Rich Beem

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Rich Beem
Rich Beem.JPG
Personal information
Full nameRichard Michael Beem
Born (1970-08-24) August 24, 1970 (age 54)
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Residence Austin, Texas, U.S.
Career
College New Mexico State University
Turned professional1994
Current tour(s) PGA Tour Champions
European Senior Tour
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
European Tour
Professional wins4
Highest ranking 16 (July 27, 2003) [1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
European Tour1
Other1
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters Tournament T15: 2003
PGA Championship Won: 2002
U.S. Open T78: 2008
The Open Championship T20: 2007

Richard Michael Beem (born August 24, 1970) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and is best known for his upset victory at the 2002 PGA Championship.

Contents

Career

Beem was born in Phoenix, Arizona, grew up in El Paso, Texas, and played college golf at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.

Beem turned professional in 1994. His early career was broken up by a spell in Seattle selling car stereos and cell phones. He later regained interest after J. P. Hayes won the 1998 Buick Classic .

This changed in 1999 when Beem won the Kemper Open as a rookie. His career took a further leap forward in 2002 with a victory at The International in Castle Rock, Colorado.

Two weeks later, Beem won the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National, one of golf's four major tournaments. He shot a par 72 in the first round, but followed that with a six-under 66 in the second round to pull into a five-way tie for first place. In the third round, he again shot 72 and was the second place player, three strokes behind leader Justin Leonard. In the fourth round, Beem fended off Tiger Woods, who birdied his last four holes but finished one shot behind Beem, who shot a final round 68 to Woods' 67. This victory helped establish Beem in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Until this win, Beem was best known for the book Bud, Sweat and Tees: A Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour by Alan Shipnuck, which profiled his rookie year on the PGA Tour and the often wild lifestyle of him and his caddie, Steve Duplantis.

At the 2007 Nissan Open at Riviera, Beem made a hole-in-one at the 14th hole on live television on Saturday to win a new red Altima coupe, which he immediately ascended, embraced, and sat atop of in triumph. The sequence was later made into a Nissan commercial. Beem credited Peter Jacobsen for inspiring his reaction; Jacobsen aced the same hole in 1994 and hopped into the nearby 300ZX convertible and pretended to drive it. [2] [3] [4]

Beem was sidelined in 2010 after undergoing back surgery to repair damage to his C6 and C7 vertebrae. While Beem was expected to only miss six weeks, rehabilitation issues caused the layoff to encompass the remainder of the 2010 season. Beem played the 2011 season on a medical exemption that required him to make $658,100 in 17 events. He missed the first six cuts of the 2011 season before making the cut at the Valero Texas Open. He finished tied for 15th. Beem made just five cuts in 21 events. As a result, he lost his tour card and played the remainder of the season out of the "past champions" category in 2012. He played on the European Tour in 2012, the last year of his ten-year exemption on that tour for winning the 2002 PGA Championship. [5]

In 2015, Beem joined Sky Sports as a television commentator and golf analyst. [6] He also planned to play at the UBS Hong Kong Open, but gave up his sponsor exemption to allow Ian Poulter to keep his European Tour card. [7] In 2020, Beem was a color commentator for the video game PGA Tour 2K21. Two years later, he returned in the same role for the PGA Tour 2K23.

Beem resides in Austin, Texas.

Professional wins (4)

PGA Tour wins (3)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (2)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1May 30, 1999 Kemper Open −10 (66-67-71-70=274)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Bill Glasson, Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bradley Hughes
2Aug 4, 2002 The International 44 pts (10-0-15-19=44)1 point Flag of the United States.svg Steve Lowery
3Aug 18, 2002 PGA Championship −10 (72-66-72-68=278)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Tiger Woods

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2005 BellSouth Classic Flag of India.svg Arjun Atwal, Flag of the United States.svg Brandt Jobe,
Flag of the United States.svg Phil Mickelson, Flag of Spain.svg José María Olazábal 		Mickelson won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Olazábal eliminated by par on third hole
Atwal and Jobe eliminated by par on first hole

European Tour wins (1)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other European Tour (0)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Aug 18, 2002 PGA Championship −10 (72-66-72-68=278)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Tiger Woods

Other wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1Nov 17, 2002 Hyundai Team Matches
(with Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Lonard)		2 and 1 Flag of the United States.svg Mark Calcavecchia and Flag of the United States.svg Fred Couples

Major championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
2002 PGA Championship 3 shot deficit−10 (72-66-72-68=278)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Tiger Woods

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament19992000200120022003200420052006200720082009
Masters Tournament T15CUTCUTT4254
U.S. Open CUTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTT78
The Open Championship CUTT43T71CUTCUTT20WD
PGA Championship T70 1 CUTCUTCUTT49CUTCUTT43
Tournament201020112012201320142015201620172018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUTT36CUTCUTCUTT73CUTCUT
Tournament201920202021202220232024
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship T80CUTCUTCUTCUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship NT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament 00000153
PGA Championship 100111227
U.S. Open 00000071
The Open Championship 00000173
Totals1001134114

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament200020012002200320042005200620072008
The Players Championship CUTT44CUTCUTCUTT66T58CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament200220032004
Match Play R64R64
Championship T49T59
Invitational T6T67
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

Results in senior major championships

Tournament2021202220232024
The Tradition
Senior PGA Championship T40WDCUT
U.S. Senior Open CUT
Senior Players Championship
The Senior Open Championship T11CUT70CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Week 30 2003 Ending 27 Jul 2003" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Nissan Open Championship - An Interview with Rich Beem" (PDF). Sports Transcripts.com. February 17, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Profile - Rich Beem". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on March 1, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Beem may be '1' to watch again". Los Angeles Times . February 18, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Notebook: Beem decides to give Europe a try". PGA Tour. April 24, 2012. Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Former PGA champion Rich Beem joins the Sky Sports Golf team". Sky Sports. January 12, 2015.
  7. ↑ Ferguson, Doug (October 20, 2015). "Rich Beem explains decision to step aside for Ian Poulter in Hong Kong". PGA of America. Associated Press.
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