Kiira Riihijärvi (born 29 April 1997) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 ...

. In 2022, she won the Ann Arbor's Road to the LPGA on the

Epson Tour The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour ...

, and finished 4th on the money list to graduate to the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

Amateur career

Riihijärvi was raised in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

, Finland and attended Darlington School in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statisti ...

, graduating in 2016. She attended

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

between 2016 and 2021. Playing golf with the

Tampa Spartans The Tampa Spartans are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tampa, located in Tampa, Florida, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Spartans compete as members of the Sunshine State Conference for all sports besides beach ...

women's golf team, she was named All-American four times and won 12 events. She was

Sunshine State Conference The Sunshine State Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its member institutions are located in the state of Florida, which is popularly kn ...

Player of the Year as a junior, and

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

Player of the Year as a senior. Riihijärvi represented Finland at the

2018 Espirito Santo Trophy The 2018 Espirito Santo Trophy took place 29 August – 1 September at Carton House Golf Club on its Montgomerie and O'Meara courses in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It was the 28th women's golf World Amateur Team Championship for the Esp ...

, and several times at the

European Ladies' Team Championship The European Ladies' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1959. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been pla ...

. She won the Finnish Amateur Championship in 2019 and 2020. She finished 28th at the 2021

Augusta National Women's Amateur The Augusta National Women's Amateur (ANWA) is a golf tournament in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, Augusta and Champions Retreat Golf Club in nearby Evans, Georgia, Evans. stroke play eve ...

, and her highest

World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by The R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs p ...

was #18.

Professional career

Riihijärvi turned professional after graduating in 2021. In July, she appeared in her home country's

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal stru ...

event, the

Gant Ladies Open The Ladies Finnish Open is a professional women's golf tournament held in Finland. It was played as part of the Swedish Golf Tour (women), Swedish Golf Tour 1998–2011, the LET Access Series 2012–2019, and after a one year hiatus, added to the L ...

, and finished 8th, six strokes behind winner

Matilda Castren Matilda Maria Castren (born 18 January 1995) is a Finnish professional golfer playing on the LPGA Tour. In 2021 she won the LPGA Mediheal Championship to become the first player from Finland to win on the LPGA Tour. Career Castren won the 2011 Do ...

. In 2022, she joined the

, where she grabbed her first professional win at Ann Arbor's Road to the LPGA in June. In August, she lost a playoff at the

Four Winds Invitational The Four Winds Invitational is a tournament on the Epson Tour, the LPGA's developmental tour. It has been a part of the tour's schedule since 2012. It is held at South Bend Country Club in South Bend, Indiana. In 2020, the tournament was postpon ...

. She finished 4th in the rankings to graduate to the

for 2023.

Amateur wins

*2017 NCAA D2 Super Region 2 *2018 Finnish U21 Stroke Play Championship *2019 SSC Championship, Finnish Amateur Championship, Lady Falcon Invitational, NSU Shark Invitational *2020 Peggy Kirk Bell Invitational, Finnish Stroke Play Championship, Finnish Amateur Championship *2021 Peggy Kirk Bell Invitational, Barry University Invitational, NCAA D2 South Regional Source:

Professional wins (1)

Symetra Tour wins (1)

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing Finland):

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

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 ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fren ...

(representing Finland):

Source:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riihijarvi, Kiira Finnish female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Tampa Spartans women's golfers Sportspeople from Oulu 1997 births Living people