Carl Mason

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Carl Mason
Carl Mason.JPG
Personal information
Full nameStuart Carl Mason
Born (1953-06-25) 25 June 1953 (age 72)
Buxton, Derbyshire, England
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Sporting nationalityFlag of England.svg  England
Residence Adderbury, Oxfordshire, England
SpouseBeryl
Career
Turned professional1973
Current tour(s) European Senior Tour
Former tour(s) European Tour
Professional wins31
Highest ranking 83 (8 January 1995) [1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour2
European Senior Tour25 (1st all-time)
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament DNP
PGA Championship DNP
U.S. Open DNP
The Open Championship T4: 1980
Achievements and awards
Sir Henry Cotton
Rookie of the Year
1974
European Seniors Tour
Rookie of the Year
2003
European Seniors Tour
Order of Merit winner
2003, 2004, 2007

Stuart Carl Mason (born 25 June 1953) is an English professional golfer. Mason was something of a journeyman on the European Tour. After twenty years of trying he finally won on tour for the first time in 1994. [2] His biggest successes, however, came after turning 50. He picked up 25 tournament victories on the European Senior Tour and headed the Order of Merit three times, becoming the leading career money winner on the tour. [3]

Contents

Career

In 1953, Mason was born in Buxton, Derbyshire. He won several amateur tournaments before turning professional.

Mason turned professional in 1973, following an outstanding amateur career playing out of Goring & Streatley Golf Club, and was a rookie on the European Tour the following year. He finished in 67th place on the Order of Merit that year and was a recipient of the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award. He made the top 100 on the European Tour Order of Merit twenty three years in a row up to 1996, with a best ranking of 19th in 1994. In 1980, he finished tied for 4th with Jack Nicklaus in The Open Championship held at Muirfield.

Despite those successes, Mason only won twice on the European Tour, both times in 1994. His first victory came at the 455th attempt, in the Turespana Masters Open de Andalucia, and the second in the Scottish Open just a few months later. [4] He also won three times on the Safari Circuit in Africa.

Senior career

After a spell working for the PGA European Tour as a tournament referee, he joined the European Senior Tour on turning fifty. He was immediately successful as a senior, winning four of his first eleven events and topping the Order of Merit in 2003 and 2004. He was Order of Merit runner-up in each of the following two seasons before recapturing the top spot in 2007. That year, after winning the European Senior Masters, he surpassed Tommy Horton as the highest career money earner on the European Seniors Tour. [5] The next week he won the PGA Seniors Championship, and went on to finish the 2007 season with earnings of €412,376, a new record for money won in a season on the tour, breaking his previous record of €354,775 set in 2004.

In 2010, he won his 23rd EST event, which placed him in a tie with Tommy Horton for the most EST wins. [6] In May 2011, Mason who his 24th event, the OKI Open de Espana Senior. [3] He won his 25th event at the Benahavis Senior Masters in October 2011.

Amateur wins

Professional wins (30)

European Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
127 Feb 1994 Turespaña Masters Open de Andalucía −10 (67-70-71-70=278)2 strokes Flag of Spain.svg José María Olazábal
29 Jul 1994 Bell's Scottish Open −15 (67-69-61-68=265)1 stroke Flag of England.svg Peter Mitchell

Safari Circuit wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
125 Mar 1984 Zambia Open −12 (69-70-69-72=280)2 strokes Flag of England.svg Roger Chapman
21 Mar 1987 555 Kenya Open −9 (72-68-67-68=275)Playoff Flag of England.svg Gordon J. Brand, Flag of England.svg Roger Chapman,
Flag of England.svg Martin Poxon

Other wins (2)

European Senior Tour wins (25)

