Åke Nilsson (born 22 May 1982) is a Swedish professional golfer and former

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

player. As of 2022, he topped the list of most wins on the

Nordic Golf League The Nordic Golf League is one of the third-tier men's professional golf tours, recognised by the European Tour, also known as the Satellite Tours. The top five players on the Order of Merit at the end of each season earn status to play on the seco ...

, with 8 victories.

Early life

Nilsson was born in

Kristianstad Kristianstad ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 41,198 inhabitants in 2023. Since the 1990s, the city has gone from being a garrison town to a developed commercial city, ...

and has represented

Kristianstad Golf Club Kristianstad Golf Club is a golf club located in Åhus 18 km southeast of Kristianstad in Skåne County, Sweden. It has hosted the European Ladies Amateur Championship and Kristianstad Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour. History The club wa ...

. He chose not to follow his two older brothers to America on a golf scholarship, instead staying at home and turning professional in 2002, aged 20.

Professional career

He joined the

in 2002 and the next year won his first tournament, the St Ibb Open, a tournament using a modified Stableford scoring format. In 2008, he won his fourth NGL tournament, the SM Match, and finished second in the rankings to earn promotion to the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European To ...

, after being mentored by former European Tour player Fredrik Widmark. In 2009, Nilsson joined the

after finishing tied ninth at the 2008 European Tour Qualifying School, alongside

Bernd Wiesberger Bernd Klaus Wiesberger (; born 8 October 1985) is an Austrian professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and formerly on the LIV Golf League. He finished the 2019 European Tour season in third place on the Race to Dubai standings, his be ...

. In December 2008, he finished tied 14th at the South African Open Championship, with his brother Per on the bag. In 2009, he was tied 17th at the Italian Open, and finished tied 3rd at the Saint-Omer Open in France. In 2010, he again played well at the Saint-Omer Open, finishing tied 8th. Also in 2010, his wife fell ill and succumbed to cancer, adversely affecting his game. He sat out most of the 2011 season and his game never fully recovered. After a hiatus, Nilsson again set his sights on Europe. He won two tournaments on the

2017 Nordic Golf League The 2017 Nordic Golf League was the 19th season of the Nordic Golf League, a third-tier tour recognised by the European Tour. Schedule The following table lists official events during the 2017 season. Order of Merit The Order of Merit was tit ...

and finished 4th in the rankings, to earn promotion to the Challenge Tour. His best finish on the

2018 Challenge Tour The 2018 Challenge Tour was the 30th season of the Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the European Tour. Schedule The following table lists official events during the 2018 season. Rankings The rankings were titled as the Roa ...

was a tie for 7th place at the Made in Denmark Challenge. In 2019, he won his 8th Nordic Golf League tournament, the Gamle Fredrikstad Open in Norway.

Professional wins (13)

Nordic Golf League wins (8)

Other wins (5)

*2008 Lydinge Open *2012 Skepparslöv Open *2016 Tomelilla Open, Arboga open *2019 Skepparlöv Open Source:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nilsson, Ake Swedish male golfers European Tour golfers Sportspeople from Kristianstad Golfers from Skåne County 1992 births Living people 21st-century Swedish sportsmen