Linn Grant a rising star

                                    
By Neville Idour

Sweden’s 22-year-old Linn Grant’s stunning nine shot whitewash at the Scandinavian Mixed DP World Tour event on home soil confirmed her star quality. 

Her win made history as the first female winner on the DP World Tour and also was her fifth title this season, an achievement in itself.

Her eight under par final round was virtually flawless and at no stage did she look vulnerable. 

She began the final round two shots ahead of Australian Jason Scrivener. A stunning run of five birdies in the first six holes stretched her lead to seven and barring a complete meltdown it looked all over.

Two more birdies on 10 and 11 and it was a nine shot lead which she maintained, including another birdie on the par five 14th.

Only on the 18th did she look like dropping a shot when her tee shot ended behind a tree and only an outlandish shot a possibility, other than a chip on to the fairway.

With her big lead, she proceeded to play a sensational low hook around the tree that ended  an amazing 10 feet from the flag. She just missed the putt but the par ensured a bogey-free card.

She said later: “I didn’t realise till the 13th I was eight shots ahead. This is a huge win for me with the home crowds, family here and my boyfriend on my bag.”

Forty percent of the field was female but she was the only female inside the top 15,  although a couple of others were prominent in the first two rounds before fading.

At her next outing in the Aramco Team Series, Grant needed two rounds to get rid of what looked like a hangover from her win. So in the third round she raced up the leaderboard with six birdies on the back nine then had a strong final round to finish at seven under par in third place behind the highly credentialed Bronte Law and Georgia Hall and ahead of Charley Hull. 

Grant now leads the Race To Costa Del Sol Tour Finale for the Ladies European Tour (LET) having played less events than the next eight players.

She has only been professional since August, 2021, and already has eight wins under her belt. Two seconds in her first month on the LET heralded what was to follow.  Her first win was on the LET Access Tour before three wins in South Africa then more wins in Europe culminating in the Scandinavian Mixed. Many of her wins have been  decisive with leads of seven, five, five and four shots in addition to her latest of nine shots.

She is the grand-daughter of Scottish golf professional James Grant who won the Scottish Boys' Championship on the same course as Linn won the British Amateur Strokeplay 49 years later. Her father John played the Swedish Golf Tour and has seven wins on the Swedish Senior Tour and is club pro at Swedish National.

With that pedigree her amateur career suggested a stellar career when she turned professional. From the age of 16 she joined the Swedish national team and many team successes followed. Individual titles were many in Europe before she headed to Arizona State University as a freshman in 2019-20. 

She won for the first time there in March, 2020, then in the summer was a winner on the Nordic Golf Tour. Returning to Arizona she scored three consecutive wins in spring 2021 before turning professional when the fourth ranked world amateur.

As an amateur she had some major experience. In 2018 she missed the cut at the British Open then at the US Open her first two rounds of 67, 70 had her on the leaderboard before eventually fading to finish 57th. In 2020 she finished an outstanding 23rd at the US Open.

Interesting to note she gained her LPGA Tour card in December, 2021, so the question is why isn’t she playing there now? 

Her response: “I am going to play the European Tour exclusively this year although I intend to play the final two majors.” 

Grant is clearly in no hurry to tackle the toughest tour for women with the world still struggling with pandemic issues.

So far Grant has plotted a very steady path up each rung of the golf ladder very successfully. Who is to argue with such a mature approach. Nevertheless we will eagerly look forward to seeing her in action at the Evian Championship in France,  beginning July 21, and the Women’s Open on August 4 and maybe watching this star rise even further.