Ben Crane
| Ben Crane | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Benjamin McCully Crane |
| Born |
March 6, 1976 Portland, Oregon |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st) |
| Nationality |
 United States |
| Residence | Westlake, Texas |
| Career | |
| College |
Baylor University University of Oregon |
| Turned professional | 1999 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 7 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 4 |
| Asian Tour | 1 |
| Web.com Tour | 2 |
| Best results in Major Championships | |
| Masters Tournament | T17: 2012 |
| U.S. Open | T53: 2008 |
| The Open Championship | T11: 2006 |
| PGA Championship | T9: 2004 |
Benjamin McCully Crane (born March 6, 1976) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
Amateur career
Crane was born in Portland, Oregon. He was age five when his grandfather taught him how to play golf, and he grew up playing at the nearby Portland Golf Club where Ben Hogan won the 1945 Portland Open. He graduated from Beaverton High School in 1994 and went on to attend Baylor University in Texas but did not play golf there.[1] He later played golf and graduated from the University of Oregon. He turned professional in 1999.
Professional career
Crane won an event on the second tier Nationwide Tour in both 2000 and 2001.
Crane earned a PGA Tour card for 2002, and the following season won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the BellSouth Classic. He also had a win in 2005. In February 2006, just before he turned thirty, he was the highest-ranked American golfer under that age in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Crane has said that he does not like to know with whom he will be paired, saying, "I looked up to a lot of these guys who I'm now playing with. So, I didn't want to have to go to sleep thinking about it."
Crane is also considered one of the slowest players in the tour. On at least two occasions his extremely slow progress through a course has become a media issue, including one in which a fellow tour player Rory Sabbatini played out of turn.[2]
Crane missed the majority of the 2007 season due to back problems, and played on the PGA Tour in 2008 on a major medical extension. He finished 64th on the money list to retain his card for 2009.
In January 2010, Crane carded a final-round 70 to win the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines by a single stroke.[3] In October 2010, he won the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia, an event co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour (but unofficial money) and Asian Tour.[4]
He picked up his fourth win on the PGA Tour in 2011 at the McGladrey Classic, defeating Webb Simpson in a playoff.[5] Crane shot a final round 63 to make the playoff, having at one stage been eight strokes back of the leader. The round included eight birdies and one bogey in ten holes from the 8th thru to the 17th.
Personal
Ben Crane currently is one of four golfers in the PGA Tour exclusive "boy band", "Golf Boys" - the other three golfers are Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson & Hunter Mahan. The Golf Boys currently have a popular YouTube video for the song "Oh Oh Oh". Farmers Insurance will donate $1,000 for every 100,000 views of the video. The charitable proceeds will support both Farmers and Ben Crane charitable initiatives.[6]
His wife, Heather, gave birth to a baby girl, Saylor Mackenzie Crane, on October 17, 2011.[7]
Incorrect quotation about Tiger Woods
In early December 2009 Life & Style magazine reported that Crane had called Tiger Woods a "fake and a phony" due to Woods' recently publicized marital infidelity. Crane denied making the remarks, stating that he was not even at Q-school where the magazine said he was interviewed.[8] “My wife and I have prayed for Tiger and Elin, and we want nothing but the best for them,” Crane said.[9] In January 2010 the magazine retracted its story, stating that the evidence indicated that the comments were made by someone impersonating Crane.[10]
Amateur wins (1)
this list may be incomplete
Professional wins (7)
PGA Tour wins (4)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apr 6, 2003 | BellSouth Classic | –16 (73-73-64-63=272) | 4 strokes | Bob Tway |
| 2 | Jul 24, 2005 | U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee | –20 (62-65-64-69=260) | 4 strokes | Scott Verplank |
| 3 | Jan 31, 2010 | Farmers Insurance Open | –13 (65-71-69-70=275) | 1 stroke |  Marc Leishman, Michael Sim, Brandt Snedeker |
| 4 | Oct 16, 2011 | McGladrey Classic | –15 (65-70-67-63=265) | Playoff | Webb Simpson |
PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011 | McGladrey Classic | Webb Simpson |
Won with par on second extra hole |
Asian Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oct 31, 2010 | CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia^ | –18 (67-64-66-69=266) | 1 stroke |  Brian Davis |
^Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour, but unofficial money event.
Nationwide Tour wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 23, 2000 | BUY.COM Wichita Open | –25 (67-63-66-67=263) | 3 strokes | Kelly Grunewald, Vance Veazey |
| 2 | Oct 14, 2001 | Gila River Classic | –23 (63-66-64-68=271) | Playoff | Jason Caron, Bo Van Pelt |
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT | CUT | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | 62 | DNP | T53 | CUT |
| The Open Championship | DNP | CUT | DNP | DNP | T11 | DNP | DNP | CUT |
| PGA Championship | DNP | T48 | T9 | T40 | CUT | DNP | CUT | T43 |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T25 | CUT | T17 |
| U.S. Open | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T39 | T37 | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 11 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (four times)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1
See also
References
- ↑ "PGA Tour profile". Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ↑ "Sabbatini apologizes to Crane after snapping". ESPN. June 14, 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
- ↑ "Ben Crane claims Farmers Open win at Torrey Pines". BBC Sport. January 31, 2010. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
- ↑ Ben Crane gets by with 69 for victory
- ↑ Ben Crane rallies to win McGladrey
- ↑ "Golf Boys - Oh Oh Oh (Official Video)". June 13, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
- ↑ "Tweet re: baby girl". October 17, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
- ↑ "PGA pros deny making inflammatory quotes about Tiger". Yahoo! Sports. December 10, 2009. Archived from the original on December 14, 2009. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
- ↑ A new season for the Daly Show - Mistaken identity
- ↑ "Life & Style correction". Life & Style. January 13, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
External links
- Ben Crane at the PGA Tour official site
- Ben Crane at the Official World Golf Ranking official site