Ben Curtis
Residence: Stow, Ohio
DOB: 26/05/1977
Ben Curtis is best known for winning The Open Championship in 2003 at Royal St George’s Golf Club where he beat Thomas Bjorn and Vijay Singh to win by a single shot. It was only his 13th place at the Western Open on the US PGA Tour 2 weeks earlier that had qualified him to play in The Open - and he became the latest golfer since Francis Ouimet in 1913 to win a major championship on a debut. After this victory, Curtis jumped from 396th in the Official World Golf Rankings to 35th, the highest jump for any person in the history of the rankings. This victory and a solid first season on the PGA Tour led to Curtis being named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 2003.
Ben can source his golfing success back to the fact that he grew up only 50 yards from the practice putting green of Mill Creek GC in Ostrander in Ohio; a course that his grandfather built and where his father is superintendent. He started playing golf at age 3, but says he didn't get serious about it until high school.
Despite his extraordinary win at The Open in 2003 he did not win again until 2006 when won twice on the PGA Tour - the rain-soaked Booz Allen Classic and the Lumber Classic – to earn more than $2million and give him a spot in The Tour Championship (TPC) for the first time in his career. He tied for 8th place at the British Open in 2003 which was his best result in a major since winning the tournament.
He will remember the 2008 season for his performance on the big stage. He finished in a tie for 7th at The Open 2008 and a month later bettered that again by finishing tied for 2nd place in the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills. His 2nd place finish qualified him for the 2008 Ryder Cup, his first appearance in the event. He secured 1½ points from his 3 matches, beating Ryder Cup legend Lee Westwood in the Sunday Singles.
Ben Curtis Club History
Below is a selection of clubs used by Ben Curtis throughout his career
2009
Scotty Cameron Studio Stainless Newport 2 Putter
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2008
Scotty Cameron Studio Stainless Newport 2 Putter
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2003
Scotty Cameron Studio Stainless Newport 2 Putter
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Ben Curtis Tournament History
2009 World Golf Championship - CA Championship |
12-15 March 2009 - Doral Golf and Spa Resort - Phil Mickelson won his first World Golf Championships title on Sunday at the CA Championship, where he held off Nick Watney to take the title by one stroke and his 36th career victory. However this was perhaps not the most news worthy story of the week. During his opening round, Henrik Stenson thought it a good idea to play from out of the water! After stripping down to his boxer shorts the Swede preceded to do just this. And it was down to PGA Tour photographer Kyle Auclair to capture this magical moment. With the world’s best golf photographers trailing Tiger Woods, Kyle decided he was going to follow other players instead. Little did he know this particular sequence of images would be plastered on newspapers, websites and television shows all over the country the next day. |
In Ben Curtis's bag...Ben secured a top-30 finish this week without setting the course alight. Rounds of 69, 70 and a pair of 71’s over the course of the week secured Ben a tie for 28th place. Still $72,000 for only breaking 70 once in a week can’t be bad. Former Open Champion Ben is clearly a Titleist man through and through. We can see his Titleist 909D2 driver sitting at the top of his bag. Just under this is his 909F2 fairway wood. There is also a Titleist 909H hybrid on the left. There is another mysterious wood under what appears to be a FootJoy sock. His irons we can see are Titleist AP2 Forged. He is also carrying a Titleist Vokey 200 Series wedge and a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter.
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