From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ben Curtis (golfer)
Ben Curtis (golfer)
Ben Curtis Career
Personal information
Full name Ben Clifford Curtis
Early career
Curtis was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in Os-
Born May 26, 1977 (1977-05-26)
trander, Ohio. His family runs the Mill Creek Golf Club,
Columbus, Ohio
also in Ostrander. Curtis is a graduate of Buckeye Valley
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) High School and Kent State University, where he was a
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
star on the golf team.
As an amateur, Curtis found much success, winning
Nationality United States the Ohio Amateur in 1999 and 2000 (joining professional
golfers John Cook and Arnold Palmer as the only men to
Residence Kent, Ohio
win the Ohio Amateur in consecutive years), and also the
Spouse Candace Curtis Players Amateur in 2000.
Career Curtis turned professional in 2000, originally playing
on the Hooters Tour without some success. At the end of
College Kent State University 2002, he finished in a tie for 26th at that year’s Q-School,
Turned 2000 earning his PGA Tour card for the following year becom-
professional ing one of the few players to completely skip the Nation-
wide Tour. His first year on tour began unspectacular-
Current tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 2003), European Tour
(joined 2009) ly 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
Professional wins 3 result which qualified him to play in that year’s British
Number of wins by tour Open.
PGA Tour 3
Open Championship win
Best results in Major Championships Curtis entered the The Open Championship at Royal St
(Wins: 1)
George’s in 2003 as a 300–1 outsider, defying the odds to
Masters T35: 2009 win the tournament by one stroke from Thomas Bjørn
Tournament and Vijay Singh on the final day.
U.S. Open T14: 2010 The 2003 Open Championship was Curtis’ first ap-
pearance in a major; he became the first golfer since
The Open Won:
Won 2003 Francis Ouimet in the 1913 U.S. Open to win his major
Championship
championship debut. After his victory, Curtis jumped
PGA T2: 2008 from 396th in the Official World Golf Rankings to 35th,
Championship the highest jump for any person. This victory and a solid
Achievements and awards first season on the PGA Tour led to Curtis’ being named
the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 2003.
PGA Tour 2003
Rookie of the
Year
Further success
Curtis’ British Open victory gave him a five year exemp-
Ben Clifford Curtis (born May 26, 1977) is an American tion on the PGA Tour and a ten year exemption on the
professional golfer best known for winning the 2003 European Tour, and he played events on both tours in
Open Championship. 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
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ben Curtis (golfer)
Legend
Major championship (1)
Other PGA Tour (2)
No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Vic- Runner(s)-up
tory
1 Jul 20, The Open Champion- -1 1 stroke Thomas Bjørn, Vijay Singh
2003 ship (72–72–70–69=283)
2 Jun 27, Booz Allen Classic -20 5 strokes Billy Andrade, Pádraig Har-
2006 (62–65–67–70=264) rington,
Nick O’Hern, Steve Stricker
3 Sep 17, 84 Lumber Classic -14 2 strokes Charles Howell III
2006 (66–69–69–70=274)
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
Allen Classic and the 84 Lumber Classic. His consistent
form continued into 2007 and he tied for 8th place at that
Major championships
year’s British Open in Carnoustie, his best result in a ma-
jor since winning the tournament. Wins (1)
2008 was Curtis’s most consistent season to date,
recording five top ten finishes and missing only four cuts Results timeline
all year. He bettered his British Open result from the pre- Tournament 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20
vious year by finishing in a tie for 7th at Royal Birkdale
The Masters DNP CUT CUT T39 CUT CUT T35 CUT DN
and followed it up a month later by finishing tied for 2nd
place in the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills. This sec- U.S. Open DNP 30 CUT 57 T45 CUT 57 T14 DN
ond place finish qualified him for the 2008 Ryder Cup, his The Open 1 CUT CUT CUT T8 T7 CUT CUT CU
first appearance in the event. Championship
This consistent form continued into 2009, with only PGA Champi- CUT CUT T34 T60 CUT T2 T24 CUT DN
three missed cuts in 18 PGA Tour events that year. How- onship
ever, despite this statistic Curtis only managed one top
DNP = Did not play
20 finish and ended the year outside the top 100 in the
CUT = missed the half-way cut
money list, but he did achieve two top ten finishes on
"T" indicates a tie for a place
the European Tour. At the 2009 Open Championship at
Green background for wins. Yellow background for
Turnberry, Curtis shot a 65 to tie for second after the first
top-10.
round, but a second round 80 meant that he missed the
cut by one shot.
Summary
• Tournaments played: 31
Personal life • Wins: 1
As of 2011, Curtis and his wife Candace reside in Franklin • Top 10s: 4
Township, just north of Kent, Ohio after previously living • Top 25s: 6
in neighboring Stow.[1] • Missed cuts: 17
• Most consecutive cuts made: 4
Amateur wins
• 1999 Ohio Amateur
Results in World Golf Champi-
• 2000 Ohio Amateur, Players Amateur onship events
DNP = Did not play
PGA Tour wins (3) QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match
play
"T" = tied
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ben Curtis (golfer)
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
Green background for wins. Yellow background for http://www.recordpub.com/news/sports_article/
top-10. 5063612. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC
event until 2009.
External links
• Ben Curtis at the PGA Tour official site
U.S. national team appearances • Ben Curtis at the European Tour official site
Amateur • Ben Curtis at the Official World Golf Ranking official
• Eisenhower Trophy: 2000 (winners) site
Professional • golfohio.com profile
• Ryder Cup: 2008 (winners) • Outsiders who won The Open
• World Cup: 2008 Persondata
Name Curtis, Ben
See also Alternative names Curtis, Ben Clifford
• 2002 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates Short description Professional golfer
Date of birth May 26, 1977
References Place of birth Columbus, Ohio
[1] Carducci, David (July 10, 2011). "Kent State Around Date of death
the Beat". Record-Courier. Place of death
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ben_Curtis_(golfer)&oldid=462257158"
Categories:
• American golfers
• PGA Tour golfers
• European Tour golfers
• Winners of men's major golf championships
• Kent State University alumni
• People from Portage County, Ohio
• 1977 births
• Living people
This page was last modified on 24 November 2011 at 13:22. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
3