Mark James (golfer)

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Mark James
Mark James.JPG
Personal information
Full nameMark Hugh James
NicknameJesse
Born (1953-10-28) 28 October 1953 (age 70)
Manchester, England
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight178 lb (81 kg; 12.7 st)
Sporting nationalityFlag of England.svg  England
Residence Burley in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire, England
Career
Turned professional1976
Current tour(s) European Senior Tour
Former tour(s) European Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins32
Highest ranking 25 (5 May 1991) [1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour18
Sunshine Tour1
PGA Tour Champions3
European Senior Tour2
Other8
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament CUT: 1980
PGA Championship T31: 1999
U.S. Open CUT: 1990, 1996
The Open Championship T3: 1981
Achievements and awards
Sir Henry Cotton
Rookie of the Year
1976

Mark Hugh James (born 28 October 1953) is an English professional golfer who had a long career on the European Tour and captained Europe in the 1999 Ryder Cup. He has also played senior golf on the European Senior Tour and the U.S.-based Champions Tour.

Contents

Early life and amateur career

James was born in Manchester, England and educated at Stamford School. He won the English Amateur championship at Woodhall Spa in 1974 [2] and was a member of the Great Britain & Ireland 1975 Walker Cup team.

Professional career

European Tour

His first professional win was the 1977 Lusaka Open and the following year he picked up the first of his eighteen wins on the European Tour at the Sun Alliance Match Play Championship. He also holds the record for the highest European Tour event 18-hole-round of 111 strokes at the 1978 Italian Open in Sardinia, when refusing to with-draw despite an injury. Four years later he won the same tournament.

James never won a major championship, but he had four top-five finishes at The Open Championship. He was consistently competitive on the European Tour winning 12 times with 20 top-30 finishes on the Order of Merit, including seven top-10 finishes, the best of them third place in 1979. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2000, but after treatment began playing golf again in 2001. [3]

Ryder Cup

James represented Great Britain & Ireland or Europe in the Ryder Cup seven times including 1989 when Europe tied the match and retained the cup they had won in 1987, and 1995 when they won it outright. He was the European captain in the controversial "Battle of Brookline" in 1999, when the behaviour of the American galleries and team created a great deal of resentment in Europe, and also James' own actions during the matches drew fire from both sides of the Atlantic.

Prior to the event, James controversially chose Andrew Coltart as his second captain's pick on the team, thus leaving out Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer (veterans who were the two most successful players for the European team in Ryder Cup history). In one of the most discussed moves in the Ryder Cup, James then kept Jean van de Velde, Jarmo Sandelin and Coltart on the bench during all sixteen matches during the first two days of play, relegating them to singles matches on Sunday only. His refusal to play those three first-time players helped lead to Europe's defeat, as none of the three won their one match. On the other hand, United States captain Ben Crenshaw played all twelve players at least once during the first two days, even though Mark O'Meara only played once.

James published a best selling book about the event called Into the Bear Pit in 2000. In addition to criticising the behaviour of the Americans at Brookline, it also detailed James' clashes with some of his fellow Europeans including Faldo, the fading superstar whose merits as a potential captain's pick for the Ryder Cup had been much debated in the UK. James revealed in his book that just before the Ryder Cup began he had thrown a letter of encouragement from Faldo into the bin rather than share it with team. The controversy that this revelation aroused led to James resigning as one of Europe's Ryder Cup vice-captains for 2001.

A follow-up book, called After the Bear Pit, covering James' cancer and his experiences as a European Tour player, as well as further thoughts on the Ryder Cup, appeared in 2002.

Senior Tour and other commitments

James qualified to play senior golf when he turned fifty in late 2003. He chose to play mainly in the U.S. and was second in the Champions Tour Qualifying Tournament Finals that November. In 2004 he became the first European player to win one of the Champions Tour's senior majors with victory at the Ford Senior Players Championship. [4] In 2005, he won on the Champions Tour for a second time at the ACE Group Classic and finished in the top 20 on the money list for a second consecutive season. His last full season on the Champions Tour was 2010 and he has played mainly on the European Senior Tour since then.

James has also worked as a golf commentator for the BBC.

Professional wins (32)

European Tour wins (18)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
11 Jul 1978 Sun Alliance Match Play Championship 3 and 2 Flag of England.svg Neil Coles
217 Jun 1979 Welsh Golf Classic −6 (72-68-68-70=278)Playoff Flag of Scotland.svg Mike Miller, Ulster Banner.svg Eddie Polland
326 Aug 1979 Carroll's Irish Open −6 (73-75-69-65=282)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Ed Sneed
417 Aug 1980 Carroll's Irish Open (2)−4 (71-66-74-73=284)1 stroke Flag of Scotland.svg Brian Barnes
52 May 1982 Italian Open −8 (70-67-71-72=280)3 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Bobby Clampett, Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ian Woosnam
617 Apr 1983 Tunisian Open −4 (74-69-69-72=284)2 strokes Flag of England.svg Gordon J. Brand, Flag of Scotland.svg Gordon Brand Jnr,
Flag of the United States.svg Tom Sieckmann
719 May 1985 GSI L'Equipe Open −16 (68-67-71-66=272)3 strokes Flag of England.svg Carl Mason
817 Aug 1986 Benson & Hedges International Open −14 (65-70-69-70=274)Playoff Flag of South Africa (1982-1994).svg Hugh Baiocchi, Flag of the United States.svg Lee Trevino
915 May 1988 Peugeot Spanish Open −18 (63-68-63-68=262)3 strokes Flag of England.svg Nick Faldo
105 Mar 1989 Karl Litten Desert Classic −11 (69-68-72-68=277)Playoff Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter O'Malley
1127 Mar 1989 AGF Open −11 (69-67-69-72=277)3 strokes Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Mouland
1218 Jun 1989 NM English Open −9 (72-70-69-68=279)1 stroke Flag of Ireland.svg Eamonn Darcy, Flag of Australia (converted).svg Craig Parry,
Flag of Scotland.svg Sam Torrance
133 Jun 1990 Dunhill British Masters −18 (70-67-66-67=270)2 strokes Ulster Banner.svg David Feherty
1419 Aug 1990 NM English Open (2)−4 (76-68-65-75=284)Playoff Flag of Scotland.svg Sam Torrance
1517 Jan 1993 Madeira Island Open −7 (71-69-70-71=281)3 strokes Flag of England.svg Gordon J. Brand, Flag of England.svg Paul Broadhurst
1614 Feb 1993 Turespaña Iberia Open de Canarias −13 (71-69-69-66=275)6 strokes Flag of South Africa (1982-1994).svg De Wet Basson
1712 Mar 1995 Moroccan Open −13 (70-70-70-65=275)1 stroke Flag of England.svg David Gilford
1827 Apr 1997 Peugeot Open de España (2)−11 (67-68-73-69=277)Playoff Flag of Australia (converted).svg Greg Norman

