Ian Woosnam

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Ian Woosnam
Personal Information
Birth (1958-03-02) 2 March 1958 (age 66)
Oswestry, England
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg)
Nationality Wales
Residence Channel Islands, Jersey
College None
Career
Turned Pro 1976
Current tour European Tour (joined 1979)
European Seniors Tour (joined 2008)
Champions Tour (joined 2008)
Professional wins 46 (PGA Tour: 2, European Tour: 28, European Seniors Tour: 2, Other: 14)
Best Results in Major Championships
Wins: 1
Masters Won 1991
U.S. Open T2: 1989
The Open T3: 1986, 2001
PGA Championship 6th: 1989
Awards
European Tour Order of Merit Winner 1987, 1990

Ian Harold Woosnam OBE (born 2 March 1958) is a Welsh professional golfer. Nicknamed 'Woosers`, `Woosie`, or the 'Wee Welshman', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, who all won majors, and made Europe competitive in the Ryder Cup. His peers in this group were Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, and Sandy Lyle.

Career outline

Woosnam was born in the town of Oswestry in England, and his family lived in the nearby village of St Martin's in Shropshire. He started playing at the unique Llanymynech Golf Club - which is partly in Wales and partly in England. He is short for a male golfer at 5 ft 4½ in (1.64 m), but he is a powerful hitter. He played as an amateur in regional competitions in the English county of Shropshire alongside Sandy Lyle.

Woosnam turned professional in 1976 and first played the European Tour in 1979. After three modest seasons his career took off in 1982 when he won the Swiss Open and came eighth on the Order of Merit (prize money list). He also finished in the top ten on the Order of Merit every year from 1983 to 1991 and again in 1993, 1996, and 1997, making thirteen times in all. In 1987 and 1990 he was first, and in the former year he set a world record for global tournament earnings of £1,062,662.

Woosnam placed third in the 1986 Open Championship. In 1991, he reached the top of the Official World Golf Rankings, eventually spending a total of 50 weeks as World Number 1. In the same year, he emulated his British rivals, Sandy Lyle and Nick Faldo, by winning the U.S. Masters; the first person representing Wales to ever win a major championship. He has won 28 official money events on the European Tour and many other events around the world.

In the late 1990s, his form began to fade, but he nearly made a spectacular comeback at The Open Championship in 2001, when he finished third despite suffering a two-stroke penalty for starting the final round with 15 clubs in his bag instead of the allowable maximum of 14. While his caddie was responsible for this error, he surprisingly decided not to fire his caddie, Miles Byrne, stating: "It is the biggest mistake he will make in his life. He won't do it again. He's a good caddie. I am not going to sack him. He's a good lad."Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). That same year, Woosnam became the first player to capture the World Match Play Championship in three different decades.

Woosnam was a member of eight consecutive European Ryder Cup teams from 1983 to 1997. Despite not winning a singles match he accumulated an excellent overall record of 14 wins, 12 losses and 5 halves in 31 matches. He was a vice captain for the 2002 European team and was elected as captain for the 2006 Ryder Cup, leading Europe to victory over the U.S. 18½-9½. This will be a one-off assignment as Nick Faldo was elected for 2008 at the same time.

Woosnam was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in early 1987[1], which affects approximately 1 in 200 men and 1 in 500 women in Britain.

Woosnam was awarded an O.B.E. in the 2007 New Years Honours List. He now lives in Jersey.

On 1 June 2008, Woosnam won his first stroke play title in 11 years at the Parkridge Polish Seniors Championship at Krakow Valley Golf and Country Club, finishing with a course record 63. The tournament was his third appearance on European Seniors Tour, which he joined after turning 50 years old in March 2008.

On 1 July 2008, Woosnam signed up with Forgan Golf, the oldest surviving golf manufacturer in the world.

Professional wins (46)

European Tour wins (28)

The Masters was not an official European Tour event in 1991. Note that the list of Woosnam's European Tour wins on the European Tour's official site includes several items which are not individual wins in official tournaments.

PGA Tour wins (2)

Major championship is shown in bold.

Other wins (14)

European Seniors Tour wins (2)

Major Championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner Up
1991 The Masters 1 shot lead -11 (72-66-67-72=277) 1 stroke Spain José María Olazábal

Results timeline

Tournament 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT T14
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T2
The Open Championship CUT CUT CUT T16 T3 T8 T25 T49
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP T30 CUT WD 6
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament T30 1 T19 T17 T46 T17 T29 T39 T16 T14
U.S. Open T21 T55 T6 T52 CUT T21 T79 CUT CUT DNP
The Open Championship T4 T17 T5 T51 CUT T49 CUT T24 T57 T24
PGA Championship T31 T48 CUT T22 T9 CUT T36 CUT T29 CUT
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Masters Tournament T40 CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT DNP 44
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T68 T3 T37 72 DNP CUT DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship CUT T51 CUT DNP CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

  • World Cup (representing Wales): 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987 (team and individual winner), 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2003.
  • Hennessy Cognac Cup: 1982 (winners), 1984
  • Ryder Cup: 1983, 1985 (winners), 1987 (winners), 1989 (tied - cup retained), 1991, 1993, 1995 (winners), 1997 (winners), Vice Captain 2002 (winners), Captain 2006 (winners)
  • Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Wales): 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2000
  • Four Tours World Championship: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990
  • Seve Trophy: (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2000, 2002 (winners)
  • UBS Cup: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
  • Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2006 (winners)

References

  1. ^ Back into the swing of it Woosnam in "The Scotsman" newspaper

See also

External links

Awards
Preceded by BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
1983 		Succeeded by
Preceded by BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
1990 – 1991 		Succeeded by
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