Richard Bland (golfer)

Richard Bland (born 3 February 1973) is an English professional golfer.

Richard Bland
Personal information
NicknameBlandy
Born (1973-02-03) 3 February 1973
Burton upon Trent, England
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Sporting nationality England
ResidenceSouthampton, England
SpouseCatrin Nystrom Bland
Career
Turned professional1996
Current tour(s)LIV Golf
Former tour(s)European Tour
Challenge Tour
Professional wins2
Highest ranking48 (3 April 2022)[1]
(as of 22 October 2023)
Number of wins by tour
European Tour1
Challenge Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipCUT: 2022
U.S. OpenT43: 2022
The Open ChampionshipT22: 2017

Career

Bland was born in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. He turned professional in 1996 and reached the final stage of the European Tour's qualifying school in 1997 to gain his card on Europe's second tier Challenge Tour for 1998. In 2001 he won for the first time, at the season ending Challenge Tour Grand Final. The win elevated him in the rankings sufficiently to gain a place on the European Tour for 2002.[2]

During his first season on the European Tour, Bland’s best tournament finish was a tie for 2nd place at the Murphy's Irish Open, losing in a playoff, and ended the year in 73rd place on the Order of Merit. In subsequent seasons, he failed to win enough money to maintain his card on the European Tour several times but regained his playing status each time, via the Challenge Tour rankings in 2004, 2008, and 2019, and via qualifying school in 2007 and 2011.

In May 2021, in his 478th start on the European Tour, Bland achieved his first victory at the Betfred British Masters. At age 48, he became the oldest first-time winner on the European Tour; only Malcolm MacKenzie, with 509, had played more tournaments before claiming his first win on the tour.[3] In June 2021, Bland played in the U.S. Open for just the second time in his career. At 48 years old, he became the oldest player to ever hold a share of the lead of the U.S. Open after two rounds,[4][5] however he fell back over the weekend to finish in a tie for 50th.[6] With eight top-10 finishes during the 2021 European Tour season, Bland finished a career-best 11th place on the Race to Dubai rankings.[7]

In January 2022, Bland finished as runner-up at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, losing to Viktor Hovland in a playoff.[8]

Being just outside the Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking in March 2022, Bland looked to find form in order to qualify for the Masters Tournament. He won his group at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, halving with Bryson DeChambeau as well as beating Talor Gooch and Lee Westwood along the way. However, he was defeated in the last 16 by Dustin Johnson, ultimately just missing out on progressing to the Top 50.[9] Bland made his full PGA Tour debut the following week at the Valero Texas Open, needing a victory to get into The Masters. He recorded a Top-30 finish, seeing him move to a highest ranking of 48th.[10]

In June 2022, Bland joined the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series.[11] He was subsequently subject to fines and suspension from the European Tour for playing without a conflicting event release. After those sanctions were upheld by an independent arbitrator, in May 2023, the European Tour announced that he had resigned his membership of the tour.[12]

In May 2023, Bland applied for entry to the 2023 Senior Open Championship, to be played in late July, for which he had fulfilled one exemption category as a former European Tour winner being at the exact age of 50 years at the time of the championship. However, Bland was denied entry due to outstanding fines to the European Tour, related to breaching conflicting tournament regulations.[13]

Amateur wins
  • 1994 European Under 21 Championship

Professional wins (2)

European Tour wins (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 15 May 2021 Betfred British Masters −13 (68-69-72-66=275) Playoff Italy Guido Migliozzi

European Tour playoff record (1–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2002 Murphy's Irish Open Sweden Niclas Fasth, South Africa Darren Fichardt,
Denmark Søren Hansen		 Hansen won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Bland eliminated by birdie on second hole
2 2021 Betfred British Masters Italy Guido Migliozzi Won with par on first extra hole
3 2022 Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic Norway Viktor Hovland Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (1)
Legend
Tour Championships (1)
Other Challenge Tour (0)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 4 Nov 2001 Challenge Tour Grand Final −18 (69-68-66-63=266) 5 strokes England Philip Golding

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 1998 1999
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 20172018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship T22
PGA Championship
Tournament 20192020202120222023
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship CUT
U.S. Open T50 T43
The Open Championship NT T67 CUT T33
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament2016201720182019202020212022
Championship
Match Play NT1 R16
Invitational
Champions T30 NT1 NT1 NT1

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.

Team appearances

Amateur

See also

References
  1. "Week 14 2022 Ending 3 Apr 2022" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  2. Graham, Tim (4 November 2001). "Italian Open: Roe secures final fling". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  3. "British Masters: Richard Bland claims first victory at 478th attempt after play-off at The Belfry". Sky Sports. 15 May 2021.
  4. "Richard Bland excites Torrey Pines to become oldest 36-hole leader in US Open history". Guardian. 19 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  5. Hart, Jay (18 June 2021). "Richard Bland is leading the way at the U.S. Open ... wait, who?". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  6. "U.S. Open - Leaderboard Thursday, June 17 - Sunday, June 20, 2021 San Diego, CA". PGA Tour. 20 June 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  7. "Oscar Jacobson Congratulates Richard Bland On Career Best Season". Golf Business News. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  8. "Viktor Hovland Downs Richard Bland in Playoff to Win Dubai Desert Classic". SI.com. Associated Press. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  9. Hoggard, Rex (26 March 2022). "Richard Bland's magical run at Match Play is over, but his Masters dreams aren't". Golf Channel. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  10. Cradock, Matt (4 April 2022). "Richard Bland Moves Inside World's Top-50 For Very First Time". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  11. Shreiber, Max (18 May 2022). "Report: Richard Bland OK with possible ban by DP World Tour for playing LIV events". Golf Channel. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  12. Dempster, Martin (3 May 2023). "LIV Golf quartet, including Lee Westwood, resign as DP World Tour members". The Scotsman. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  13. Cradock, Mike (15 June 2023). "Lee Westwood And Richard Bland Denied Entry To Senior Open". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  14. "EGA Events, Results, European Team Championships, European Youths' Team Championship". European Golf Association. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
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