European Tour playoff record (5–4)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1979 Welsh Golf Classic Flag of Scotland.svg Mike Miller, Ulster Banner.svg Eddie Polland Won with par on third extra hole
Polland eliminated by birdie on second hole
2 1984 St. Mellion Timeshare TPC Flag of Brazil.svg Jaime Gonzalez Lost to par on second extra hole
3 1985 Trophée Lancôme Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Nick Price Lost to par on third extra hole
4 1986 Benson & Hedges International Open Flag of South Africa (1982-1994).svg Hugh Baiocchi, Flag of the United States.svg Lee Trevino Won with birdie on first extra hole
5 1989 Karl Litten Desert Classic Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter O'Malley Won with birdie on first extra hole
61989 German Open Flag of Australia (converted).svg Craig Parry Lost to par on second extra hole
7 1990 NM English Open Flag of Scotland.svg Sam Torrance Won with birdie on first extra hole
8 1992 BMW International Open Flag of the United States.svg Paul Azinger, Flag of the United States.svg Glen Day,
Flag of Sweden.svg Anders Forsbrand, Flag of Germany.svg Bernhard Langer
Azinger won with birdie on first extra hole
9 1997 Peugeot Open de España Flag of Australia (converted).svg Greg Norman Won with par on third extra hole

Southern Africa Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
120 Feb 1988 Danglo Tournament Players Championship −14 (66-70-69-69=274)2 strokes Flag of South Africa (1982-1994).svg Hugh Baiocchi

Southern Africa Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 1991 Lexington PGA Championship Flag of the United States.svg Hugh Royer III, Flag of South Africa (1982-1994).svg Roger Wessels Wessels won par with on second extra hole
Royer eliminated by par on first hole

Safari Circuit wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
120 Mar 1977 Lusaka Open −13 (70-74-68-67=279)1 stroke Flag of England.svg Gary Cullen

Other wins (5)

Champions Tour wins (3)

Legend
Champions Tour major championships (1)
Other Champions Tour (2)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
111 Jul 2004 Ford Senior Players Championship −13 (68-67-67-73=275)1 stroke Flag of Spain.svg José María Cañizares
220 Feb 2005 ACE Group Classic −13 (69-68-66=203)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Hale Irwin, Flag of the United States.svg Tom Wargo
311 Feb 2007 Allianz Championship −15 (64-69-68=201)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Jay Haas

European Senior Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
14 Sep 2005 Bovis Lend Lease European Senior Masters −9 (70-71-66=207)Playoff Flag of Scotland.svg Sam Torrance
210 May 2009 Son Gual Mallorca Senior Open −10 (70-70-66=206)Playoff Flag of Ireland.svg Eamonn Darcy

European Senior Tour playoff record (2–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2005 Bovis Lend Lease European Senior Masters Flag of Scotland.svg Sam Torrance Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2009 Son Gual Mallorca Senior Open Flag of Ireland.svg Eamonn Darcy Won with birdie on third extra hole

Other senior wins (2)

Results in major championships

Tournament1973197419751976197719781979
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUTCUTT5CUTCUT4
PGA Championship
Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship T45T3T51T29T44T20T35CUTT62T13
PGA Championship
Tournament19901991199219931994199519961997199819992000
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUTCUT
The Open Championship T31T26CUTT27T4T8T22T20T19T43CUT
PGA Championship CUTT40CUTCUTCUTT31
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1974, 1977 and 1978 Open Championships)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament 00000010
U.S. Open 00000020
The Open Championship 00145102620
PGA Championship 00000062
Totals00145103522

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament1999
Match Play
Championship T25
Invitational
  Did not play

"T" = Tied

Senior major championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
2004 Ford Senior Players Championship −13 (68-67-67-73=275)1 stroke Flag of Spain.svg José María Cañizares

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2021.

Tournament200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021
The Tradition T194T4T41T50NT
Senior PGA Championship T4T10CUTT33T62T9T56CUTT56CUTNT
Senior Players Championship 1T49T11T22T11
U.S. Senior Open T15T54T14T47T29NT
Senior British Open Championship 4T12T15T61T16T43T20T72T5347CUTCUTCUTCUTNTCUT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

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References

  1. "Week 18 1991 Ending 5 May 1991" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  2. Youth takes over English Amateur, The Birmingham Post, 29 July 1974, p. 10
  3. James returns to golf after cancer
  4. James captures Seniors Players Championship
  5. "James proves too hot for Faldo". The Glasgow Herald . 13 September 1982. p. 16.