James Driscoll
| James Driscoll | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
October 9, 1977 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Nationality |
 United States |
| Career | |
| College | University of Virginia |
| Turned professional | 2001 |
| Current tour(s) | Web.com Tour |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 1 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| Web.com Tour | 1 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | CUT: 2001 |
| U.S. Open | CUT: 2005 |
| The Open Championship | CUT: 2009, 2012 |
| PGA Championship | DNP |
James Driscoll (born October 9, 1977) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour.
Amateur career
Driscoll was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest of seven children. He grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts outside of Boston. He started golf at a young age and won the Club Championship at his home club of Charles River age 15. James won the Massachusetts Junior Championship a year later. He then went on to defeat the state's best golfers at the Massachusetts State Amateur Championship in 1996 at the age of 18 and then again in 1998.[1] He was the youngest winner ever of the Massachusetts Amateur and showed much promise at a young age. By the summer of 1996 James was the second-ranked junior in the country, and that is when he made his first cameo on the national stage, losing the final of the U.S. Junior to Scott Hailes.[2]
Driscoll attended Brookline High School, Brookline, Massachusetts and then attended The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, for a postgraduate year[3] and went on to the University of Virginia where he was named to the Virginia first-team All-State golf team his senior year.[4] He lost to Jeff Quinney in the finals of the 2000 U.S. Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey. He had upset Englishman Luke Donald in the semifinals 2&1 and made an inspiring comeback in the final being 3 down with three to play. Driscoll was eventually defeated on the 39th hole by Quinney. His runner-up finish gave him an invitation to the 2001 Masters Tournament. At the Masters Driscoll fired a 68 in the first round, marking the best opening round by an amateur since Ken Venturi's 66 in 1956. His playing partner Tom Watson said, "This was the best round I've seen here by an amateur."[2] Driscoll shot 78 in the second round to miss the cut by one stroke. He was a member of the 2001 Walker Cup team.
Professional career
Driscoll turned professional in 2001. He won his first and only professional event at the 2004 Nationwide Tour event the Virginia Beach Open. He has been on and off the PGA Tour for a couple years, but his top 25 finish on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list has given him PGA Tour membership for 2008. Driscoll was runner-up at the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2005. James lost to Tim Petrovic in a sudden-death playoff after missing a birdie putt on the final green of regulation for the win. He had his second runner-up finish on the 2009 Valero Texas Open, losing to Zach Johnson in a sudden-death playoff.
Amateur wins (9)
- 1993 Massachusetts Junior Amateur
- 1994 Hornblower Memorial Tournament
- 1995 New England Amateur, Western Junior
- 1996 Massachusetts Amateur
- 1998 Massachusetts Amateur, Golf Digest Invitational
- 1999 North and South Amateur, Hornblower Memorial Tournament
Professional wins (1)
PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2005 | Zurich Classic of New Orleans | Tim Petrovic | Lost to par on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2009 | Valero Texas Open | Zach Johnson | Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
Nationwide Tour (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 12, 2004 | Virginia Beach Open | −15 (70-69-66-68=273) | 4 strokes | Jason Buha, Kyle Thompson, Jimmy Walker |
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | CUT |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
See also
- 2004 Nationwide Tour graduates
- 2007 Nationwide Tour graduates
- 2010 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
- ↑ Past winners of the Massachusetts Amateur Championship
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Shipnuck, Alan (April 16, 2001). "Family Style: Despite Missing The Cut, amateur James Driscoll had a week that he and his clan won't soon forget". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
- ↑ James Driscoll Finds Game
- ↑ James Driscoll Named to First-Team All-State Golf Team
External links
- James Driscoll at the PGA Tour official site
- James Driscoll at the Official World Golf Ranking official site