| Gordon Brand Jnr | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Gordon Brand | ||
| Born | (1958-08-19)19 August 1958 Kirkcaldy, Scotland | ||
| Died | 31 July 2019(2019-07-31) (aged 60) Ash, Kent, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Weight | 161 lb (73 kg; 11.5 st) | ||
| Sporting nationality |  Scotland | ||
| Career | |||
| Turned professional | 1981 | ||
| Former tours | European Tour European Senior Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 11 | ||
| Highestranking | 30 (22 May 1988)[1] | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| European Tour | 8 | ||
| PGA Tour of Australasia | 1 | ||
| European Senior Tour | 2 | ||
| Best results in major championships | |||
| Masters Tournament | DNP | ||
| PGA Championship | DNP | ||
| U.S. Open | T39: 1994 | ||
| The Open Championship | T5:1992 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Gordon Brand Jnr (19 August 1958 – 31 July 2019) was a Scottishprofessional golfer. He played on theEuropean Tour, winning eight times, and later theEuropean Senior Tour, winning twice. He played in the1979 Walker Cup and played twice in theRyder Cup, in 1987 and 1989.
Brand was born inKirkcaldy.[2] His father, Gordon Brand Snr, was the club professional at Knowle Golf Club inBristol from 1969 to 2001.[3][4] Brand had a successful amateur career and played for Great Britain and Ireland in the1979 Walker Cup[5] and in theEisenhower Trophy in 1978 and 1980. He turned professional in July 1981, with a handicap of plus 1, after failing to make the 1981 Walker Cup team.[6][7]
Brand quickly achieved success as a professional. He won theEuropean Tour Qualifying School in November 1981, and went on to win two European Tour events in his rookie season, and being named theSir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year for 1982.[8] He went on to accumulate eight wins on the tour in total, the last of them in 1993. He also won the 1988West End South Australian Open.[9] He made the top ten on the European Tour Order of Merit six times, with a best placing of fourth in 1987. He last made the top one hundred on the Order of Merit in the 2000 season, during which he was runner-up toIan Poulter in theItalian Open at the age of 42. He continued to play regularly on the tour until 2006.
In the first round of the 1986Jersey Open he set a European Tour record by making four eagles in a single round.[10][11]
Brand's twoRyder Cup appearances were in 1987, when Europe won on American soil for the first time, and in 1989 when Europe retained the trophy atThe Belfry by tying the match 14 all.[12] Brand had a 2–4–1 win–loss–half record, including one half and one loss in his singles matches. He represented Scotland in theAlfred Dunhill Cup andWorld Cup many times. Playing withSam Torrance in the 1984 World Cup of Golf in Italy, Scotland finished joint runners-up behind Spain. Brand had the second best individual score.[13] Brand played in the Open Championship 18 times. His best finish was when was tied for 5th place in1992, having been tied for second place after two rounds.
After reaching 50, Brand played on theEuropean Senior Tour where he won twice, the 2010Matrix Jersey Classic and the 2013WINSTONgolf Senior Open. His best season was 2010 where he had a win and two runner-up finishes to finish 4th in the Order of Merit. He was twice runner-up in thePGA Seniors Championship, in 2008 and 2011, both at Slaley Hall. In 2008, in his first event as a senior, he tied with English golferGordon J. Brand after 72 holes, but lost at the sixth hole of a sudden-death playoff.[14]Gordon J. Brand used his middle initial to distinguish himself from Gordon Brand Jnr.[4]
Brand at the age of 60 died suddenly from a heart attack in an ambulance on the 31 July 2019 near Maidstone Kent following a practice round for the Staysure PGA Senior Championship.[10][15][16][17]
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 Jun1982 | Coral Classic | −15 (69-70-66-68=273) | 3 strokes |  Greg Norman |
| 2 | 26 Sep 1982 | Bob Hope British Classic | −16 (65-73-65-69=272) | 3 strokes |  Mark James |
| 3 | 12 Aug1984 | Celtic International | −8 (67-67-68-70=272) | 3 strokes | Ian Baker-Finch, Vicente Fernández,Sandy Lyle |
| 4 | 9 Sep 1984 | Panasonic European Open | −10 (67-66-73-64=270) | 3 strokes |  Seve Ballesteros,Noel Ratcliffe |
| 5 | 26 Jul1987 | KLM Dutch Open | −16 (69-67-67-69=272) | 1 stroke | David A. Russell |
| 6 | 2 Aug 1987 | Scandinavian Enterprise Open | −11 (64-71-71-71=277) | Playoff |  Magnus Persson |
| 7 | 13 Aug1989 | Benson & Hedges International Open | −12 (64-72-72-64=272) | 1 stroke | Derrick Cooper |
| 8 | 12 Sep1993 | GA European Open (2) | −13 (65-68-71-71=275) | 7 strokes |  Phillip Price, Ronan Rafferty |
European Tour playoff record (1–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1987 | Scandinavian Enterprise Open | Magnus Persson | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 1992 | Heineken Dutch Open |  Bernhard Langer | Lost to par on second extra hole |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 Nov1988 | West End South Australian Open | −13 (64-69-69-65=267) | 7 strokes | Greg Alexander,Wayne Grady |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 Jun2010 | Matrix Jersey Classic | −15 (63-66-72=201) | 5 strokes |  Bobby Lincoln,Carl Mason |
| 2 | 8 Sep2013 | WINSTONgolf Senior Open | −12 (68-68-68=204) | 1 stroke |  Ángel Franco,Andrew Oldcorn,David J. Russell |
European Senior Tour playoff record (0–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | De Vere Collection PGA Seniors Championship | Gordon J. Brand | Lost to par on sixth extra hole |
| 2 | 2009 | Benahavis Senior Masters | Carl Mason | Lost to birdie on second extra hole |
| Tournament | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Open | |||||||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT | T47 | CUT | T26 | T20 | CUT |
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Open | T39 | |||||||||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | T32 | T5 | CUT | T60 | CUT | CUT | 14 | T68 | T62 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Note: Brand never played in theMasters Tournament or thePGA Championship.
| Tournament | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT | |||||||
| Senior British Open Championship | T32 | T41 | T12 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T51 | CUT | CUT |
"T" indicates a tie for a place
CUT = missed the halfway cut
Note: Brand only played in theSenior PGA Championship and theSenior British Open Championship.
Amateur
Professional
Gordon Brand Jnr in theRyder Cup | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
