Christian Nilsson


Christian Lars Nilsson is a Swedish former professional golfer.

Professional career

Nilsson was born in Karlstad, Sweden. He turned professional in 1999 with a plus 3 handicap. Nilsson played on the Challenge Tour full-time since 2004, playing few events before then. His first event on the European Tour was the 2005 Open Championship where he missed the cut. His first full season on the European Tour was 2006, and his second in 2007. In 2008 he played on both the Challenge and European Tours with his best finish a runner-up to David Dixon at the Saint-Omer Open, but he did not break through until 2009 at the same event. At the 2009 Saint-Omer Open in June, a week opposite the U.S. Open, Nilsson won his first European Tour event by 6 strokes over Portugal's José-Filipe Lima. The win was Nilsson's first professional win on a recognized major golf tour.
After a disappointing season in 2012 where he finished 149th in the Race to Dubai, Nilsson let it be known that he was retiring from professional golf to focus more on his family. He began working as an instructing professional at Karlstad Golf Club. In 2017 he came back to competitive golf, playing on the Nordic Golf League, the Swedish Golf Tour and the Swedish mini tour Future Series. In 2017 and 2018 he won four times on the Future Series in Sweden.

Professional wins (9)

European Tour wins (1)

1Dual-ranking event with the Challenge Tour

Challenge Tour wins (1)

1Dual-ranking event with the European Tour
Challenge Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12005Telia Challenge Waxholm Morten HagenLost to birdie on fourth extra hole

Other wins (8)

Amateur