Kalle Samooja

Samooja was born in Turku, Finland. He started playing golf when he was eight years old after being introduced to the game by his father.
Samooja competed in the European Tour Qualifying School in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014. He did not make it onto the European Tour during any of these experiences. During this interim period, he primarily played on the Asian Tour. He did not have a ton of success but recorded top-10 finishes at the 2012 Handa Faldo Cambodian Classic and the 2015 Philippine Open.
In 2016, Samooja made it onto the European Tour's developmental tour, the Challenge Tour. Samooja finished 69th and 71st on the Challenge Tour's Order of Merit in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, he won the Hainan Open and finished 4th on the Order of Merit, earning a promotion to the European Tour.
2019 Notes: Played in 28 European Tour events making 16 cuts with three top-ten finishes. He was 62nd in the Race to Dubai, he earned euro605,709. He was T-6th at the Magical Kenya Open. Finished T-2nd at the Omega European Masters, was part of a five-man playoff which Sebastian Soderberg. He was T-10th in the Nedbank Golf Challenge, his last start of the season.
2020 Notes; Played in 17 European Tour events making 10 cuts with three top-ten finishes. He was T-3rd at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, a shot back of the Jorge Campillo/David Drysdale playoff. Was T-9th at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open. He was 2nd at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open, losing a playoff to Calum Shinkwin. In his last start of the season was T-23rd at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
2021 Notes: Played in 22 DP World Tour events making 13 cuts with five top-ten finishes. Was 73rd in the Race to Dubai, earning euro371,273. He was T-4th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, seven shots back of winner Paul Casey. T-3rd at the Tenerife Open, six shots back of winner Dean Burmester. T-9th at the Canary Islands Championship. He made his first start in the United States and his first major at the PGA Championship but missed the cut. He was 8th at the Cazoo Classic and ended his season with a T-8th finish at the AVIV Dubai Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 25 DP World Tour events making 11 cuts with two top-ten finishes. Was 61st in the Race to Dubai, earning euro560115. He was T-5th at the Qatar Masters and a shot back of the lead after three rounds, but shot 75 in the final round to finish T-5th, three shots back of the winner Ewen Ferguson. Shot a final round 64 at the Porsche European Open to win his first DP World Tour tournament by two shots over Wil Besseling. Ended the season finishing T-58th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
2023 Notes: Was T-9th at the Italian Open. Shot 67 in the final round to finish T-4th at the Made in Hemmerland, two shots back of the Rasmus Hojgaard/Nacho Elvira playoff. With the finish, Samooja claimed a spot in the 151st Open Championship.