Jump to content

Mark Wilson (golfer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Wilson
Personal information
Full nameMark Joseph Wilson
Born (1974-10-31) October 31, 1974 (age 50)
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, U.S.
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight145 lb (66 kg; 10.4 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceGreer, South Carolina, U.S.
SpouseAmy
Children3
Career
CollegeUniversity of North Carolina
Turned professional1997
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia
Web.com Tour
NGA Hooters Tour
Professional wins9
Highest ranking24 (February 26, 2012)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour5
Other4
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 2011, 2012
PGA ChampionshipT26: 2011
U.S. OpenCUT: 1998, 2011, 2012, 2014
The Open ChampionshipT63: 2011
Achievements and awards
Ben Hogan Award1996

Mark Joseph Wilson (born October 31, 1974) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. In 1996, he received the Ben Hogan Award, given by Friends of Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America, to the best college golf player in the United States. He is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, with his most recent win coming at the 2012 Humana Challenge.

Professional career

[edit]

Wilson turned professional in 1997 and played on the NGA Hooters Tour for the early part of his career, where he won three times between 1998–2001.[2] He then won his PGA Tour card for the 2003 season after finishing T17 at the Q School in 2002. In his first full season on tour, Wilson narrowly missed out on retaining his card when he finished 128th on the money list. He held conditional status for the 2004 PGA Tour season and alternated between the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour for the season. He then regained his tour card for 2005 season at Q School and finished the year with three top-10 finishes including a T3 at the Valero Texas Open, which at the time was his best finish on the PGA Tour. He continued with conditional status in 2006 after finishing 133rd on the money list in 2005, then again regained full status at the 2006 Q School for the 2007 season.

Wilson won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the Honda Classic in March 2007, where he triumphed in a four-way playoff. He won the tournament on the third extra hole after being tied with José Cóceres, Camilo Villegas and Boo Weekley at 5-under-par.[3] This victory lifted Wilson into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career.[4]

Wilson has since won the 2009 Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, the 2011 Sony Open in Hawaii[5] and the 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open where he triumphed in a playoff against Jason Dufner.[6] The Sony Open victory earned Wilson his first trip to the Masters. Wilson earned his fifth PGA Tour victory at the 2012 Humana Challenge, holding off the challenge of Robert Garrigus, Johnson Wagner and John Mallinger by two strokes. He finished at 24-under-par, helped by a second round 62 which included eight birdies and an eagle.[7] With the win, he moved to a career high of 40th in the Official World Golf Ranking. The following month, Wilson enjoyed a good run at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship where he made it all the way to the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Hunter Mahan, 2&1. He did however win the consolation match to finish third, defeating world number three Lee Westwood, 1 up. In his run for the semi-finals, Wilson beat Bo Van Pelt (3 and 2), Robert Rock (3 and 2), Dustin Johnson (4 and 3) and Peter Hanson (4 and 3). This was Wilson' best showing at a WGC event and he moved to a career high 24th in the world ranking.[8][9]

For the first time since joining the PGA Tour, Wilson played the 2016–17 season out of the past champion's category.

Wilson now works full time as a golf commentator for PGA Tour Radio, PGA Tour LIVE, found on ESPN+, and PGA Tour Champions coverage on Golf. He has played one PGA Tour event in 2022, getting in as a past champion of The American Express in La Quinta, California.

Personal life

[edit]

Wilson was born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin and currently resides in Greer, South Carolina.

Along with his wife, Amy, he is heavily involved in the Blessings in a Backpack charitable organization, with a mission of sending needy school children home every weekend with nonperishable food they can eat on Saturday and Sunday.[citation needed]

Professional wins (9)

[edit]

PGA Tour wins (5)

[edit]
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Mar 4, 2007 The Honda Classic −5 (72-66-66-71=275) Playoff Argentina José Cóceres, Colombia Camilo Villegas,
United States Boo Weekley
2 Mar 1, 2009 Mayakoba Golf Classic −13 (66-64-69-68=267) 2 strokes United States J. J. Henry
3 Jan 16, 2011 Sony Open in Hawaii −16 (65-67-65-67=264) 2 strokes South Africa Tim Clark, United States Steve Marino
4 Feb 7, 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open −18 (65-64-68-69=266) Playoff United States Jason Dufner
5 Jan 22, 2012 Humana Challenge −24 (66-62-67-69=264) 2 strokes United States Robert Garrigus, United States John Mallinger,
United States Johnson Wagner

PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2007 The Honda Classic Argentina José Cóceres, Colombia Camilo Villegas,
United States Boo Weekley
Won with birdie on third extra hole
Villegas and Weekley eliminated by par on second hole
2 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open United States Jason Dufner Won with birdie on second extra hole

NGA Hooters Tour wins (3)

[edit]
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Mar 22, 1998 Dick Brooks Classic −13 (68-70-68-69=275) 4 strokes United States Wes Short Jr.
2 Apr 18, 1999 Gold Stroke Casino Classic −16 (67-64-73-68=272) 7 strokes United States Greg Parker
3 May 14, 2000 Hooters Classic −11 (67-74-67-69=277) 2 strokes Republic of Ireland Richie Coughlan, United States Scott Kammann,
United States Steve Pope

Other wins (1)

[edit]

Results in major championships

[edit]
Tournament 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Masters Tournament CUT CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT CUT CUT
The Open Championship T63 CUT
PGA Championship CUT CUT T26 CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

[edit]
Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
The Players Championship CUT T42 T55 CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

[edit]
Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Match Play R32 3
Championship 25 T49 T45
Invitational T36 T17 T45
Champions T56 T46
  Top 10
  Did not play

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.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Week 8 2012 Ending 26 Feb 2012" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  2. ^ "Mark Wilson". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  3. ^ "Wilson Wins Honda Playoff For First PGA Tour Win". NBC Sports. Associated Press. March 5, 2007. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  4. ^ "Week 9 - Mark Wilson Wins the Honda Classic and Breaks into the World Top 100". Official World Golf Rankings. March 5, 2007. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007.
  5. ^ "Mark Wilson clinches Sony Open title in Hawaii". BBC Sport. January 16, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  6. ^ "Wilson wins playoff in Phoenix Open". Sports Illustrated. February 7, 2011. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  7. ^ "Mark Wilson wins Humana Challenge". The Augusta Chronicle. January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  8. ^ "Results – WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship 2012". European Tour. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  9. ^ "Mark Wilson". Official World Gold Ranking. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
[edit]