Jesper Parnevik

Jesper Parnevik
 Golfer 
Personal information
Full name Jesper Bo Parnevik
Nickname Spaceman
Born (1965-03-07) 7 March 1965
Stockholm, Sweden
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Nationality  Sweden
Residence Jupiter, Florida, U.S.
Career
College Palm Beach Junior College
Turned professional 1986
Current tour(s) Champions Tour (joined 2015)
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
European Tour
Professional wins 15
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 5
European Tour 4
PGA Tour Champions 1
Other 5
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T20: 2001
U.S. Open T14: 1998
The Open Championship 2nd/T2: 1994, 1997
PGA Championship T5: 1996

Jesper Bo Parnevik (Swedish pronunciation: [jɛspər paɳəviːk]; born 7 March 1965) is a Swedish professional golfer. He spent 38 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking in 2000 and 2001.[1]

Early years

Parnevik was born in Botkyrka, Stockholm County,[2] and is the son of Swedish entertainer Bosse Parnevik. At age 15, Parnevik spent 10 days in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and developed an appreciation for life in the United States; he later moved to Palm Beach County, Florida, to attend Palm Beach Junior College in Lake Worth on a golf scholarship.[3]

Career

Parnevik turned professional in 1986 and scored four wins in his early years on the European Tour. Based in Florida, he joined the PGA Tour in the mid-90s, subsequently winning five events. His playing career also includes three Ryder Cup appearances (1997, 1999, and 2002) and two runner-up finishes in The Open (1994 and 1997). His career best world ranking of seventh, which he attained on 14 May 2000, was the highest world ranking achieved by a Swedish golfer until Henrik Stenson reached the top five in February 2007.[4]

In late 2000, Parnevik underwent hip surgery at the persuasion of Greg Norman, who had undergone similar surgery.[5]

Parnevik finished second in the Valero Texas Open in October 2007, losing to Justin Leonard in a playoff. In 2009, after a tie for 17th at the SAS Masters in Sweden, Parnevik underwent further hip surgery in Vail, Colorado, United States,[6] which cut short his 2009 season on the PGA Tour. He also cited the hip injury as the reason for his withdrawal from the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament ("Q-School") in December 2009.

In 2010, Parnevik missed cuts in his first three tournaments and had to withdraw again after a first round 68 at the Northern Trust Open because of an ailing back. He had emergency surgery where it was discovered that he had a broken lumbar vertebrae that could put his career in jeopardy.[7]

Parnevik played the 2011 PGA Tour season on a fully exempt status for his Top 50 All-Time Earnings ranking. He was allowed to reuse this one-time exemption after being able to play only five tournaments in 2010.[8] He played the 2012 and 2013 seasons on a Medical Extension after suffering a severe injury to his right hand in a boating accident.[9]

Plagued by injuries for years, Parnevik staged a comeback on the Champions Tour when he became eligible in 2015. He started 2016 with a tie for third at the Chubb Classic, losing out to former world number one golfers Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples.[10] He got his first win on the Champions Tour in the same year at the Insperity Invitational.

Style

Parnevik is known for his distinctive and eccentric taste in clothes and fashion as well as his playing achievements. His on-course trademark was the upturned bill on his baseball cap. While on the European Ryder Cup team, he received a customized team cap with the Ryder Cup logo on the bottom of the bill instead of the front, so that it could be seen with the bill turned up. He has since stopped wearing the flipped-bill hat, opting for strawhats and visors but retains a flamboyant sense of fashion, such as disco-style purple trousers and other golf apparel designed by Johan Lindeberg. He has been politely described as "eclectic", and has been known to change outfits at the halfway stage of a round of tournament golf. Beginning in 2006, one of his new on-course fashion statements was a necktie worn under a vest. Puma Golf signed Jesper Parnevik in 2014 and he gets credited for his influence on their LUX Golf Appearel Line. Since wearing Puma Clothes he once again wears a custom made and more modern looking flipped bill hat. He is also known to eat volcanic dust as a dietary supplement.[11] Parnevik's nickname on tour is "Spaceman".

Life outside golf

Parnevik has an eclectic acting career, including a cameo in the 2007 comedy, Who's Your Caddy,[12] in which he plays himself. An allegedly thoughtful historian in his free time, and a man with varied tastes, he was recently asked with whom he would like to have dinner. He quickly replied that it would have to be a choice between Albert Einstein and Elvis Presley. When told he could only have one, he shot back, "OK, Elvis Einstein."

