| Ben Curtis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Ben Clifford Curtis | ||
| Born | (1977-05-26)May 26, 1977 (age 47) Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st) | ||
| Sporting nationality |  United States | ||
| Residence | Kent, Ohio, U.S. | ||
| Spouse | Candace Curtis | ||
| Children | 2 | ||
| Career | |||
| College | Kent State University | ||
| Turned professional | 2000 | ||
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour Web.com Tour NGA Hooters Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 5 | ||
| Highestranking | 24 (November 2, 2008)[1] | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| PGA Tour | 4 | ||
| European Tour | 1 | ||
| Other | 1 | ||
| Best results in major championships (wins: 1) | |||
| Masters Tournament | T35: 2009 | ||
| PGA Championship | T2:2008 | ||
| U.S. Open | T14: 2010 | ||
| The Open Championship | Won:2003 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Ben Clifford Curtis (born May 26, 1977) is an Americanprofessional golfer and four-time winner on thePGA Tour, best known for winning the2003 Open Championship.
In January 2018, Curtis toldGolf Digest that he has stopped playing golf competitively, opting to teach instead.[2]
Curtis was born inColumbus, Ohio and grew up inOstrander. His family runs theMill Creek Golf Club, also in Ostrander. Curtis is a graduate ofBuckeye Valley High School andKent State University, where he was a star on the golf team and earned a bachelor's degree in recreation management in 2000.[3]
As an amateur, Curtis found much success, winning theOhio Amateur in 1999 and 2000 (joining professional golfersJohn Cook,Arnold Palmer andFrank Stranahan as the only men to win the Ohio Amateur in consecutive years), and also thePlayers Amateur in 2000.
Curtis turned professional in 2000, originally playing on theHooters Tour without much success. At the end of 2002, he finished in a tie for 26th at that year's Q-School, earning hisPGA Tour card for the following year, becoming one of the few players to completely skip theNationwide Tour. His first year on tour began unspectacularly as he made a fair amount of cuts, but had no finishes in the top 25, until a tie for 13th at theWestern Open on July 6, which qualified him forThe Open Championship in England less than two weeks later.
Curtis entered the2003 Open Championship atRoyal St George's as a 300–1 outsider, defying the odds to win the tournament.
After an opening round 72 (+1), he shot a second round 72 to pull into a seven-way tie for fourth. A third round 70 put Curtis in a five-way tie for third, two strokes behind leaderThomas Bjørn and one stroke behind second-placeDavis Love III. While Bjørn shot a final round 72, Curtis fired a 69 to finish at −1, one stroke ahead of Bjørn andVijay Singh.
The 2003 Open Championship was Curtis' first appearance in a major. He became the first golfer sinceFrancis Ouimet in the1913 U.S. Open to win hismajor championship debut, later accomplished byKeegan Bradley in the2011 PGA Championship. After his victory, Curtis jumped from 396th in theworld rankings to 35th. This victory and a solid first season on thePGA Tour led to Curtis being named the 2003PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Curtis was the lowest-ranked player to win a major since official world rankings were first calculated.[4]
2004–07
Curtis' Open Championship victory gave him a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a 10-year exemption on theEuropean Tour, and he played events on both tours in 2004. However, he did not experience immediate success, missing many cuts and only recording one top-10 finish on thePGA Tour. He missed even more cuts in 2005 and only had two top-10 finishes.
In 2006, his results improved as he made the cut much more consistently and recorded two wins, theBooz Allen Classic and the84 Lumber Classic. His consistent form continued into 2007 and he tied for 8th place at that year's Open Championship inCarnoustie, his best result in a major since winning the tournament.
2008–09
Curtis recorded five top-10 finishes and missed only four cuts. He bettered his Open Championship result from the previous year by finishing in a tie for 7th atRoyal Birkdale and followed it up a month later by finishing tied for 2nd place in thePGA Championship atOakland Hills. This second-place finish qualified him for the2008 Ryder Cup, his first appearance in the event.
For 2009, Curtis missed only three cuts in 18 PGA Tour events. However, Curtis managed only one top-20 finish and ended the year outside the top 100 in the money list. He did achieve two top-10 finishes on the European Tour. At the2009 Open Championship atTurnberry, Curtis shot a 65 to tie for second after the first round, but a second round 80 meant that he missed the cut by one shot.
