Sofia Grönberg-Whitmore (born 25 May 1965) is a Swedish professional golfer. She played on the Ladies European Tour (LET) between 1989 and 2001 and won three LET titles. In 1989 she also won a title on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour and its Order of Merit.
Alongside Helen Alfredsson and Liselotte Neumann, Grönberg-Whitmore was one of the pioneers of women's professional golf in Sweden in the 1980s.
Amateur career She spent two years with the golf team at the University of Alabama and later married Englishman John Whitmore, residing in Warwickshire for part of her career.Golf: Gronberg prevails in play-off test of nerve, The Independent, 31 August 1999
As an amateur, she was part of the Swedish teams winning the 1984 European Lady Junior's Team Championship and the 1987 European Ladies' Team Championship. She played in the 1986 Espirito Santo Trophy in Caracas, Venezuela with Helen Alfredsson and Eva Dahllöf. In 1987 she played for Europe in the Vagliano Trophy.
Professional career Grönberg-Whitmore turned professional in 1988 and joined the Ladies European Tour. She won the 1988 IBM Ladies Open, a Swedish Golf Tour event that was added to the LET schedule two years later.
In early 1989, Grönberg-Whitmore played on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour, where she won the Indonesia Ladies Open and that season's Order of Merit. Back in Europe, she won the LET season opener, the Rome Classic, in April. At the end of the year, she was named Swedish Golfer of the Year.
Over the next decade, her best results were runner-up finishes at the La Manga Spanish Open and the Sens Ladies' Dutch Open, both in 1994. She returned to her winning ways in 1999. After triumphing both in the Air France Madame Biarritz Open and the inaugural Cantor Fitzgerald Laura Davies Invitational at Brocket Hall, she moved to fifth place on the LET Order of Merit and sixth spot on the European Solheim Cup ranking.Gronberg wins second title of season, Golf Today, 31 August 1999
Awards, honors In 1988, she received Elit Sign number 86 by the Swedish Golf Federation on the basis of national team appearances and national championship performances.
She was named as the Swedish Golfer of the Year, male or female, professional or amateur, for the 1989 season.
In 2017, she was awarded honorary member of the PGA of Sweden.
Professional wins (8) Ladies European Tour (3) No. DateTournamentWinningscoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up116 Apr 1989Rome Classic210 (−6)1 stroke Marie-Laure Taya230 Aug 1999Laura Davies Invitational275 (−13) Playoff Trish Johnson39 Oct 1999Air France Madame Biarritz Open 200 (−10) 3 strokes Sandrine Mendiburu
Ladies Asian Golf Tour (1) 1989 Indonesia Ladies Open
Swedish Golf Tour (1) No. DateTournamentWinningscoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up128 Aug 1988IBM Ladies Open224 (+5)2 strokes Maria Guslin Pia Nilsson
Other (3) 2005 Prins Bertils Pokal 2007 Prins Bertils Pokal 2010 Prins Bertils Pokal
Team appearances Amateur European Lady Junior's Team Championship (representing Sweden): 1984 (winners), 1986 European Ladies' Team Championship (representing Sweden): 1985, 1987 (winners) Espirito Santo Trophy (representing Sweden): 1986 Vagliano Trophy (representing the Continent of Europe): 1987 Professional Praia d'El Rey European Cup (representing Ladies European Tour): 1999 (winners)
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