Sam Torrance

Sam Torrance
Personnel
Nation:	Scotland
Career data
Professional since:	1970
Current tour:	European Seniors Tour
Tournament wins:	43
Major wins :	no
Awards:	OBE (2003)

Sam Torrance , OBE (born August 24, 1953 in Largs , Scotland ) is a Scottish professional golfer . He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid- 1970s to the late 1990s and, in 2002, the non-playing captain of the victorious European Ryder Cup team.

Career

Torrance became a professional golfer at the age of 16 and started the European Tour at 17 . He achieved his first professional tournament victory in 1972, the one on the European Tour in 1976. He won a total of 21 times on the tour, only his compatriot Colin Montgomerie can show more. The longed-for Major victory was denied Torrance.

From 2003 he was eligible to play on the European Seniors Tour and won his first tournament there in 2004. In the following years he was already at the top of the Seniors Tour's Order of Merit money list . But he still plays occasionally on the European Tour and made his 700th appearance there in July 2006 at the Barclays Scottish Open in Loch Lomond .

Torrance was represented eight times in the European Ryder Cup team, in 1985 he sank the winning putt to his first win after 28 years of American dominance. 17 years later he was elected non-playing captain and Torrance led Team Europe to victory again at The Belfry in 2002 . In March 2014, Paul McGinley appointed him “non playing” Vice Captain of the 2014 European Ryder Cup team.

Sam Torrance has been married to the English actress Suzanne Danielle since 1988 .

Awards

• MBE (1996, for services to golf)
• OBE (2003, for his services as Ryder Cup captain)
• Scottish Golf Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award (2012)

European Tour victories

• 1976 Piccadilly Medal, Martini International
• 1981 Carroll's Irish Open
• 1982 Benson & Hedges Spanish Open, Portuguese Open
• 1983 Scandinavian Enterprise Open, Portuguese Open
• 1984 Tunisian Open, Benson & Hedges International Open, Sanyo Open
• 1985 Johnnie Walker Monte Carlo Open
• 1987 Lancia Italian Open
• 1990 Mercedes German Masters
• 1991 Jersey European Airways Open
• 1993 Kronenbourg Open, Heineken Open, Honda Open
• 1995 Italian Open, Murphy's Irish Open , Collingtree British Masters
• 1998 Peugeot Open de France

Other tournament victories

• 1972 Radici Open (Italy), Under-25 Match Play Championship
• 1975 Zambian Open
• 1978 Scottish Professional Championship
• 1979 Colombian Open
• 1980 Australian PGA Championship, Scottish Professional Championship
• 1983 C * Scottish PGA Championship ( Challenge Tour )
• 1985 Scottish Professional Championship
• 1991 Scottish Professional Championship
• 1993 Scottish Professional Championship

European Seniors Tour victories

• 2004 Travis Perkins Senior Masters
• 2005 Irvine Whitlock Seniors Classic, De Vere PGA Seniors Championship, Bendinat London Seniors Master
• 2006 Sharp Italian Seniors Open, AIB Irish Seniors Open, PGA Seniors Championship, Charles Church Scottish Seniors Open
• 2007 Bendinat London Seniors Masters
• 2008 OKI Castellón Open España - Senior Tour Championship
• 2009 DGM Barbados Open

Participation in team competitions

• Ryder Cup (Europe): 1981, 1983, 1985 (winner), 1987 (winner), 1989 (draw, cup defended), 1991, 1993, 1995 (winner), 2002 (non-playing captain of the winner)
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (for Scotland): 1985, 86, 87, 89, 90, 91, 93, 95 (winner), 99
• World Cup (for Scotland): 1976, 1978, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995
• Four Tours World Championship : 1985, 1991 (winning captain)
• Hennessy Cognac Cup : 1976 (winner), 1978 (winner), 1980 (winner), 1982 (winner), 1984
• Double Diamond : 1973 (winner), 1976, 1977
• UBS Cup : 2001, 2002, 2003
• Seve Trophy (for GB & Ireland): 2013 ( non playing captain )

Web links

• Player profile European Tour