2010–12
In 2010, Curtis missed only eight cuts in 24 events, but achieved only one top-10 finish and he ended outside the top 100 on the money list for a second consecutive year. A rough 2011 season saw Curtis finish 149th on the PGA Tour money list after making 10 cuts in 23 events, leaving him partially exempt for the 2012 PGA Tour season. For the start of the 2012 season, he split his time between the European Tour and PGA Tour, taking advantage of his European Tour exemption and attempting to qualify for theRace to Dubai.
In April 2012, Curtis won theValero Texas Open for his fourth PGA Tour victory, ending a six-year winless drought. Curtis held a one-shot lead entering the 71st hole and made a 22-foot putt for par to maintain his lead. He went on to birdie the last hole, sinking a 12-foot birdie putt for a two-stroke victory overMatt Every andJohn Huh. With the win, Curtis regained full exemption status on thePGA Tour through 2014. Curtis jumped from 200th to 28th in theFedEx Cup standings and moved up over 100 places in the world rankings to 156th.
Curtis followed up his win at the Valero Texas Open with three straight top-15 finishes (tied for 13th at the Zurich Classic, tied for 5th at the Wells Fargo Classic, and tied for 2nd at The Players Championship). This moved him into the top 75 of theOfficial World Golf Ranking. His career high ranking is 24th. He also finished tied for 11th in the PGA Championship, his best finish in a major championship in four years.
2013–16
In 2013 Curtis played in 20 PGA Tour events, making the cut in 10 with three top-25 finishes. His 2014 season netted him one top 10 and ten missed cuts in 24 starts to finish 131st in the FedEx Cup, leaving him partially exempt for the 2015 season. In 2015 Curtis played a partial schedule on the PGA Tour with little success. He played 14 events and only made the cut three times, with his best finish a tie for 29th at theSanderson Farms Championship. With a finish well outside 150th, Curtis played the 2015–16 season with only past champion status. He only played five events during the 2016 season, missing the cut in all but one tournament.[5]
Curtis, his wife Candace, and their two children reside inFranklin Township, just north ofKent, Ohio after previously living in neighboringStow.[6] In 2013, Ben and Candace started the Ben Curtis Family Foundation to benefit needy children in the Kent area.[3] Currently coaching his son as the Head Golf Coach at Kent Roosevelt High School
| Legend |
|---|
| Major championships (1) |
| Other PGA Tour (3) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 20,2003 | The Open Championship | 72-72-70-69=283 | −1 | 1 stroke |  Thomas Bjørn, Vijay Singh |
| 2 | Jun 27,2006 | Booz Allen Classic | 62-65-67-70=264 | −20 | 5 strokes |  Billy Andrade, Pádraig Harrington, Nick O'Hern,Steve Stricker |
| 3 | Sep 17, 2006 | 84 Lumber Classic | 66-69-69-70=274 | −14 | 2 strokes | Charles Howell III |
| 4 | Apr 22,2012 | Valero Texas Open | 67-67-73-72=279 | −9 | 2 strokes | Matt Every,John Huh |
| Legend |
|---|
| Major championships (1) |
| Other European Tour (0) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 20,2003 | The Open Championship | 72-72-70-69=283 | −1 | 1 stroke | Thomas Bjørn,Vijay Singh |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun 30, 2002 | Grand Strand Classic | 67-69-69-67=272 | −16 | 2 strokes | Nick Jones |
| 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 |
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | CUT | T39 | CUT | CUT | T35 | |
| U.S. Open | 30 | CUT | 57 | T45 | CUT | 57 | |
| The Open Championship | 1 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T8 | T7 | CUT |
| PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | T34 | T60 | CUT | T2 | T24 |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | CUT | |||||
| U.S. Open | T14 | ||||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT | T64 | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| PGA Championship | CUT | T11 | T66 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 |
| The Open Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 4 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 6 |
| Totals | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 17 |
| Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | T42 | T22 | T66 | T50 | T2 | T75 |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match Play | R32 | R64 | ||||||
| Championship | T30 | T58 | T28 | |||||
| Invitational | T66 | T42 | 80 | T64 | T39 | |||
| Champions | ||||||||
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
Amateur
Professional
'Oh, I've definitely had enough. I'm not playing anymore,' Curtis said by phone from his home in snowy Stow, Ohio.
 | ||
Won: 16.5 – 11.5 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
