Sami Välimäki made Finnish golf history late on Sunday, when he finished second in the PGA competition of the sport’s most prestigious tour in Mexico.
Välimäki, who was the first Finn to earn a spot on the PGA tour in the fall, fought in the final round to win the race against the American by Jake Knapp with, but ended up falling behind by two strokes and pocketed more than $800,000 in second place.
Välimäki, reached by Urheilu just before the flight, was still satisfied with his performance on Monday as well.
– It was indeed a good week and the feelings are good even today, Välimäki said first.
There was also a clear point in mind, which especially fell in place in Mexico.
– For the first two days last week, putting was successful. I was able to make a good result with it. During the weekend, the rest of the hitting was good, but the fact that I wasn’t able to putt the same way left me with a toothache. It still has to be held at a high level.
Praises are pouring in from the coach of the Olympic team
Worked as Välimä’s personal coach until summer 2022 Timo Karvinen rates Välimäki’s performance as one of the best in Finnish golf history.
– Of course, a win is always a win, and Sami also has two from the European tour. Yes, this will certainly be quite close to them, says Karvinen, who works as a coach of the Golfliito Olympic team.
Välimäki started the final day four strokes behind, but rose to share the top spot with Knapp on the 12th fairway.
– Sami drove quite well at the beginning. After the first cough, if I had to guess who would win, I would have put my money on the domestic player.
The victory of the race was decided on the back, which Knapp played cheerfully. According to Karvinen, who followed the race closely on television, the victory was down to the smallest detail.
– Knapp cheered up considerably during the back and mistakes didn’t cost much anymore, and at the same time Sami made a drive mistake on the tenth hole and no longer played himself to such positions at the end that would have been able to challenge.
– The shots went too far. All in all, a good tournament from Sam, but kudos to the champion as well.
The Finnish golfer, who reached second place, himself admits that the slippage of the victory was hard.
– Yes, it definitely hurts. In my opinion, there were plenty of places to succeed with a top performance, but a slight lack of sharpness in my close game backfired. However, Knapp played a top game and you can’t take anything away from that, Välimäki reflects.
The change of caddies is flowing
Karvinen estimates that Välimäki wants to show that he can keep his place on the top golf tour. With the help of the points obtained from the competition in Mexico, Välimäki will qualify for the signature invitational competition to be played in Florida next week.
– You have to be able to raise the category on that tour to be able to play in those bigger tournaments. Surely that season you will reach the top 50 in the world ranking, then the doors to all major tournaments will open. It is surely the dream of every top player.
In addition to the desire to show off, the Finnish golfer’s peak mood can be driven by a change of caddy or club boy. Between Välimä and his long-term caddy Väinö Viitaharjun the joint work ended at the beginning of February. The new caddy has worked on the PGA tour for 15 years Brandon Antus.
Antus didn’t get to travel to Mexico, and Välimä was assisted in Mexico by a backup caddy Basile Dalberto. Teamwork and decision-making work brilliantly with the reserve caddies in Mexico.
– Yes, my back-up caddy and his experience from the tour had a big meaning when we still had the first week together. Have a good week with that in mind. He also succeeded well in his own work. Yes, we were able to turn a few punches through his skills. It went well, Välimäki praised Dalberto.
Coach Karvinen saw a clear difference from before.
– In the meantime, Sam has had it so that there is quite a lot left to draw numbers, distances, ticket positions, wind and other things, but now it’s over ¶s came really slowly during the game, and the decisions were really decisive, says Karvinen.
A bright future
According to Välimä, the tension was not really heavy during the race, except for a little on the first three courses on Sunday.
– It was a little nerve-wracking. After the birdies on the fourth fairway, it felt like things were starting to roll. Got to focus on the essentials.
Despite his achievements, the Finnish golfer is only 25 years old. Karvinen believes that great success in North America is only a matter of time.
– I don’t doubt it at all and that’s what happened on the European tour as well. First there was a successful year and last season he established his place among the top players. Probably the same goes for the Yankees. Now all you need is patience.
Välimäki, who debuted on the European tour in 2020, immediately won the tour race in Oman in March of its opening year. Then the trouble started. Performance assurance and self-confidence were missing. In 2021, Välimäki’s best ranking on the European tour was 21st.
The preparation for the 2022 season did not go as planned due to the disease caused by the coronavirus. When the results finally started to show light at the end of the tunnel in the summer, Välimäki disappeared from the playing field for a long time.
Later, the cause was revealed to be myocarditis. The golfer had been in the hospital for almost a week. Välimäki told To the golf coursethat myocarditis started from stomach disease.
In 2023, Välimäki won the tournament in Qatar, became one of the top names on the tour and claimed a PGA spot.