Mark Wilson (golfer)
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.
| Mark Wilson | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Mark Joseph Wilson | ||
| Born | October 31, 1974 Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Weight | 145 lb (66 kg; 10.4 st) | ||
| Sporting nationality |  United States | ||
| Residence | Elmhurst, Illinois | ||
| Spouse | Amy | ||
| Children | 3 | ||
| Career | |||
| College | University of North Carolina | ||
| Turned professional | 1997 | ||
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour (past champion status) Web.com Tour PGA Tour of Australasia | ||
| Professional wins | 9 | ||
| Highest ranking | 24 (February 26, 2012)[1] | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| PGA Tour | 5 | ||
| Other | 4 | ||
| Best results in major championships | |||
| Masters Tournament | CUT: 2011, 2012 | ||
| PGA Championship | T26: 2011 | ||
| U.S. Open | CUT: 1998, 2011, 2012, 2014 | ||
| The Open Championship | T63: 2011 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Professional career
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&2), Robert Rock (3&2), Dustin Johnson (4&3) and Peter Hanson (4&3). This was Wilson' best showing at a WGC event and he moved to a career high 24th in the world ranking.
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
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.
Professional wins (9)
PGA Tour wins (5)
| 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 |  José Cóceres,  Camilo Villegas, Boo Weekley |
| 2 | Mar 1, 2009 | Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun | −13 (66-64-69-68=267) | 2 strokes | J. J. Henry |
| 3 | Jan 16, 2011 | Sony Open in Hawaii | −16 (65-67-65-67=264) | 2 strokes |  Tim Clark, Steve Marino |
| 4 | Feb 7, 2011 | Waste Management Phoenix Open | −18 (65-64-68-69=266) | Playoff | Jason Dufner |
| 5 | Jan 22, 2012 | Humana Challenge | −24 (66-62-67-69=264) | 2 strokes | Robert Garrigus, John Mallinger, Johnson Wagner |
PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2007 | The Honda Classic | José Cóceres, Camilo Villegas, Boo Weekley |
Won with birdie on third extra hole Villegas and Weekley eliminated by par on second hole |
| 2 | 2011 | Waste Management Phoenix Open | Jason Dufner |
Won with birdie on second extra hole |
NGA Hooters Tour wins (3)
- 3 wins on the NGA Hooters Tour between 1998 and 2001.
Other wins (1)
- 2001 Wisconsin State Open
Results in major championships
| 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 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Results in The Players Championship
| Tournament | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | T42 | T55 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
| Tournament | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match Play | R32 | 3 | ||||
| Championship | 25 | T49 | T45 | |||
| Invitational | T36 | T17 | T45 | |||
| Champions | T56 | T46 | ||||
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
References
- "Week 8 2012 Ending 26 Feb 2012" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- "Mark Wilson". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
- "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.
- "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.
- "Mark Wilson clinches Sony Open title in Hawaii". BBC Sport. January 16, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
- "Wilson wins playoff in Phoenix Open". Sports Illustrated. February 7, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
- "Mark Wilson wins Humana Challenge". The Augusta Chronicle. January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
External links
- Mark Wilson at the PGA Tour official site
- Mark Wilson at the Official World Golf Ranking official site