Kiira Riihijärvi (born 29 April 1997) is a Finnish

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 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 LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

Amateur career

Riihijärvi was raised in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

, 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 statist ...

, graduating in 2016. She attended the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a br ...

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 k ...

Player of the Year as a junior, and

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the 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 environment ...

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 Espiri ...

, 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 pl ...

. 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, held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta and Champions Retreat Golf Club in nearby Evans. stroke play event debuted The tournament is split between the two v ...

, 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 ...

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. Most of the players on the tour are European, with members from more than 40 countries internationally. Despite its name, the tour also has tournaments in A ...

event, the

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

, 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 Castrén won the 2011 ...

. 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 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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 21st-century Finnish sportswomen