Mikko Ilonen can be described as Mr. Golf in his native country. Ilonen has been the number one golfer in Finland since 2001, longer than any other European player in their respective countries. 

Added another first to his repertoire when he became the first Finn to win the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool in 2000. In April 2001, Mikko – as the defending champion of the Amateur Championship – was invited to play in the Masters Golf Tournament where he got to play two rounds at Augusta with Tiger Woods. After the Masters, Ilonen turned pro. He started his professional career with a bang, as he qualified to play in the Open, and finished ninth. As the season 2001 came to its end, Mikko was 119th on the European Tour money list. This gave him a ‘Tour Card’ with a limited category for the 2002 season.

In 2006 he used the experience of that amateur success to full effect when he finished 16th at the same venue in The 135th Open Championship. That fine performance, allied to some sound showings at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, The Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship of Europe and the Omega European Masters, saw him finish 112th on the Money List having played just nine events.

He became the first Finnish player to win on The European Tour with his victory at the 2007 Indonesia Open. Added further success when he won the Scandinavian Masters title to become one of seven multiple winners of the 2007 season. 2007 was a great year as he was part of European Team in the Seve Trophy, and represented Finland in the World Cup in China. That season, his earnings totaled over 1.1 million euros. Ilonen continued making history by becoming the first Finn to successfully qualify to play in the US Open in Pebble Beach (June 17–20, 2010).