Craig Parry

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Craig Parry (born January 12, 1966) has been one of Australia's premier golfers since turning professional in 1986, and has 22 career victories, two of those wins being events on the PGA Tour; the 2002 WGC-NEC Invitational and the 2004 Ford Championship at Doral.

Parry was born in Sunshine, Victoria. His first career victory came at the 1987 New South Wales Open, (an event he later won again in 1992) and later that year won the Canadian TPC. In 1992 he won three of Australia's top four tournaments, placing first at the Australian PGA Championship, New South Wales Open and the Australian Masters, a tournament he has won three times (in '92, '94 and '96). He has also won six events on the European Tour, the latest being his play-off victory over fellow Australian Nick O'Hern at the 2005 Heineken Classic, an event which had been dominated by South African superstar Ernie Els the preceding three years. He played the European Tour on a regular basis from 1988 to 1991 and had two top ten finishes on the Order of Merit: 3rd in 1989 and 5th in 1991. Since 1992 he has played mainly on the PGA Tour, while continuing to compete around the world.

He has featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

He has been an integral part of Australian national teams and has been a member of the International Team in three Presidents Cups: 1994, 1996, and 1998. He won the PGA Tour of Australasia's Order of Merit in 1995 and 2002.

Over the years there has been criticism over his unorthodox swing - he is one of very few professional golfers who swing the club "over-the-top" on the downswing, a trait usually associated with less skilled golfers. Nonetheless, he continues to perform on golf's greatest stage at the highest of standards.

Parry is married with 3 children. He now has residences in both Sydney, Australia and Orlando, Florida, USA.

[edit] Professional wins

PGA Tour of Australasia

1987 Panasonic New South Wales Open
1992 Australian PGA Championship, New South Wales Open, Microsoft Australian Masters
1994 Pyramid Australian Masters
1995 Canon Challenge, Greg Norman's Holden Classic
1996 Ericsson Masters
1997 Coolum Classic
1999 Ford Open
2002 New Zealand Open, WGC-NEC Invitational (multi-sanctioned)
2005 Heineken Classic (co-sanctioned with European Tour)