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Des Smyth
Professional golfer

Des Smyth

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Quick Facts

Intro
Professional golfer
Places
Work field
Gender
Male
Place of birth
Drogheda, County Louth, Leinster, Ireland
Age
71 years
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Desmond John Smyth (born 12 February 1953) is an Irish professional golfer.

Smyth was born in Drogheda, County Louth. He turned professional in 1974 and was a member of the European Tour for over a quarter of a century. His best finish on the European Tour Order of Merit was seventh in 1988. He won eight tournaments on the tour across four different decades, breaking Neil Coles' record as the oldest man to win a European Tour event when he claimed the 2001 Madeira Island Open at the age of 48 years and 34 days. This record was broken by Miguel Ángel Jiménez (48 years, 11 months, 13 days) at the 2012 UBS Hong Kong Open.

Smyth represented Europe in the Ryder Cup in 1979 and 1981, losing on both occasions to the United States. Smyth also represented his country in the World Cup and the Alfred Dunhill Cup many times and was a member of the Irish team (alongside Eamonn Darcy and Ronan Rafferty) which won the latter in 1988. At the 2006 Ryder Cup, he was one of Ian Woosnam's vice-captains.

Since turning fifty in 2003, Smyth has had a successful career in senior golf, winning tournaments on both the Champions Tour and the European Senior Tour.

Personal life

Smyth has a son, Greg, a horticultural student at IT Blanchardstown. Greg won Ireland's eighth largest lottery jackpot of €9,426,636 on 13 August 2008.

Amateur wins

  • 1973 West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship

Professional wins (25)

European Tour wins (8)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
15 Aug 1979Sun Alliance European Match Play ChampionshipZimbabwe Nick Price
28 Jun 1980Newcastle Brown "900" Open−12 (67-70-70-69=276)1 strokeEngland Graham Burroughs, England Neil Coles,
Australia Greg Norman
322 Jun 1980Cold Shield Greater Manchester Open−7 (67-71-69-66=273)PlayoffEngland Brian Waites
428 Jun 1981Coral Classic−6 (67-72-70-73=282)2 strokesEngland Michael King, West Germany Bernhard Langer,
Republic of Ireland John O'Leary
530 Oct 1983Sanyo Open−9 (72-66-70-71=279)1 strokeSouth Africa Hugh Baiocchi, England Mark James
623 Oct 1988BNP Jersey Open−15 (69-68-69-67=273)PlayoffEngland Roger Chapman
731 Oct 1993Madrid Open−16 (65-68-68-71=272)3 strokesSpain Domingo Hospital, Spain José Rivero,
England Mark Roe, South Africa Wayne Westner
818 Mar 2001Madeira Island Open−18 (66-70-68-66=270)2 strokesEngland John Bickerton

European Tour playoff record (2–3)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
11980Cold Shield Greater Manchester OpenEngland Brian WaitesWon with birdie on sixth extra hole
21982Jersey OpenRepublic of Ireland Eamonn Darcy, Scotland Bernard GallacherGallacher won with par on fifth extra hole
Darcy eliminated by birdie on second hole
31984Sanyo OpenScotland Sam TorranceLost to par on first extra hole
41986Whyte & Mackay PGA ChampionshipAustralia Rodger DavisLost to bogey on third extra hole
51988BNP Jersey OpenEngland Roger ChapmanWon with birdie on fifth extra hole

Other wins (8)

  • 1979 Irish National PGA Championship
  • 1985 Irish National PGA Championship
  • 1986 Irish National PGA Championship
  • 1988 Alfred Dunhill Cup (with Eamonn Darcy and Ronan Rafferty)
  • 1990 Irish National PGA Championship
  • 1995 Glen Dimplex Irish Match Play
  • 1996 Irish National PGA Championship
  • 2001 Irish National PGA Championship

Champions Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
113 Mar 2005SBC Classic−5 (71-72-68=211)1 strokeRepublic of Ireland Mark McNulty, United States D. A. Weibring
224 Apr 2005Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf−8 (66-71-71=208)2 strokesUnited States Tom Jenkins

Champions Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12005Senior British OpenUnited States Tom WatsonLost to par on third extra hole

European Senior Tour wins (5)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
112 Nov 2005Arcapita Seniors Tour Championship−10 (68-68-70=206)2 strokesScotland John Chillas
25 Aug 2007Wentworth Senior Masters−6 (70-71-69=210)2 strokesNew Zealand Bob Charles
35 Sep 2010Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters−10 (66-71-69=206)3 strokesEngland Carl Mason
426 Jun 2011Van Lanschot Senior Open−6 (71-74-65=210)2 strokesAustralia Peter Fowler, United States Tim Thelen
52 Sep 2012Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters (2)−10 (72-66-68=206)1 strokeAustralia Peter Fowler

Other senior wins (2)

  • 2011 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf – Raphael Division (with Mark James)
  • 2012 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf – Raphael Division (with Mark James)

Results in major championships

Note: The only major Smyth played in was The Open Championship.

Tournament19751976197719781979
The Open ChampionshipCUTCUTCUTDNPDNP
Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989
The Open ChampionshipCUTT31T4CUTCUTCUTCUTCUTDNPCUT
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999
The Open ChampionshipCUTT44CUTT27CUTDNPDQDNPT15CUT
Tournament200020012002
The Open ChampionshipDNPT13T28

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = Disqualified
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

  • Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1979, 1981
  • World Cup (representing Ireland): 1979, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1989
  • Hennessy Cognac Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1980 (winners), 1982 (winners), (representing Ireland) 1984
  • Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Ireland): 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 (winners), 2000
  • UBS Cup (representing the Rest of the World): 2001, 2003 (tie)
The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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