Parnevik is credited with having introduced fellow professional golfer Tiger Woods to Swedish au pair Elin Nordegren (previously employed by Parnevik), whom Woods would eventually marry. Parnevik subsequently stated in 2009 that he regretted his responsibility for this introduction after reports of Woods' infidelity surfaced that year.[13]

Parnevik and his family starred in a reality TV show, Parneviks, which aired on TV3 in Sweden for two seasons 2015–2016, giving insights into his life in Florida. His oldest daughter Peg Parnevik has a career as a pop singer.[14]

Professional wins (15)

European Tour wins (4)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 10 Jul 1993 Bell's Scottish Open −9 (64-66-70-71=271) 5 strokes United States Payne Stewart
2 6 Aug 1995 Volvo Scandinavian Masters −18 (67-67-69-67=270) 5 strokes Scotland Colin Montgomerie
3 15 Sep 1996 Trophée Lancôme −12 (66-69-66-67=268) 5 strokes Scotland Colin Montgomerie
4 2 Aug 1998 Volvo Scandinavian Masters −11 (67-65-71-70=273) 3 strokes Northern Ireland Darren Clarke

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1992 Turespana Open de Baleares Spain Seve Ballesteros Lost to birdie on sixth extra hole

PGA Tour wins (5)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 18 Jan 1998 Phoenix Open −15 (68-68-66-67=269) 3 strokes United States Tommy Armour III, United States Brent Geiberger,
United States Steve Pate, United States Tom Watson
2 25 Apr 1999 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic −23 (65-63-67-70=265) 2 strokes United States Jim Furyk
3 23 Jan 2000 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic −27 (69-67-66-64-65=331) 1 stroke South Africa Rory Sabbatini
4 14 May 2000 GTE Byron Nelson Classic −11 (70-65-68-66=269) Playoff United States Davis Love III, United States Phil Mickelson
5 11 Mar 2001 Honda Classic −18 (65-67-66-72=270) 1 stroke United States Mark Calcavecchia, Australia Geoff Ogilvy,
New Zealand Craig Perks

PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2000 GTE Byron Nelson Classic United States Davis Love III, United States Phil Mickelson Won with par on third extra hole
Mickelson eliminated with birdie on second hole
2 2007 Valero Texas Open United States Justin Leonard Lost to birdie on third extra hole

Champions Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 8 May 2016 Insperity Invitational −12 (69-68-67=204) 4 strokes South Africa David Frost, United States Mike Goodes
United States Jeff Maggert

Other wins (5)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP T21 T31 CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP T48 T14 T17
The Open Championship T21 2 T24 T44 T2 T4 T10
PGA Championship DNP CUT T20 T5 T45 CUT T10
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Masters Tournament T40 T20 T39 DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open CUT T30 T54 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP T74
The Open Championship T36 T9 T28 DQ DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship T51 T13 CUT T34 CUT T28 CUT DNP DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = Disqualified
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 5
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 6
The Open Championship 0 2 0 3 5 7 11 11
PGA Championship 0 0 0 1 2 4 13 8
Totals 0 2 0 4 7 15 39 29

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  2. "Birth info from article in Allehanda.se" (in Swedish). 14 March 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  3. Rubenstein, Lorne (9 August 1998). "Parnevik may soon be a major player". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  4. "Henrik Stenson Wins the WGC-Accenture Match Play and Reaches World Number 5". Official World Golf Ranking. 26 February 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  5. "Parnevik next in line for hip surgery". The Tuscaloosa News. 23 September 2000. p. 7C. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  6. "Parnevik's hip surgery will likely end his season". PGA Tour. 26 July 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  7. "Parnevik has broken vertebrae, career in jeopardy". PGA Tour. 11 February 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  8. Dolch, Craig (10 January 2011). "Parnevik attempts comeback". PGA Tour. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  9. "Recent news on Jesper Parnevik – PGA Golfer". Rotoworld.com.
  10. Jesper Parnevik PGA Tour Career Summary, PGA Tour, accessed 27 February 2016
  11. Lawton, James (5 April 2005). "Volcanic dust puts Parnevik on different planet". The Independent. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  12. Who's Your Caddy – at IMDB.com
  13. "Parnevik regrets Woods introduction". RTÉ.ie. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  14. "Peg Parneviks nya karriär - gör musik". Expressen. 18 March 2016.
  15. "Golf – Super Tour; Parnevik Wins By Four Shots". The New York Times. 15 December 1997.
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