| Ben Curtis | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Ben Clifford Curtis |
| Born | May 26, 1977 Columbus, Ohio |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Residence | Kent, Ohio |
| Spouse | Candace Curtis |
| Career | |
| College | Kent State University |
| Turned professional | 2000 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour (joined 2003), European Tour (joined 2009) |
| Professional wins | 3 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 3 |
| Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 1) |
|
| Masters Tournament | T35: 2009 |
| U.S. Open | T14: 2010 |
| The Open Championship | Won: 2003 |
| PGA Championship | T2: 2008 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| PGA Tour Rookie of the Year |
2003 |
Ben Clifford Curtis (born May 26, 1977) is an American professional golfer best known for winning the 2003 Open Championship.
Contents |
Curtis was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in Ostrander, Ohio. His family runs the Mill Creek Golf Club, also in Ostrander. Curtis is a graduate of Buckeye Valley High School and Kent State University, where he was a star on the golf team.
As an amateur, Curtis found much success, winning the Ohio Amateur in 1999 and 2000 (joining professional golfers John Cook and Arnold Palmer as the only men to win the Ohio Amateur in consecutive years), and also the Players Amateur in 2000.
Curtis turned professional in 2000, originally playing on the Hooters Tour without some success. At the end of 2002, he finished in a tie for 26th at that year's Q-School, earning his PGA Tour card for the following year becoming one of the few players to completely skip the Nationwide Tour. His first year on tour began unspectacularly as he made a fair amount of cuts, but had no finishes in the top 25 until a tie for 13th at the Western Open, a result which qualified him to play in that year's British Open.
Curtis entered the The Open Championship at Royal St George's in 2003 as a 300–1 outsider, defying the odds to win the tournament by one stroke from Thomas Bjørn and Vijay Singh on the final day.
The 2003 Open Championship was Curtis' first appearance in a major; he became the first golfer since Francis Ouimet in the 1913 U.S. Open to win his major championship debut. After his victory, Curtis jumped from 396th in the Official World Golf Rankings to 35th, the highest jump for any person. This victory and a solid first season on the PGA Tour led to Curtis' being named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 2003.
Curtis' British Open victory gave him a five year exemption on the PGA Tour and a ten year exemption on the European Tour, and he played events on both tours in 2004. However, he did not experience immediate success, missing many cuts and only recording one top ten finish on the PGA Tour. He missed even more cuts in 2005 and only had two top ten finishes.
In 2006, his results improved as he made the cut much more consistently and recorded two wins: the Booz Allen Classic and the 84 Lumber Classic. His consistent form continued into 2007 and he tied for 8th place at that year's British Open in Carnoustie, his best result in a major since winning the tournament.
2008 was Curtis's most consistent season to date, recording five top ten finishes and missing only four cuts all year. He bettered his British Open result from the previous year by finishing in a tie for 7th at Royal Birkdale and followed it up a month later by finishing tied for 2nd place in the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills. This second place finish qualified him for the 2008 Ryder Cup, his first appearance in the event.
This consistent form continued into 2009, with only three missed cuts in 18 PGA Tour events that year. However, despite this statistic Curtis only managed one top 20 finish and ended the year outside the top 100 in the money list, but he did achieve two top ten finishes on the European Tour. At the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry, Curtis shot a 65 to tie for second after the first round, but a second round 80 meant that he missed the cut by one shot.
As of 2011, Curtis and his wife Candace reside in Franklin Township, just north of Kent, Ohio after previously living in neighboring Stow.[1]
|
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 20, 2003 | The Open Championship | -1 (72–72–70–69=283) | 1 stroke | Thomas Bjørn, Vijay Singh |
| 2 | Jun 27, 2006 | Booz Allen Classic | -20 (62–65–67–70=264) | 5 strokes | Billy Andrade, Pádraig Harrington, Nick O'Hern, Steve Stricker |
| 3 | Sep 17, 2006 | 84 Lumber Classic | -14 (66–69–69–70=274) | 2 strokes | Charles Howell III |
| Year | Championship | 54 Holes | Winning Score | Margin | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | The Open Championship | 2 shot deficit | −1 (72–72–70–69=283) | 1 stroke | Thomas Bjørn, Vijay Singh |
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | CUT | CUT | T39 | CUT | CUT | T35 | CUT | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | 30 | CUT | 57 | T45 | CUT | 57 | T14 | DNP |
| The Open Championship | 1 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T8 | T7 | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | T34 | T60 | CUT | T2 | T24 | CUT | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accenture Match Play Championship | DNP | R32 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| CA Championship | T30 | DNP | DNP | DNP | T58 | DNP |
| Bridgestone Invitational | T66 | DNP | DNP | T42 | 80 | DNP |
| Tournament | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|
| Accenture Match Play Championship | R64 | DNP |
| CA Championship | T28 | DNP |
| Bridgestone Invitational | T64 | T39 |
| HSBC Champions | DNP | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
Amateur
Professional
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||