Birgir Leifur Hafþórsson (born 16 May 1976) is an Icelandic

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

and former European Tour player. At age 41, he became Iceland's first winner on the Challenge Tour, winning the 2017

Cordon Golf Open The Open de Bretagne is an annual golf tournament held in Brittany, France and founded in 2004. Having been a stop on the satellite Alps Tour The Alps Tour is a developmental professional golf tour for men which is sanctioned by the national g ...

in France. He also won the mixed team gold and the men's silver at the

2018 European Golf Team Championships The 2018 European Golf Team Championships was a golf tournament played in August 2018 at Gleneagles, Scotland. It was the inaugural event and consisted of three competitions – men's, women's and mixed team format. 16 two-player teams took part ...

Gleneagles, Scotland Glen Eagles (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann na h-Eaglais/Gleann Eagas) is a glen which connects with Glen Devon to form a pass through the Ochil Hills of Perth and Kinross in Scotland. (The spelling as two words, 'Glen Eagles', is as shown on UK O ...

Early life and amateur career

Hafþórsson was born in Akranes, Iceland, and took up golf with a group of friends when he was 12. His uncle Sveinn Arsalsson was the first National Champion of Iceland. He first won the Icelandic National Golf Championship as an amateur in 1996, and would go on to win also in 2003, 2004 and 2010.

Professional career

Hafþórsson turned professional in 1997 and joined the Swedish Golf Tour. He attended the

European Tour Qualifying School The European Tour Qualifying School is an annual golf tournament which enables professional golfers to gain a place on the European Tour and its official development tour, the Challenge Tour. The European Tour Qualifying School In professional ...

18 times between 1997 and 2016, and was successful in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, the other years playing with limited status, mainly on the Challenge Tour. Hafþórsson joined the European Tour in 2007 after taking the 25th card at Q-School. His best finish in his rookie season was a tie for 11th at the

Telecom Italia Open The DS Automobiles Italian Open ( it, Open d'Italia) is the men's national open golf championship of Italy. It was founded in 1925 and, except for 1933 and during World War II, was played annually until 1960. After an eleven-year hiatus, it returne ...

, 3 strokes behind winner

Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (born 13 October 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has played on the European Tour, winning seven times, and on the PGA Tour. Early life Fernández-Castaño was born in Madrid. He started playing golf at t ...

. He finished in 12th place at Q-School to keep his card, but he sustained a debilitating injury to his lower back in 2008. He suffered from spondylolisthesis, a condition in which a defect in a part of the spine causes vertebra to slip, and played the European Tour on a medical extension in 2009. Playing mainly on the Challenge Tour from 2011, he finished 3rd at the 2011

Mugello Tuscany Open The Mugello Tuscany Open was a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour, played in Italy. It was held for the first time in 2010 when Floris de Vries triumphed in a sudden-death playoff over Thorbjørn Olesen Jacob Thorbjørn Olesen (born 21 Decemb ...

, and won the 2017

in France by a convincing 7 strokes. At age 41, he became Iceland's first winner on the Challenge Tour. Hafþórsson represented Iceland at the

. He won the team gold together with Ólafía Þórunn Kristinsdóttir,

Valdis Thora Jonsdottir Valdis is a Latvian language masculine given name. It is derived from two possible sources; from the Latvian word ''valdīt'' ("rule") or as a shortened form of Valdemārs, the Latvian form of Waldemar. Valdis may refer to the following: *Valdis Bi ...

and Axel Bóasson, and silver behind Spain in the men's event with

Axel Bóasson Axel Bóasson (born 3 June 1990) is an Icelandic professional golfer. In 2017, he became Iceland's first winner on the Nordic Golf League and won the Nordic Golf League Order of Merit. He also won the mixed team gold and the men's silver at the ...

Professional wins (5)

Challenge Tour wins (1)

''*Note: The 2017 Cordon Golf Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.''

Other wins (4)

*1996 Icelandic National Golf Championship (as an amateur) *2003 Icelandic National Golf Championship *2004 Icelandic National Golf Championship *2010 Icelandic National Golf Championship Source:

Team appearances

Professional *

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

(representing Iceland):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

(winner – mixed team)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hafthorsson, Birgir Birgir Hafthórsson European Tour golfers Birgir Hafthórsson 1976 births Living people