2011–2017
Pepperell made his professional debut in May 2011 after receiving an invitation to the Mugello Tuscany Open on the Challenge Tour. He signed with the management company 4Sports & Entertainment, which also represented Edoardo Molinari and Justin Rose. [27] Pepperell made the cut and finished tied-45th. [28] In total, he played seven events on the 2011 Challenge Tour season, placing 138th in the rankings with earnings of €4,686. [29] He competed in the second stage of European Tour Qualifying School in December, [30] [31] where he placed tied-22nd, one shot outside the top-20 cutoff, and failed to advance to the final stage. [32] [33]
In his first start of the 2012 Challenge Tour season, [34] Pepperell shot a final-round 68 to tie for first at the Allianz Open Côtes d'Armor Bretagne in May. He defeated Jeppe Huldahl in the playoff to claim his first professional victory. The win gave Pepperell full status on the Challenge Tour for the remainder of the season. [35] He finished 13th in the Challenge Tour rankings with earnings of €74,884, [36] securing promotion to the European Tour. [37]
As a rookie in the 2013 European Tour season, Pepperell was in contention at the Open de España in April, and ultimately finished in tied-eighth. [37] [38] The following month, he finished in a tie for sixth at the BMW PGA Championship, which earned him £120,000 and secured his card for the next year. [5] The next day, Pepperell made it through a 36-hole qualifier at Walton Heath to win a place in the 2013 U.S. Open held at Merion Golf Club, which was his first major championship. [39] [40] He shot rounds of 77-77 and missed the cut. [41] Pepperell ended the season at 76th in the European Tour rankings. [42]
In May 2014, Pepperell was tied for the lead alongside world number two Henrik Stenson after 54 holes at the Nordea Masters. [43] He shot a final-round 72 to finish tied-sixth. [44] Pepperell recorded four top-5 finishes in his final ten starts of the 2014 European Tour season and placed 49th in the rankings. [45] He signed with management company IMG in January 2015. [46]
At the 2015 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in May, Pepperell started the final round seven strokes behind the lead. He shot a 2-under 69 in windy conditions to enter a three-man sudden-death playoff. Søren Kjeldsen made birdie on the first extra hole to defeat Pepperell and Bernd Wiesberger. The runner-up finish earned Pepperell €217,135 and vaulted him up 44 places to 95th in the Official World Golf Ranking, marking the first time he had reached the top 100 of the world rankings. [47] The result also meant he received entry to the 2015 Open Championship, which marked his debut in the competition. [24] At the Open Championship, held at the Old Course at St Andrews in July, Pepperell was tied for the lead during the third round at 10-under. He drove it out of bounds on the 17th hole and ended the round at 8-under. [48] He shot a final-round 76 to finish tied-49th. [49]
Pepperell struggled in the 2016 European Tour season, where his best result was a sixth-place finish at the King's Cup. He missed seven cuts in his final eight starts and finished 114th in the rankings, losing his tour card. He had significant struggles off the tee, stating: "I had a sense of fear and dread of not knowing where I was going to hit my driver. I’d never experienced that before." [42] He regained playing status through European Tour Qualifying School in November, [50] [51] but continued his poor form afterwards and fell outside the top 500 of the world rankings by May 2017. [52] He advanced through a 36-hole qualifier to earn a place at the 2017 U.S. Open in June, [53] where he finished tied-16th. [54] Pepperell had a strong run of form at the end of the season. [55] He finished joint-sixth at the Turkish Airlines Open in November, which was his seventh top-10 finish in his previous eight starts. [56]
2018–2019
In February 2018, Pepperell broke through and won his maiden European Tour event at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, shooting 18-under to win by a single stroke over Oliver Fisher. The win came in his 129th start on the tour. [57] In July, Pepperell was runner-up in the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, a result which earned him a place in the 2018 Open Championship the following week. The runner-up finish also earned him a career-high payout of £593,478. [58] At the Open Championship, Pepperell shot a final-round 67, the best of the day, to tie for sixth at 5-under-par. [59]
Pepperell won his second title of the season at the Sky Sports British Masters in October 2018. Holding a three-stroke lead after three rounds, he closed with a 72 in the final round to go wire-to-wire and hold off the challenge of Alexander Björk. [60] With the win, he moved to 33rd in the Official World Golf Ranking. [61] Pepperell ended the 2018 European Tour season at a career-best 14th in the Race to Dubai rankings. [62]
At the 2019 Players Championship in March, Pepperell shot a final-round 66 to finish tied-third and earned $725,000. [63] [64] By virtue of being inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, Pepperell received an invitation to make his debut at the 2019 Masters Tournament. [65] He finished tied-51st. [66] As defending champion at the 2019 Betfred British Masters in May, he finished tied-second, one stroke behind Marcus Kinhult. [67]
England 
