Early years

Parnevik was born in Botkyrka, Stockholm County, and is the son of Swedish entertainer Bosse Parnevik. At age 15, Parnevik spent 10 days in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and developed an appreciation for life in the United States; he later moved to Palm Beach County, Florida, to attend Palm Beach Junior College in Lake Worth on a golf scholarship.

Career

Parnevik turned professional in 1986 and scored four wins in his early years on the European Tour. Based in Florida, he joined the PGA Tour in the mid-90s, subsequently winning five events. His playing career also includes three Ryder Cup appearances (1997, 1999, and 2002) and two runner-up finishes in The Open (1994 and 1997). His career best world ranking of seventh, which he attained on 14 May 2000, was the highest world ranking achieved by a Swedish golfer until Henrik Stenson reached the top five in February 2007.

In late 2000, Parnevik underwent hip surgery at the persuasion of Greg Norman, who had undergone similar surgery.

Parnevik finished second in the Valero Texas Open in October 2007, losing to Justin Leonard in a playoff. In 2009, after a tie for 17th at the SAS Masters in Sweden, Parnevik underwent further hip surgery in Vail, Colorado, United States, which cut short his 2009 season on the PGA Tour. He also cited the hip injury as the reason for his withdrawal from the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament ("Q-School") in December 2009.

In 2010, Parnevik missed cuts in his first three tournaments and had to withdraw again after a first round 68 at the Northern Trust Open because of an ailing back. He had emergency surgery where it was discovered that he had a broken lumbar vertebrae that could put his career in jeopardy.

Parnevik played the 2011 PGA Tour season on a fully exempt status for his Top 50 All-Time Earnings ranking. He was allowed to reuse this one-time exemption after being able to play only five tournaments in 2010. He played the 2012 and 2013 seasons on a Medical Extension after suffering a severe injury to his right hand in a boating accident.

In 2013, Parnevik bogeyed the 18th hole in the second round of the RBC Heritage. His bogey helped set a PGA Tour-tying record of 91 players making the 36-hole cut. A par would have set the cut at exactly 70, the PGA Tour minimum.

Plagued by injuries for years, Parnevik staged a comeback on the Champions Tour when he became eligible in 2015. He started 2016 with a tie for third at the Chubb Classic, losing out to former world number one golfers Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples. He got his first win on the Champions Tour in the same year at the Insperity Invitational.

Style

Parnevik is known for his distinctive and eccentric taste in clothes and fashion as well as his playing achievements. His on-course trademark was the upturned bill on his baseball cap. While on the European Ryder Cup team, he received a customized team cap with the Ryder Cup logo on the bottom of the bill instead of the front, so that it could be seen with the bill turned up. He has since stopped wearing the flipped-bill hat, opting for strawhats and visors but retains a flamboyant sense of fashion, such as disco-style purple trousers and other golf apparel designed by Johan Lindeberg. He has been politely described as "eclectic", and has been known to change outfits at the halfway stage of a round of tournament golf. Beginning in 2006, one of his new on-course fashion statements was a necktie worn under a vest. Puma Golf signed Jesper Parnevik in 2014 and he gets credited for his influence on their LUX Golf Appearel Line. Since wearing Puma Clothes he once again wears a custom made and more modern looking flipped bill hat. He is also known to eat volcanic dust as a dietary supplement. Parnevik's nickname on tour is "Spaceman".

Life outside golf

Parnevik has an eclectic acting career including a cameo in the 2007 comedy, Who's Your Caddy, in which he plays himself. An allegedly thoughtful historian in his free time, and a man with varied tastes, he was recently asked with whom he'd like to have dinner. He quickly replied that it would have to be a choice between Albert Einstein and Elvis Presley. When told he could only have one, he shot back, "OK, Elvis Einstein."

Parnevik is credited with having introduced fellow professional golfer Tiger Woods to Swedish au pair Elin Nordegren (previously employed by Parnevik), whom Woods would eventually marry. Parnevik subsequently stated in 2009 that he regrets his responsibility for this introduction after reports of Woods's infidelity surfaced that year.

Parnevik and his family starred in a reality TV show, Parneviks, which aired on TV3 in Sweden for two seasons 2015-2016, giving insights into his life in Florida. His oldest daughter Peg Parnevik has a career as a pop singer.

Professional wins (15)

European Tour wins (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	10 Jul 1993	Bell's Scottish Open	−9 (64-66-70-71=271)	5 strokes	Payne Stewart
2	6 Aug 1995	Volvo Scandinavian Masters	−18 (67-67-69-67=270)	5 strokes	Colin Montgomerie
3	15 Sep 1996	Trophée Lancôme	−12 (66-69-66-67=268)	5 strokes	Colin Montgomerie
4	2 Aug 1998	Volvo Scandinavian Masters	−11 (67-65-71-70=273)	3 strokes	Darren Clarke

European Tour playoff record (0-1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1992	Turespana Open de Baleares	Seve Ballesteros	Lost to birdie on sixth extra hole

PGA Tour wins (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	18 Jan 1998	Phoenix Open	−15 (68-68-66-67=269)	3 strokes	Tommy Armour III, Brent Geiberger, Steve Pate, Tom Watson
2	25 Apr 1999	Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic	−23 (65-63-67-70=265)	2 strokes	Jim Furyk
3	23 Jan 2000	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	−27 (69-67-66-64-65=331)	1 stroke	Rory Sabbatini
4	14 May 2000	GTE Byron Nelson Classic	−11 (70-65-68-66=269)	Playoff	Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson
5	11 Mar 2001	Honda Classic	−18 (65-67-66-72=270)	1 stroke	Mark Calcavecchia, Geoff Ogilvy, Craig Perks

PGA Tour playoff record (1-1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2000	GTE Byron Nelson Classic	Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson	Won with par on third extra hole Mickelson eliminated with birdie on second hole
2	2007	Valero Texas Open	Justin Leonard	Lost to birdie on third extra hole

Champions Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runners-up
1	8 May 2016	Insperity Invitational	−12 (69-68-67=204)	4 strokes	David Frost, Mike Goodes Jeff Maggert

Other wins (5)

• 1988 Ramlosa Trophy, Odensa Open (both Sweden), Open Passing Shot (France)
• 1990 Swedish Open International Stroke Play
• 1997 Johnnie Walker Super Tour

Results in major championships

Tournament	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T21	T31	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T48	T14	T17
The Open Championship	T21	2	T24	T44	T2	T4	T10
PGA Championship	DNP	CUT	T20	T5	T45	CUT	T10

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Masters Tournament	T40	T20	T39	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	CUT	T30	T54	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T74
The Open Championship	T36	T9	T28	DQ	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T51	T13	CUT	T34	CUT	T28	CUT	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = Disqualified
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	5
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	6
The Open Championship	0	2	0	3	5	7	11	10
PGA Championship	0	0	0	1	2	4	13	8
Totals	0	2	0	4	7	15	39	29

• Most consecutive cuts made - 11 (1995 Open Championship - 1998 Open Championship)
• Longest streak of top-10s - 2 (1999 Open Championship - 1999 PGA)

Team appearances

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy (representing Sweden): 1984, 1986
• St. Andrews Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 1986

Professional

• Europcar Cup: 1988 (winners)
• Dunhill Cup (representing Sweden): 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997
• World Cup (representing Sweden): 1994, 1995
• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1997 (winners), 1999, 2002 (winners)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]