Steve Marino

Steve Marino
Personal information
Full name Stephen Paul Marino, Jr.
Born (1980-03-10) March 10, 1980
Altus, Oklahoma, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Jupiter, Florida, U.S.
Career
College University of Virginia
Turned professional 2002
Current tour(s) PGA Tour
Former tour(s) Web.com Tour
Professional wins 2
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T14: 2010
U.S. Open T63: 2010
The Open Championship T38: 2009
PGA Championship T60: 2008

Stephen Paul Marino, Jr. (born March 10, 1980) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Early life, education, early golf

A military brat, Marino was born in Altus, Oklahoma, where his father, Steve Sr., was stationed as a navigator in the U.S. Air Force. The family moved to Alaska when he was an infant, and later to Ohio and Alabama.[1] In 1991, they relocated to Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb southwest of Washington, D.C., where they continue to reside.

Marino's golf game began to blossom at age 14, when he worked and played at the Army Navy Country Club in Fairfax; he graduated from W.T. Woodson High School in 1998. During his senior year he won the Virginia High School championship, and received a golf scholarship to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.[2] At the end of his freshman year, he won the 1999 Virginia Amateur championship. He was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity[3] and graduated from U.Va. in 2002 with a degree in sociology.[4]

Early professional career

Marino embarked on his professional career in 2002 on the Tar Heel Tour, and moved to Florida to practice and play year-round. He qualified for the Canadian Tour for the 2003 season, and went to Canada again in 2004, but then headed back to Florida. There he played on the Golden Bear Tour, a developmental circuit backed by Jack Nicklaus in which all the events were within 60 miles (100 km) of West Palm Beach, near where he lived then (and now).[5]

Before reaching the PGA Tour, Marino's pro highlight was winning the 2006 Sidney Frank Memorial Gateway Tour Championship, where he carded a 13-under-par 59 during the third round.[6] It was his second Gateway Tour win of 2006.[7] Marino was a Monday qualifier on the Nationwide Tour in 2006, where he earned $134,000 and finished 42nd on the money list, which was insufficient to earn a PGA Tour card. Instead, he qualified through the six-round qualifying school in December, earning his card for the 2007 season.

PGA Tour

In his rookie season of 2007, Marino finished 80th on the PGA Tour money list and retained his tour card for 2008, with winnings exceeding $1,100,000. He had four top-10 finishes in 31 events. In 2008, Marino finished 34th on the PGA Tour money list, earning over $2,000,000, and retained his tour card for 2009. He had six top-10 finishes in 32 events, highlighted by a career-best second-place finish in the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun in Mexico.

In May 2009, Marino and Tim Clark lost to Steve Stricker in a two-hole playoff at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. Marino received international attention in 2009 when he was co-leader (with Tom Watson) at the halfway point of the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry in Scotland.[8] However, Marino faltered over the weekend and finished the event tied 38th. He finished the 2009 season 35th on the PGA Tour money list.

Marino finished tied for second at the 2011 Sony Open in Hawaii.[9] He led the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am after the second and third rounds, but on the final day, eventual winner D. A. Points passed him. Marino had to make an eagle on the par-5 18th hole in order to tie Points, who had finished. But Marino hit into the Pacific Ocean and took a triple-bogey eight, which dropped him into a tie for fourth place.[10] Marino led the 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational during the fourth round, as late as the 17th hole. But he suffered two buried lies in bunkers on the 15th and 17th holes, and despite making a birdie on the final hole, ended in second place, one stroke behind winner Martin Laird.[11] Despite not winning so far on the PGA Tour, Marino's strong play in 2011 advanced his position on the Official World Golf Ranking to a career high of #54.[12] Marino was identified as the best PGA Tour player without a victory by writer Craig Dolch, who noted that he has posted 21 top-10 finishes in his 124 Tour starts to date.[13]

In January 2012, Marino was diagnosed with a bone contusion on the tip of his tibia and femur in his left leg. He did not play again until May.[14] In 2012, he played at total of six PGA Tour events, making the cut in two of them. In 2013, he played in 12 PGA Tour events, making the cut five times.

In March 2016, Marino lost in a sudden-death playoff to Tony Finau at the Puerto Rico Open. In the playoff, both players birdied the 18th hole twice. But playing the 18th for the third time in the playoff, Marino three-putted from just off the green for a par, while Finau birdied the hole again for the win. This was Marino's fifth runner-up finish of his career but he is still winless in 182 events on the PGA Tour.

Personal

Marino currently resides in Tequesta, Florida.

Amateur wins (1)

Professional wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial South Africa Tim Clark, United States Steve Stricker Stricker won with birdie on second extra hole
2 2016 Puerto Rico Open United States Tony Finau Lost to birdie on third extra hole

Other wins (2)

PGA Tour career summary

Season Wins Earnings ($) Rank
2005 0 14,542 n/a
2006 0 0 n/a
2007 0 1,179,165 80
2008 0 2,094,267 34
2009 0 2,161,539 35
2010 0 1,479,239 61
2011 0 1,975,076 38
2012 0 85,040 212
2013 0 148,874 192
2014 0 294,565 170
2015 0 0 n/a
2016 0 768,200 120
Career* 0 10,200,508 156

*Complete through the 2015–16 season.

Results in major championships

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP T14 T42 DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open CUT CUT DNP T63 DNP CUT DNP DNP CUT
The Open Championship DNP DNP T38 T55 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP T60 CUT CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

See also

References

  1. ↑ PGA Tour.com - interview transcript - November 8, 2008
  2. ↑ Local PGA golfer returns to his roots
  3. ↑ nicindy.org - Greeks in sports
  4. ↑ PGA Tour profile
  5. ↑ Washington Post.com - Steve Marino returns to the British Open – July 11, 2010
  6. ↑ NBC Sports broadcast of 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational, March 27, 2011
  7. ↑ PGA Tour Media Guide
  8. ↑ Woods misses cut as Watson shines - accessed July 18, 2009
  9. ↑ pgatour.com, 2011 Sony Open tournament data
  10. ↑ CBS Sports broadcast of 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, 4th round, February 13, 2011; pgatour.com, 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am tournament data
  11. ↑ NBC Sports broadcast of 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational, 4th round, March 27, 2011; pgatour.com, 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational tournament data
  12. ↑ pgatour.com, Official World Golf Ranking for March 28, 2011
  13. ↑ Dolch, Craig (March 28, 2011). "More heartbreak for arguably the Tour's best winless player".
  14. ↑ "Player profile: Steve Marino". Golf Channel. May 29, 2012.
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