Ben Crane

Benjamin McCully Crane (born March 6, 1976) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Ben Crane
Personal information
Full nameBenjamin McCully Crane
Born (1976-03-06) March 6, 1976
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st)
Nationality United States
ResidenceWestlake, Texas
SpouseHeather Crane
Children3
Career
CollegeBaylor University
University of Oregon
Turned professional1999
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins8
Highest ranking30 (November 27, 2005)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour5
Asian Tour1
Korn Ferry Tour2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT17: 2012
PGA ChampionshipT9: 2004
U.S. OpenT53: 2008
The Open ChampionshipT11: 2006

Early years and amateur career

Crane was born in Portland, Oregon. He was introduced to golf at age five by his grandfather. He grew up playing at the nearby Portland Golf Club, where Ben Hogan won the Portland Open in 1945.[2]

Crane graduated from Beaverton High School in 1994 and attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, but did not play golf for the Bears.[2] He transferred to the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon and played golf for the Ducks. He graduated in 1999 and turned professional that year.

Professional career

Crane won two events on the second tier Buy.com Tour, the first in 2000 and the second in 2001. In December 2001, Crane earned his PGA Tour card for 2002, and won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the BellSouth Classic the following year. His second win came in 2005 at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Also in 2005 he finished second at the Booz Allen Classic and Bell Canadian Open, third at the 84 Lumber Classic, sixth at the B.C. Open and seventh at The Tour Championship, which placed him 19th in the season earnings with over $2.4 million. In February 2006, just before he turned thirty, he was the highest-ranked American golfer under that age in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Crane has said that he does not like to know with whom he will be paired, saying, "I looked up to a lot of these guys who I'm now playing with. So, I didn't want to have to go to sleep thinking about it." He is also considered one of the slowest players on the tour. On at least two occasions his extremely slow progress through a course has become a media issue, including one in which a fellow tour player Rory Sabbatini played out of turn.[3]

Crane missed the majority of the 2007 season due to back problems, and played on the PGA Tour in 2008 on a major medical extension. He finished 64th on the money list to retain his card for 2009. In January 2010, