Jay Townsend (golfer)

Last updated

Jay Townsend
Personal information
Born (1962-03-14) March 14, 1962 (age 62)
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Residence Heber City, Utah
Career
College University of Florida
Turned professional1984
Former tour(s) European Tour
Southern Africa Tour
Professional wins2
Number of wins by tour
Sunshine Tour1
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament DNP
PGA Championship DNP
U.S. Open DNP
The Open Championship CUT: 1990, 1996

Jay Townsend (born March 14, 1962) [1] is an American professional golfer and broadcaster.

Contents

Early life and amateur career

Townsend was born in Michigan. [1] However, he grew up primarily in Ohio. [2] His father was a club professional. [1] Townsend attended the University of Florida and was on the golf team. He was an All-American and graduated in 1984.

Professional career

Townsend qualified for the European Tour in the fall of 1984. [2] In his first season, Townsend played in 14 events and made the majority of cuts. However he did not record many high finishes while retaining his tour card. Townsend’s career in Europe stretched from 1985 through 1998. He says he enjoyed the experience in Europe immensely. He stated later in life, "I picked up more in my first five years in Europe than I did in 17 years of school at home. I saw the world and it made me a more rounded person." [2]

During this interim period he played on the South African Tour. In 1988, he finished joint runner-up at the Bloemfontein Classic with John Bland behind Jeff Hawkes. [3] At the very end of the 1988–89 season, he won the Trustbank Tournament of Champions over fellow American Bruce Vaughan. [4] The following season, he finished runner-up at the 1990 Dewars W Lab Tournament, this time behind John Bland. [5]

He recorded his first top-10 on the European Tour in 1991, a T-9 at the Murphy's Cup. [6] His following year was his best season on the European Tour. In 1992 he made 16 of 24 cuts and finished in the top-100 of the Order of Merit for the first time. He also recorded his best finishes, placing T-5 at the Liebig Ligurian Open and T-3 at the Lyon Open V33 that summer. [6] The following season, in 1993, he recorded his best finish of his European Tour career, a solo runner-up finish at the Heineken Open, three behind Scotland's Sam Torrance. [7] In 1995, he recorded his best overall season in his career with 5 top-10s and finishing 43rd on the Order of Merit, both career bests. This success would continue through the early 1996 season as he would open with a 64 (−8) against an "elite field" [8] at the Dubai Desert Classic, placing him in second place, one behind Miguel Ángel Jiménez. [9] He followed that with three consecutive rounds of 71 to finish at –11 and a tie for 7th. [9] His Official World Golf Ranking reached #173, the best so far of his career. [10]

This high placing, however, would represent Townsend's career peak as he did not improve on his global ranking. He finished in a tie for third at the 1997 Alamo English Open which was his best finish of the season. [11] Townsend finished no better than 89th on the Order of Merit in the late 1990s. He ceased playing as a touring professional during the 1998 season, retiring in mid-year. [1]

Broadcasting career

Since retiring as a touring professional, Townsend has worked as a golf broadcaster. He has worked for the BBC. [12] Most recently he has worked for European Tour Productions' "World Feed", which is broadcast to TV platforms around the world including Golf Channel in the United States. He says he has always enjoyed radio prior to his television career. [2] In the mid-2000s, Townsend was the golf analyst for Network 10 in Australia for three seasons in addition to his work on the European Tour. He is currently also doing some analyst work for PGA Tour Live which is streamed on ESPN+

In 2011, Townsend criticized Rory McIlroy's "shocking course management" at the Irish Open. McIlroy responded angrily on Twitter, saying: "Shut up. You're a commentator and a failed golfer, your opinion means nothing." The media speculated that McIlroy might be fined by the European Tour. [12]

Personal life

Despite working mainly in Europe, Townsend's permanent residence is in Heber City, Utah. He is married to Betsy and has two children from a previous marriage, Zachary and Alexandra. He enjoys daily skiing in the winter months, fly fishing and is a pilot flying a Bearhawk Companion backcountry style plane to remote areas for fishing and hiking . [1]

Professional wins (2)

Southern Africa Tour wins (1)

Legend
Tour Championships (1)
Other Southern Africa Tour (0)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Feb 25, 1989 Trustbank Tournament of Champions −9 (67-70-67-71=275)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Bruce Vaughan

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

Tournament1990199119921993199419951996
The Open Championship CUTCUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
Note: Townsend only played in The Open Championship.

Source: [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Westwood</span> English golfer (born 1973)

Lee John Westwood is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, he is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He has also won tournaments in four decades, the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. He was named European Tour Golfer of the Year for the 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2020 seasons. He has won the 2000 European Tour Order of Merit, and the renamed 2009 and 2020 Race to Dubai. He has frequently been mentioned as one of the best golfers without a major championship victory, with several near misses including three runner-up finishes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Scott (golfer)</span> Australian golfer

Adam Derek Scott is an Australian professional golfer. In 2000, Scott turned professional and quickly earned European Tour membership. He won four tour events early in his career. In 2004, Scott won The Players Championship, the flagship event on the PGA Tour, and has focused on the United States since then. In the early 2010s, Scott began his greatest stretch of his career. He won the 2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, finished runner-up 2012 Open Championship, and won the 2013 Masters Tournament. In 2014, Scott won The Colonial earning the world #1 ranking for first time. Since then Scott's success has endured, winning multiple international tournaments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Donald</span> English professional golfer

Luke Campbell Donald MBE is an English professional golfer and former world number one. He plays mainly on the U.S.-based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Casey</span> English professional golfer

Paul Alexander Casey is an English golfer who is a member of LIV Golf. He has also played on the US-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. In 2009, he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Ranking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graeme McDowell</span> Northern Irish professional golfer

Graeme McDowellMBE is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland. He has a total of eleven tournament victories on the European Tour, and four on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. In 2022, he joined LIV Golf. McDowell has also represented Ireland at the World Cup and he has been a member of the European Ryder Cup team on four occasions. He has appeared in the top-10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, with a highest ranking position of 4th.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henrik Stenson</span> Swedish professional golfer

Henrik Olof Stenson is a Swedish professional golfer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rory McIlroy</span> Northern Irish professional golfer (born 1989)

Rory Daniel McIlroy is a Northern Irish professional golfer who is a member of both the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He is former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, and has spent over a hundred weeks in that position during his career. He is the only person to win the FedEx Cup three times, surpassing Tiger Woods' two. He is a four-time major champion, winning the 2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship, and 2014 PGA Championship. Along with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, he is one of three players to win four majors by age 25.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Kaymer</span> German professional golfer

Martin Kaymer is a German professional golfer who currently plays on the LIV Golf League. A winner of two major championships, he was also the No. 1 ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking for eight weeks in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Lowry</span> Irish professional golfer (born 1987)

Shane Lowry is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. His notable achievements include winning the 2019 Open Championship, the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, and the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Kevin Alan Chappell is an American professional golfer who is currently playing on the PGA Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernd Wiesberger</span> Austrian professional golfer

Bernd Klaus Wiesberger is an Austrian professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and formerly on the LIV Golf League. He finished the 2019 European Tour season in third place on the Race to Dubai standings, his best finish to date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Bland (golfer)</span> English professional golfer

Richard Bland is an English professional golfer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Knox</span> Scottish golfer

Russell Colin Knox is a Scottish professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Ryan Fox is a New Zealand professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.

Abraham Ancer is a Mexican-American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and is currently playing on the LIV Golf tour. He won the 2018 Emirates Australian Open and the 2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational for his first PGA Tour career victory. In 2024 he won the LIV Golf Hong Kong for his first individual win on the LIV Golf Tour.

Jan Sebastian Söderberg is a Swedish professional golfer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Rahm</span> Spanish professional golfer (born 1994)

Jon Rahm Rodríguez is a Spanish professional golfer from the Basque Country. He was number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a then record 60 weeks and later became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, first achieving that rank after winning the Memorial Tournament in July 2020. In June 2021, Rahm became the first Spanish golfer to win the U.S. Open. In 2023, he won the Masters Tournament, his second major championship. On 7 December 2023, Rahm announced that he was joining LIV Golf. In 2024, he was ranked the world's second highest-paid athlete by Forbes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collin Morikawa</span> American professional golfer (born 1997)

Collin Morikawa is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He began his PGA Tour career with 22 consecutive made cuts, second only to Tiger Woods' 25-cut streak. Morikawa has six PGA Tour wins – including two major championships, the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship, winning both in his debut. In May 2018, Morikawa spent three weeks as the top-ranked golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He also became the first American to win the Race to Dubai on the European Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert MacIntyre</span> Scottish professional golfer (born 1996)

Robert Duncan MacIntyre is a Scottish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and PGA Tour.

Lucas Herbert is an Australian professional golfer. He has won three times on the European Tour and once on the PGA Tour, the 2021 Butterfield Bermuda Championship. In 2024, he joined the LIV Golf League and is a member of the Ripper GC team.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Jay Townsend". European Tour. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Huggan, John (October 4, 2015). "Jay Townsend always talks a good game". The Scotsman. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  3. ↑ "1988 Bloemfontein Classic". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  4. ↑ "1989 Trustbank Tournament of Champions". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  5. ↑ "1990 Dewar W Lab T". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Jay Townsend – Wins & Results". European Tour. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Results – Heineken Open 1993". European Tour. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Round 4 Summary – Dubai Desert Classic". European Tour. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  9. 1 2 "Leaderboard – Dubai Desert Classic 1996". European Tour. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Jay Townsend – 1996". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Jay Townsend – 1997". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  12. 1 2 "McIlroy labelled 'a spoilt brat' after spat with TV commentator". The Independent. July 29, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Jay Townsend". PGA Tour. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.