Whilst he may not immediately strike you as a typical sportsman – or indeed a typical Swede – Joel Sjöholm is fast building himself a reputation as a rapidly improving and maturing golfer with a seriously bright future ahead of him.
The 24 year old from Gothenburg, who was born in Chile but adopted by a Swedish family when he was just three months old, capped a rapid rise through the ranks by earning promotion to The European as the 12th graduate from last season’s Challenge Tour Rankings.
It was just reward for an astonishingly consistent season which yielded six top five finishes – more than any other player, including the eventual Rankings winner Alvaro Velasco of Spain.
The only thing missing from his golfing CV is a win, a fact which still rankles with Sjöholm, who came closest to achieving his maiden victory at the Roma Golf Open 2010 presented by REZZA, where he forced a play-off with two eagles in his final four holes before being edged out at the first extra hole by Denmark’s Andreas Hartø.
It was one of two runner-up finishes in a season which saw him collect €83,907 – not that he is at liberty to spend it, given that he is a self-confessed spendthrift these days.
Sjöholm said: “I’m really bad with money – if someone gives me €1,000, I’ll easily spend it in a day. So my parents set up a fund, and I can only draw small amounts to pay for new clothes, or anything else I might need. But hopefully if I play well next season, they might loosen up the purse strings a little!”
Before embarking on his maiden European Tour campaign, Sjöholm plans to bend the ear of his mentor Thomas Björn, whom he first encountered as a mischievous youngster on the small Swedish island of Skaftö, where both families own holiday homes.
Sjöholm said: “Where we have the summer house back in Sweden, there were only really two things to do – either lie on the beach, or play golf. Even when I was two I never really had a beach body, so it was pretty obvious from a young age that I was never going to be a beach bum, and I chose golf instead!
“When I was growing up I played a lot of different sports, but from about the age of 13 onwards I was spending more and more time on golf and even practising in the winter, so that’s when I first started thinking about becoming a professional.
“Thomas Björn and Barry Lane also have holiday homes there, so for such a small island there is a high percentage of professional golfers. I had to walk by Thomas’s house to get to the golf course, so if he was in I’d always stop by and chat. I also used to teach his children how to play golf, so I got to know the whole family quite well.”
Since then Björn has monitored his young charge’s career with interest, aiding his golfing education by encouraging the sponsors to grant him an invitation to play in the 2008 BMW International Open on The European Tour, where he finished in the top 25 on only his second appearance as a professional.
Sjöholm said: “Thomas has been a bit of a mentor for me – he’s been there and done it all, so I enjoy talking to him as much as I can. Hopefully I can have a chat with him before the season starts to ask him for his advice about golf and life on Tour in general. I’m completely new to it, so speaking to someone with that experience can only help me.”
The other person Sjöholm is keen to credit for making him the player – and indeed man – he is today is Matthew Clark, his coach at Georgia State University, where he studied Sociology and Management for four years.
By his own admission Sjöholm could be guilty of episodes of brattish behaviour as a teenager, and was prone to pig-headedness – a fact which did not always endear him to those in positions of power.
He was thus subjected to a series of dressing downs in the sometimes strict and sterile atmosphere of college life, where discipline and application was expected, particularly of talented pupils.
Clark saw in Sjöholm a rough diamond, who was in danger of self-destructing and wasting his God-given talent for hitting a golf ball.
But after accepting that he would have to mend his more reckless ways if he was to achieve his dream of becoming a professional golfer, in his final two years Sjöholm would flourish on and off the golf course, and in many ways those two years laid the foundations for the remarkable success he has sampled since.
Sjöholm said: “When I went to college, I thought we’d spend most of the time on the practice range or out on the course – not in the classroom. But I soon found out the hard way that wasn’t going to be the case. To be allowed to play golf, you had to do well in your studies, so I was doing much more classwork than I’d anticipated.
“At first I rebelled against it, and for the first two years I didn’t really enjoy it. All I wanted to do was play golf, and it seemed like all my teachers wanted me to do was to learn and study.
“So we were both pulling in opposite directions, and in the end something had to give. In my third year I started working much harder on my studies, because I finally realised that was the only way I was ever going to get my way. In my final two years, I wouldn’t necessarily say I became a man – but I was no longer a young boy. I grew up a lot, and knew what I wanted to do with my life. Matthew really looked after me, almost as if I was his own son. In the end he used a lot of tough love, but when I realised he only wanted what was best for me, our relationship improved and I owe him an awful lot.”
He still speaks to Clark as often as possible, though life on the road is not always conducive to maintaining personal relations – even for as garrulous and outgoing a character as Sjöholm.
The Swede will be spending even more time on the road next season, starting with the Alfred Dunhill Championship next month, when we should see a leaner and fitter Sjöholm striding the fairways of Leopard Creek Golf Club.
He said: “I need to manage my schedule a little better to make sure I don’t tire myself out, because playing every week – even if you’re playing well – is the worst thing you can do. You need to take time off to recharge the batteries and free your mind. I also need to work harder on my fitness, because it’s a long season and my body probably isn’t able to take it at the moment. I had some real problems with my back last year, which meant I missed most of the 2009 season. And whilst it’s much better now, I still have to work on building up my strength.”
On top of his weights sessions in the gym, Sjöholm has also been furnishing the new flat in Gothenburg he shares with his long-term girlfriend and Rocco, a six month old Staffordshire bull terrier which he admits to spoiling rotten.
He said: “Even though I’ve really enjoyed it, it’s been a long season, so I’m really looking forward to spending some time back home with my girlfriend and Rocco. He’s so much fun – I absolutely love him. Other than taking him for walks and socialising with my friends, I also enjoy watching ice hockey and football.
“My favourite ice hockey team is the Frölunda Indians, and in football I have two teams – Chelsea and IFK Gothenburg. I don’t get to see either of them play that often, because I’m on the road so much these days, but whenever I’m in London for a few days I always try to get to Stamford Bridge. It’s quite expensive though, so I’ll have to play well next season if I want to keep supporting them!”
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