Koivuniemi has 14 PBA titles, including three majors, and 29 career
300 games in PBA events through 2016. He passed the $1 million mark (U.S.) in total PBA earnings during the 2007–08 season. An extremely versatile bowler, he was the first player to win a title on all five of the PBA's original "animal" oil patterns (Shark, Chameleon, Cheetah, Scorpion and Viper) – a feat matched only by
Tommy Jones so far. Koivuniemi joined the PBA at age 31 in 1999. He had some initial success, but he didn't gain much traction until the 2001–02 season when he entered 27 events, cashed in 20, made match play 15 times, made the TV finals three times, and won one title. Koivuniemi raised the bar in the 2003–04 season when he was awarded PBA Player of the Year honors, becoming just the second international player (after
Venezuela's
Amleto Monacelli) and first European so honored. During that season he entered 20 events, cashed in 16, made match play 13 times, made the TV finals seven times, won two titles, and earned the PBA's George Young High Average Award. It was during this season that Koivuniemi bowled the 17th-ever televised 300 game in PBA Tour history, in a match against
Jason Couch. Koivuniemi's nickname on tour was "Major Mika." This is because his first two PBA titles came in major championships: the 2000
ABC Masters and 2001–02
U.S. Open. With the latter victory, he became the first foreign-born player to win the U.S. Open. He has also been dubbed "The Big Finn" by
ESPN commentator
Randy Pedersen. On January 22, 2011, Koivuniemi won the
PBA Tournament of Champions to capture his third PBA major title and the first prize of $250,000, the richest first-place prize in PBA tour history. In the semifinal match of this tournament, Mika narrowly missed becoming the first player in PBA history to roll
two televised 300 games in a PBA Tour event, when he left a ringing 10 pin on the final shot for a 299 score. In addition, Koivuniemi's opponent in that match,
Tom Daugherty, scored 100, so the margin of victory (+199) was the largest in Tour history. Koivuniemi went on to roll ten more strikes in the final match to defeat top seed
Tom Smallwood, 269–207, for the major championship. He now needs only a
PBA World Championship title to complete a career "Grand Slam." Koivuniemi also finished as the runner-up at the 2011 U.S. Open, which was arguably the most painful moment in his bowling career. Needing a 17 pin fill to win the title, he left the 10 pin on the first shot. He had to convert and then get at least 8 pins on his fill shot. However, he shockingly failed to convert the spare and lost to
Norm Duke by the score of 225–216. The missed spare shocked Duke as well, given that Koivuniemi is known as one of the best spare converters on tour. Nonetheless, Koivuniemi became the only PBA player to make the TV finals in all four majors during a single season. These 2010–11 accomplishments earned him his second PBA Player of the Year Award. On December 2, 2012, Koivuniemi became the first European player to win the PBA-DHC Japan Cup. Mika is a two-time winner of the World Bowling Tour (WBT) Men's Finals. Participants in this non-title event are based on a rolling points list from WBT events over the previous two years. Koivuniemi won his most recent WBT Men's Final on November 2, 2014, defeating
Sean Rash in the final match. Although he had been on tour for only nine seasons at the time, Koivuniemi was still ranked #49 on the PBA's 2008 Golden Anniversary list of "50 greatest PBA players of the last 50 years." He has won over $1.89 million (USD) in his PBA career.
Retirement Koivuniemi announced in July 2015 that he would be retiring from full-time competitive bowling. The opportunity to coach the bowling team of the
United Arab Emirates and the need to rehab from back and knee injuries were the main factors in his decision. Koivuniemi was again the top qualifier at the 2019 PBA Senior U.S. Open, but this time he lost the title match to
Norway's
Tore Torgersen in an all-Scandinavia final. After resigning from his UAE team coaching position, he returned to
Michigan (residing in
Traverse City) to participate on the 2024 PBA50 Tour full-time. Despite not winning a title, Koivuniemi had an excellent 2024 PBA50 season. He made the top ten in all ten events he entered, made the stepladder finals eight times, and had three runner-up finishes. On July 15, 2025, Koivuniemi won his second PBA50 Tour title in the PBA50
Petraglia Championship held in
Jackson, Michigan. ==Koivuniemi's PBA titles==