Ian Woosnam 

Ian Woosnam
Personal Information
Birth 2 March 1958 (1958-03-02) (age 50)
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.

Contents

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, Miles Byrne, was responsible for this error, Woosnam surprisingly decided not to fire him 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."1 Ironically, he did fire his caddie two weeks later when, after a night drinking on the town, he failed to turn up to tee-time.2 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 19873, 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 Flag of 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

References

  1. ^ The Emotionally Intelligent Manager, David Caruso and Peter Salovey, Jossey-Bass publishing.
  2. ^ Woosnam sacks wayward caddie - BBC Sport
  3. ^ Back into the swing of it Woosnam in "The Scotsman" newspaper

See also

Golf portal

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Flag of Wales Steve Barry		 BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
1983		 Succeeded by
Flag of Wales Ian Rush
Preceded by
Flag of Wales Kirsty Wade		 BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
1987		 Succeeded by
Flag of Wales Colin Jackson
Preceded by
Flag of Wales Stephen Dodd		 BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
1990 – 1991		 Succeeded by
Flag of Wales Tanni Grey
v • d • e
World Number ones since 1986
*Tiger Woods (USA) is the current World No. 1, and has spent the most weeks in that position, currently over 500.
v • d • e
The Masters champions

1934 Horton Smith • 1935 Gene Sarazen • 1936 Horton Smith • 1937 Byron Nelson • 1938 Henry Picard • 1939 Ralph Guldahl • 1940 Jimmy Demaret • 1941 Craig Wood • 1942 Byron Nelson • 1943-45 Cancelled due to World War II • 1946 Herman Keiser • 1947 Jimmy Demaret • 1948 Claude Harmon • 1949 Sam Snead • 1950 Jimmy Demaret • 1951 Ben Hogan • 1952 Sam Snead • 1953 Ben Hogan • 1954 Sam Snead • 1955 Cary Middlecoff • 1956 Jack Burke, Jr. • 1957 Doug Ford • 1958 Arnold Palmer • 1959 Art Wall, Jr. • 1960 Arnold Palmer • 1961 Gary Player • 1962 Arnold Palmer • 1963 Jack Nicklaus • 1964 Arnold Palmer • 1965 Jack Nicklaus • 1966 Jack Nicklaus • 1967 Gay Brewer • 1968 Bob Goalby • 1969 George Archer • 1970 Billy Casper • 1971 Charles Coody • 1972 Jack Nicklaus • 1973 Tommy Aaron • 1974 Gary Player • 1975 Jack Nicklaus • 1976 Raymond Floyd • 1977 Tom Watson • 1978 Gary Player • 1979 Fuzzy Zoeller • 1980 Severiano Ballesteros • 1981 Tom Watson • 1982 Craig Stadler • 1983 Severiano Ballesteros • 1984 Ben Crenshaw • 1985 Bernhard Langer • 1986 Jack Nicklaus • 1987 Larry Mize • 1988 Sandy Lyle • 1989 Nick Faldo • 1990 Nick Faldo • 1991 Ian Woosnam • 1992 Fred Couples • 1993 Bernhard Langer • 1994 José María Olazábal • 1995 Ben Crenshaw • 1996 Nick Faldo • 1997 Tiger Woods • 1998 Mark O'Meara • 1999 José María Olazábal • 2000 Vijay Singh • 2001 Tiger Woods • 2002 Tiger Woods • 2003 Mike Weir • 2004 Phil Mickelson • 2005 Tiger Woods • 2006 Phil Mickelson • 2007 Zach Johnson • 2008 Trevor Immelman
v • d • e
2006 European Ryder Cup Squad
v • d • e
European Ryder Cup Captains
Great Britain

1927 Ted Ray · 1929 George Duncan · 1931 Charles Whitcombe · 1933 John Henry Taylor · 1935 Charles Whitcombe · 1937 Charles Whitcombe · 1947 Henry Cotton · 1949 Charles Whitcombe · 1951 Arthur Lacey · 1953 Henry Cotton · 1955 Dai Rees · 1957 Dai Rees · 1959 Dai Rees · 1961 Dai Rees · 1963 John Fallon · 1965 Harry Weetman · 1967 Dai Rees · 1969 Eric Brown · 1971 Eric Brown

Great Britain & Ireland

1973 Bernard Hunt · 1975 Bernard Hunt · 1977 Brian Huggett

Europe

1979 John Jacobs · 1981 John Jacobs · 1983 Tony Jacklin · 1985 Tony Jacklin · 1987 Tony Jacklin · 1989 Tony Jacklin · 1991 Bernard Gallacher · 1993 Bernard Gallacher · 1995 Bernard Gallacher · 1997 Seve Ballesteros · 1999 Mark James · 2002 Sam Torrance · 2004 Bernhard Langer · 2006 Ian Woosnam · 2008 Nick Faldo
v • d • e
European Tour Order of Merit winners
1971 Peter Oosterhuis • 1972 Peter Oosterhuis • 1973 Peter Oosterhuis • 1974 Peter Oosterhuis • 1975 Dale Hayes • 1976 Seve Ballesteros • 1977 Seve Ballesteros • 1978 Seve Ballesteros • 1979 Sandy Lyle • 1980 Sandy Lyle • 1981 Bernhard Langer • 1982 Greg Norman • 1983 Nick Faldo • 1984 Bernhard Langer • 1985 Sandy Lyle • 1986 Seve Ballesteros • 1987 Ian Woosnam • 1988 Seve Ballesteros • 1989 Ronan Rafferty • 1990 Ian Woosnam • 1991 Seve Ballesteros • 1992 Nick Faldo • 1993 Colin Montgomerie • 1994 Colin Montgomerie • 1995 Colin Montgomerie • 1996 Colin Montgomerie • 1997 Colin Montgomerie • 1998 Colin Montgomerie • 1999 Colin Montgomerie • 2000 Lee Westwood • 2001 Retief Goosen • 2002 Retief Goosen • 2003 Ernie Els • 2004 Ernie Els • 2005 Colin Montgomerie • 2006 Pádraig Harrington • 2007 Justin Rose
v • d • e
European Tour Golfer of the Year
1985 Bernhard Langer • 1986 Seve Ballesteros • 1987 Ian Woosnam • 1988 Seve Ballesteros • 1989 Nick Faldo • 1990 Nick Faldo • 1991 Seve Ballesteros • 1992 Nick Faldo • 1993 Bernhard Langer • 1994 Ernie Els • 1995 Colin Montgomerie • 1996 Colin Montgomerie • 1997 Colin Montgomerie • 1998 Lee Westwood • 1999 Colin Montgomerie • 2000 Lee Westwood • 2001 Retief Goosen • 2002 Ernie Els • 2003 Ernie Els • 2004 Vijay Singh • 2005 Michael Campbell • 2006 Paul Casey • 2007 Pádraig Harrington