Amateur career
Lindblad grew up in Halmstad and joined the Swedish National Team in 2017. She represented her country at the European Girls' Team Championship, were Sweden won the bronze in 2018. She was then part of the Swedish teams that won the European Ladies' Team Championship in 2019 and 2020, teamed with Frida Kinhult, Sara Kjellker, Maja Stark, Linn Grant, and Beatrice Wallin. [2] She was a member of the 2018 European Junior Ryder Cup team and was selected for the international team at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup and again at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup.
She also excelled individually. In 2017 she won the Irish Girls U18 Open Stroke Play Championship, and in 2018 the German Girls Open, ahead of Alessia Nobilio. She was runner-up at the 2018 Annika Invitational Europe and won the 2019 Annika Invitational USA. [3] In 2019, Lindblad qualified for the 2019 Women's British Open, her first major championship, where she fell short of the cut. [4]
Lindblad enrolled at Louisiana State University in 2019. In her freshman year, she had the best single season scoring average in LSU women's golf history at 70.33, beating Madelene Sagström's previous record of 71.48 from 2014–15. [5] She won twice individually in her pandemic-shortened freshman season, and became the first player in program history to earn Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors in the same season. [6] Over her four seasons she captured 11 college titles, a school record, and 15 titles over her five seasons. [7]
Over the summer in 2020, she played on the Nordic Golf Tour where she won the Golfhäftet Masters after a playoff with Beatrice Wallin. She then won the Skaftö Open, prevailing in a playoff against Wallin and Linn Grant. With the wins, Lindblad earned a runner-up position behind Grant in the Nordic Golf Tour 2020 Order of Merit. [8]
The wins helped her rise to second spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, behind American Rose Zhang. [3]
In the summer of 2021 she won the European Ladies Amateur Championship in Italy, 3 strokes ahead of Alexandra Försterling. In 2022, Lindblad had a spectacular spring as a junior at LSU, winning four out of the first five tournaments of the year. She won the SEC Women's Individual Championship by sinking a 38-foot putt for eagle on the final hole. Lindblad posted a 2-0-1 record in team match play to help LSU win its first team league title in 30 years. Reaching nine career LSU wins, she topped Jenny Lidback's previous record of seven set in the 1985–86 season. [5]
Lindblad appeared in four installments of the Augusta National Women's Amateur, finishing third in 2021 and 2024 and as runner-up in 2022, one stroke behind winner Anna Davis. [9]
In the 2022 U.S. Women's Open at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, Lindblad finished leading amateur at tied 11th. [10] Her first round of 6 under par 65, playing together with Annika Sörenstam and with Sophie Gustafson on the bag, was the lowest round ever by an amateur in the U.S. Women's Open and the second lowest round by a European player in the history of the championship. She also beat the amateur scoring records over 36 and 54 holes and tied the 72-hole amateur record in the tournament. Her putting performance was especially noticed, as she holed 66 of 69 putts inside 10 feet and every one of 50 putts from 5 feet or less during the tournament. [11] [12]
She accepted an invitation to the 2022 Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed, hosted jointly by the European Tour and Ladies European Tour and held at Halmstad Golf Club, a former Solheim Cup venue in her home town. [13] Men and women played from different tees and Lindblad finished tied 7th among the women and tied 33rd overall, propelling her into the top 250 in the Women's World Golf Rankings. [14]
In August 2022, Lindblad teamed up with Meja Örtengren and Louise Rydqvist to win the World Amateur Team Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy, beating the U.S. team with Rachel Heck, Rachel Kuehn and Rose Zhang through better tie-breaking non-counting score. [15] [16]
Lindblad rose to number 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in June 2023, after rival Rose Zhang turned professional. Her compatriot, Ludvig Åberg, simultaneously occupied the men's number 1 spot. [3] She won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top-ranked golfer at the conclusion of the major tournaments of 2023. This gained her entry into the 2024 U.S. Women's Open and Women's British Open. [17] She ended her final amateur season with being named WGCA Player of the Year and receiving the Annika Award, the Inkster Award and the Honda Sports Award. [18] [19]
Sweden 