Legend
Tour Championships (1)
Other European Senior Tour (24)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
113 Jul 2003 Mobile Cup −10 (69-66-68=203)1 stroke Flag of England.svg Bob Cameron
220 Sep 2003 The Daily Telegraph Turismo Andaluz
Seniors Match Play Championship
1 up Flag of Ireland.svg Denis O'Sullivan
328 Sep 2003 Merseyside English Seniors Open −8 (71-66-71=208)1 stroke Flag of Scotland.svg Bill Longmuir, Flag of Ireland.svg Denis O'Sullivan
412 Oct 2003 Estoril Seniors Tour Championship −11 (64-73-65=202)8 strokes Flag of England.svg Keith MacDonald, Flag of Australia (converted).svg Noel Ratcliffe,
Flag of Japan.svg Dragon Taki
521 Mar 2004 Tobago Plantations Seniors Classic −9 (71-64-72=207)3 strokes Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Good
66 Jun 2004 AIB Irish Seniors Open −10 (68-69-69=206)1 stroke Flag of England.svg Nick Job
78 Aug 2004 De Vere PGA Seniors Championship −13 (67-71-69-68=275)Playoff Flag of Japan.svg Seiji Ebihara, Flag of England.svg Jim Rhodes
811 Sep 2004 The Daily Telegraph Turismo Andaluz
European Seniors Match Play Championship
(2)
3 and 2 Flag of Scotland.svg John Chillas
926 Sep 2004 ADT English Seniors Open (2)−3 (71-67-75=213)3 strokes Flag of England.svg Bob Cameron, Flag of Scotland.svg John Chillas
1026 Jun 2005 De Vere Northumberland Seniors Classic −16 (68-63-69=200)3 strokes Flag of Ireland.svg Eamonn Darcy
113 Jul 2005 Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open −5 (68-69-65=202)5 strokes Flag of New Zealand.svg Bob Charles, Flag of Ireland.svg Denis O'Sullivan
1210 Sep 2006 European Senior Masters −7 (73-67-69=209)2 strokes Flag of Argentina.svg Horacio Carbonetti
1317 Sep 2006 Midas Group English Seniors Open (3)−4 (70-71-71=212)1 stroke Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stewart Ginn
1422 Oct 2006 Estoril Seniors Open of Portugal −9 (64-69-71=204)4 strokes Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stewart Ginn, Flag of Scotland.svg Sam Torrance
1517 Jun 2007 Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open (2)−6 (73-69-68=210)2 strokes Flag of Scotland.svg Ross Drummond, Flag of Spain.svg Juan Quirós
1612 Aug 2007 Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open −16 (65-64-65=194)6 strokes Flag of Argentina.svg Horacio Carbonetti, Flag of Italy.svg Costantino Rocca,
Flag of England.svg David J. Russell
172 Sep 2007 European Senior Masters (2)−6 (71-66-73=210)Playoff Flag of Italy.svg Costantino Rocca
189 Sep 2007 PGA Seniors Championship (2)−20 (67-67-67-67=268)6 strokes Flag of France.svg Philippe Dugeny, Flag of Italy.svg Costantino Rocca
1921 Oct 2007 OKI Castellón Open de España Senior −17 (66-68-65=199)4 strokes Flag of Argentina.svg Luis Carbonetti
2010 Aug 2008 Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open (2)−15 (69-61-65=195)2 strokes Flag of Scotland.svg Bill Longmuir
2128 Jun 2009 De Vere Collection PGA Seniors Championship (3)−9 (73-70-67-69=279)3 strokes Flag of Paraguay.svg Ángel Franco, Flag of South Africa.svg Chris Williams
2218 Oct 2009 Benahavis Senior Masters −7 (66-72-68=206)Playoff Flag of Scotland.svg Gordon Brand Jnr
234 Jul 2010 Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open (3)−11 (64-67-68=199)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Jerry Bruner
2420 May 2011 OKI Open de España Senior (2)−13 (67-65-68=200)4 strokes Flag of England.svg George Ryall
2516 Oct 2011 Benahavis Senior Masters (2)−9 (70-65-69=204)3 strokes Flag of England.svg Mark James, Flag of England.svg Gary Wolstenholme

European Senior Tour playoff record (3–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2003 Senior British Open Flag of the United States.svg Tom Watson Lost to par on second extra hole
2 2004 De Vere PGA Seniors Championship Flag of Japan.svg Seiji Ebihara, Flag of England.svg Jim Rhodes Won with birdie on second extra hole
Rhodes eliminated by par on first hole
3 2007 Sharp Italian Seniors Open Flag of England.svg Tony Allen, Flag of the United States.svg John Benda,
Flag of New Zealand.svg Simon Owen
Owen won with birdie on first extra hole
42007 European Senior Masters Flag of Italy.svg Costantino Rocca Won with birdie on first extra hole
5 2009 Benahavis Senior Masters Flag of Scotland.svg Gordon Brand Jnr Won with birdie on second extra hole

Playoff record

Champions Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2003 Senior British Open Flag of the United States.svg Tom Watson Lost to par on second extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament197419751976197719781979
The Open Championship CUT62T24T50
Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989
The Open Championship T4CUTCUTCUTCUTT56T44T57
Tournament19901991199219931994199519961997
The Open Championship T39T67CUTT22CUT

Note: Mason only played in The Open Championship.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

Professional

See also

References

  1. "Week 1 1995 Ending 8 Jan 1995" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  2. Glover, Tim (28 February 1994). "Mason's memorable end to his 20-year odyssey: A 40-year-old journeyman celebrates long-awaited victory". London: The Independent . Retrieved 13 July 2007.
  3. 1 2 Record-breaker Mason makes history in Spain
  4. Glover, Tim (11 July 1994). "Mason chips his way to unqualified success". London: The Independent . Retrieved 13 July 2007.
  5. "Mason makes history at Woburn". PGA European Tour. 2 September 2007. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  6. "Ace Mase equals record with victory in Switzerland". Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2010.