, Caldwell is at last a winner on the European Tour. Starting the day three shots back, a closing 64 over Sweden’s Vallda Golf & Country Club just south of Gothenburg gave him a 17-under-par 271, a one-shot edge over Spain’s Adrian Otaegui (who three-putted the final green for a crucial bogey), and clinched victory in the inaugural—and historic—Scandinavian Mixed hosted by Henrik (Stenson) and Annika (Sorenstam). For his trouble, Caldwell earned a career-best €150,000 from the €1 million pot.

In third place, two shots off the pace, England’s Alice Hewson was the leading female in this first-ever collaboration between the European Tour and the Ladies European Tour. With the 156-strong starting line-up split equally, 45 men and 26 women made the halfway cut, the women playing a course 922-yards shorter than the 7,060-yard layout presented to the men. Yes, the blustery last day was dominated by the male members of the field—only Germany’s Olivia Cowan joined Hewson in the top 10—but the LET players more than held their own for long periods over the four rounds. Before falling away with a final-round 76, Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall led or shared the lead at the end of Days 2 and 3.

In the end though, the dominant storyline belonged to Caldwell, a man who has seen the dark side of his chosen profession. For four or five years he supplemented his income by working behind the counter in the (now closed) Nevada Bob’s store in his hometown of Bangor.

“I think most people think professional golf is quite an attractive lifestyle, but when you’re playing on satellite tours and levels below the European Tour, you’re doing a lot of flying on low-cost airlines, renting economy cars and staying in cheap hotel rooms,” he says. “It all adds up though, and it’s difficult to get sponsors. It’s OK when you’re playing well and making money, but if you’re missing cuts it’s all quite stressful.”

Given his long struggle to succeed, it was not surprising to see Caldwell slip up more than once over the closing holes. But the bogeys at 15 and 17 (where he missed from no more than three feet) were more than compensated for by eight birdies and an eagle.

Crucially, the last of those birdies came at the 72nd hole. After a poor drive that found the rough on the right, Caldwell’s McIlroy-like gap-wedge approach finished two feet from the cup.

“I’m feeling a bit of disbelief, to be honest,” Caldwell said. “I didn’t really know where I stood on the 18th. I’d just missed that short putt on the previous green, so all I said to my caddie was, ‘let’s try and make birdie.’ I actually hit a pretty poor tee shot. But I got a good lie and managed to get it up to about two feet and make the putt. It has to be one of the best shots of my life.

“It’s been a tremendous week,” he continued. “I hope we have more like this one. I’ve played with some great girls and got a fist-bump from Annika when I came off the 18th, which was pretty special. The golf club at home [Clandeboye] will probably be going bonkers. Put a tab on and crack on boys. My parents have been with me the whole way. I look forward to talking to them tonight.”

David Cannon
Caldwell teamed with fellow Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy at the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down.

And, no doubt, with his erstwhile foursome partner.

“I have never grown tired of hearing questions about Rory,” says Caldwell with a smile. “Any time I’m mentioned in the same sentence with him it has to be good. He’s a league above everybody—and he was back in 2007. He’s always had a fantastic mindset. He has gone on to do great things. We all knew he would do that. He’s the best player in the world. I hope to see him again on tour soon. I’d love to get a chance to play with him again. Especially on the weekend. Anyone playing alongside him then has to be doing alright.”

Indeed, but for once Rory has some catching up to do. Caldwell is now one up on his mate in at least one category. The four-time major champion has yet to win on the Ladies European Tour. Come on man, get a grip.

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By Joel Beall
Last year the Victorian Open debuted a ground-breaking collaboration between the European Tour, the LPGA Tour, the PGA of Australia and Australian Ladies Professional Golf, with men and women playing concurrent tournaments at 13th Beach Golf Club for equal prize money. The format received rave reviews, and returns this week in Geelong, Australia.

However, while there are a handful of mixed-gender events—most notably, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and Annika Sorenstam are set to host the Scandinavian Mixed this June—the approach has yet to receive global acceptance. According to former U.S. Open champ Geoff Ogilvy, it is time golf’s governing bodies get with the program.

“There’s more than just guys, you know. It just makes sense,” Ogilvy said at the Vic Open. “We should do this more often. The fact that this happens only once in a year is just nonsense.”

Ogilvy, known as one of the premier player-scholars in the game, spoke of experience at last year’s event and how it spurred admiration for his female counterparts.

“All I wanted to do was watch the women and how they went about it,” Ogilvy explained. “Some of them are just machines, they don’t hit bad shots and they hit hybrids on to the green to 10 feet all day.

“It’s just a different style. There’s something to be learned from both sides and there’s enjoyment in watching both styles of play.”

To Ogilvy, part of the problem is rooted in the game’s conservatism, and that perhaps the primary stakeholders are “scared to rock the successful boat they’re riding in.”

“It’s probably just golf being stuck in traditions. You see the Japanese ladies’ tour is a much bigger and more successful tour in Japan than the men’s tour is,” Ogilvy said. “Whenever it’d presented properly, it seems like it’s just as popular. It just needs to have the opportunity. It’s just a bit of creative thinking.”

As for the framework, while the execution does present its share of issues, Ogilvy pointed out professional tennis already employs a successful model to replicate. “I know to some people it’s not complete equality but at least they play at the same place and the same time and play for the same prize money in Australia at the matches.”

For what it’s worth, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan mentioned in 2018 that it was “Only a matter of time” before the Tour features a mixed event, and earlier on Wednesday, the Guardian reported the World Cup is exploring the possibly of changing the tournament to a mixed format.

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By Ryan Herrington
The USGA held the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens in consecutive weeks on the same course, Pinehurst No. 2, in 2014. And the ISPS Handa Vic Open in Australia held concurrent men’s and women’s European Tour and LPGA events on the same course in February. But the announcement from the European Tour and Ladies European Tour on Monday goes the next step, bringing male and female tour pros together to compete in the same tournament for the same prize money.

The inaugural Scandinavian Mixed will be played June 11-14, 2020 at Bro Hof Slott Golf Club in Stockholm. With Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and Annika Sorenstam hosting the event, 78 men and 78 women will play for a €1,500,000 purse. Official World Ranking points will be offered for both tours, along with points toward the European Tour’s and LET’s respective season-long competitions.

Specific logistical questions such as format, pairings and course set-up are still to come, but the concept of elite male and female golfers playing for the same title has the hosts enthusiastic about its potential impact on the sport.

“Bringing women and men together in a combined tournament is exciting for fans in Sweden and for the global game as we continue to showcase golf is a game for everyone,” Sorenstam said in a press release.

Bro Hof Slott Golf Club in Stockholm will host the new joint men’s and women’s event.

The two tours have signed on for a three-year commitment to the Scandinavian Mixed. Stenson says he’ll play each year, and Sorenstam, retired from competitive golf since 2008, will participate in the pro-am.

“The European Tour has been leading the way in terms of innovative formats,” Stenson said, “and I believe this is certainly one that can be part of the way golf is played in the future.”

Along with the Vic Open, the European Tour has experimented with mixed events by having female pros competing in the GolfSixes tournament.

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