Timothy O'Neal (golfer)

Timothy Andrea O'Neal (born August 3, 1972) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on PGA Tour Champions. His career also includes stops on PGA Tour Latinoamérica and Web.com Tour.[1][2] He has won seven professional events on four continents: North America, Europe, Africa and South America. He is also known for his heartbreaking failures at PGA Tour Q School, where he missed earning a PGA Tour card by a single stroke on two occasions.

Timothy O'Neal
Personal information
Full nameTimothy Andrea O'Neal
Born (1972-08-03) August 3, 1972
Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight172 lb (78 kg; 12.3 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceSavannah, Georgia, U.S.
Children2
Career
CollegeJackson State University
Turned professional1997
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)Web.com Tour
Asian Tour
Alps Tour
EPD Tour
PGA Tour Latinoamérica
Professional wins7
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenCUT: 2015
The Open ChampionshipDNP

Amateur career

Prior to turning professional, O'Neal had a distinguished amateur career winning 16 college tournaments during his time at Jackson State University.[2] He also won the Georgia Amateur Championship in 1997.[3]

Professional career

For a very brief period early in his professional career, Will Smith sponsored O'Neal.[2] O'Neal mainly played on U.S. mini-tours until receiving his Buy.com Tour card for the 2001 season (now named Web.com Tour), having missed out on a PGA Tour card at qualifying school by a single stroke following a double bogey on the final hole.[4] O'Neal had a tough first season on the tour recording only two top-10 finishes ending 59th on the money list. In the following season, O'Neal only played three events on the Buy.com Tour and lost his tour card for the 2003 season.[5]

In 2004, O'Neal once again missed out on a PGA Tour card at qualifying school by a single stroke but in doing so regained his playing rights for the Nationwide Tour for the 2005 season.[6]

The return to the Nationwide Tour proved more successful and during the 2005 season O'Neal recorded his best finish to date, a second place at the 2005 Northeast Pennsylvania Classic.[1] O'Neal maintained his good form throughout 2005 and 2006 finishing 44th and 36th on the tour money lists respectively. However his form dropped in 2007 and 2008 and he was unable to retain his card following the 2008 season.[5]

O'Neal's career started to falter after losing his Nationwide Tour privileges. He also played on the Asian Tour, eGolf Professional Tour, the EPD Tour, and the Morocco-based Atlas Pro Tour. In 2011, O'Neal was asked to take over the Jackson State golf program, but he declined. He has yet to become a swing instructor.

In 2013, O'Neal took up playing rights on PGA Tour Latinoamérica and had instant success winning the Arturo Calle Colombian Open and the Abierto de Chile in his first season on the tour.[7][8] These wins together assisted O'Neal to a third-place finish on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica Order of Merit which was sufficient for him to regain his tour card for the 2014 Web.com Tour.[9]

At age 42, O'Neal finally played his in first PGA Tour event after qualifying for the 2015 U.S. Open, where he missed the cut. O'Neal also played on the Advocates Pro Golf Tour, a professional golf tour that aims to open more playing opportunities for minorities. In 2022, O'Neal was one of five golfers to earn a PGA Tour Champions card through Q School.

Amateur wins
  • 1997 Georgia Amateur Championship[3]

Professional wins (7)

PGA Tour Latinoamérica wins (3)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 May 5, 2013 Arturo Calle Colombian Open −16 (68-66-68-66=268) 2 strokes Mexico Óscar Serna
2 Nov 24, 2013 Chile Open −13 (66-72-70-67=275) Playoff United States Ryan Blaum, Argentina Sebastián Saavedra
3 May 14, 2016 Casa de Campo Dominican Republic Open −10 (72-67-68-71=278) 4 strokes United States Paul Apyan, Argentina Rafael Echenique,
Bolivia Sebastian MacLean

Alps Tour wins (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Feb 10, 2012 Open Palmeraie PGP −16 (66-67-67=200) 3 strokes Italy Matteo Delpodio

EPD Tour wins (2)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Feb 22, 2012 Open Mogador +3 (70-76-73=219) 2 strokes France Jérôme Lando-Casanova
2 Apr 11, 2012 Open Madaef −4 (71-72-69=212) 1 stroke Finland Janne Martikainen

Other wins (1)

References
  1. "Timothy O'Neal – Web.com Profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  2. "Timothy O'Neal – Player Profile". PGA Tour Latinoamérica. Archived from the original on April 6, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  3. "Georgia Amateur Championship Event History". Georgia State Golf Association. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  4. "Tim O'Neal seeks PGA Tour dream". ESPN. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  5. "Timothy O'Neal – Career Summary". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  6. "Tour Notebook: Tour qualifier full of unfortunate finishes". Jacksonville.com. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  7. "Arturo Calle Colombian Open presentado por Diners Club – 2013 Leaderboard". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  8. "Abierto de Chile – 2013 Leaderboard". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  9. "Abierto de Chile – 2013 Order of Merit". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
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