Mats Åke Lanner (born 5 March 1961) is a Swedish professional golfer, who formerly played on the European Tour. In 1987, he became the second Swedish player to win a European Tour tournament.[2]
Early life and amateur career
Lanner was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, and learned the game at Albatross Golf Club, situated on the island Hisingen in the northern part of the city of Gothenburg. He was also a member at Strömstad Golf Club, near the Norwegian border, where he won the club championship at 16 years of age.[3]
After twice winning the yearly 72-hole tournament Gothenburg Open at his home club, but never been nominated to any national amateur teams, he turned professional after the 1981 season, sponsored by a member of his club.
Professional career
He qualified for the European Tour on his first visit to Qualifying School and finished tied 16h at his first European Tour start, the 1982Tunisian Open. The year after he won his first professional tournament, the Swedish PGA Championship.[4] The following year, the Swedish Golf Tour (SGT) was established and Lanner came to win ten times on his domestic tour, still the most by any player ever, despite three of his wins in Sweden did not count as SGT-events.[5]
Lanner was a member of the European Tour until 2001, with just a couple of breaks when he failed to retain his card. He won three times on the main tour and two times on the second tier Challenge Tour. His last win came in 1998, when he was invited to the Madeira Island Open as a former winner of the tournament and went on to win there again.
His best European Tour Order of Merit finish was 19th in 1987. Lanner was close to qualify for one of twelve spots in the European Ryder Cup team, as the first Swedish player ever, that year. The top nine players on the Order of Merit after the German Open would automatically qualify and three players would be picked by the European team captain Tony Jacklin. Prior to the final event, Eamonn Darcy was in the 9th qualifying place with Lanner in 10th. Despite starting with a 62 and leading after the first round, Lanner finished one shot ahead of Darcy in the German Open, but Darcy retained his qualifying place and Jacklin did not choose Lanner among his captain's picks.[6]
Lanner was a member of the winning Swedish team at the 1991Dunhill Cup at the Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland. He holed the winning putt for his team in the final match of the tournament, between Sweden and South Africa, on the first playoff hole in the last game, played between Lanner and Gary Player.[5]
Lanner got the opportunity to turn professional in the fall of 1981, when he received sponsorship from Jan-Ove Johansson, the founder of Albatross Golf Club, through the company Swedish Sports Promotion, later forming the team Club Vagabond, consisting of four young Swedish golf professionals. The company organized an exhibition with Jack Nicklaus at Barsebäck Golf & Country Club on 15 September 1983, in which Lanner also took part, with economic loss for the organizer and the company later went bankrupt. This meant that the company could not fulfill its obligations to Lanner, who during 1984 became personal responsible for his arising costs on tour. In September 1984, when Lanner also had lost his playing rights on the European Tour, he won pro tournaments in Sweden on three straight weeks and earned the possibility to restart his career.[7]
After retiring as a player in 2002, Lanner began a career as a referee on the European Tour.
Lanner's son Tobias (born 1997) has played as an amateur on the Swedish professional mini-tour Future Series.
Awards
In 1992, the three teammates at the Swedish Dunhill Cup victory the previous year, Per-Ulrik Johansson, Lanner and Anders Forsbrand, was each, by the Swedish Golf Federation, awarded the Golden Club, the highest award for contributions to Swedish golf, as the 11th, 12th and 13th recipients.[5]
In 1998, Lanner was awarded honorary member of the PGA of Sweden.[5]
^Persson, Lars-Åke (June 1987). "Vilken fullträff för Mats" [What a success for Mats]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 6. pp. 101–102. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
^"Tävlingar, Klubbmästare" [Competitions, Club Champions] (in Swedish). Strömstad Golfklubb. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^ abcdeJansson, Anders (2004). Golf - Den stora sporten [Golf - The Great Sport] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. pp. 95, 210, 215, 217, 256–258, 260, 273–277, 283. ISBN91-86818007.
^Hellqvist, Fredrik (June 1997). "Perfektionist söker spelplats" [Perfectionist searches for place to play]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 6. pp. 180–183.
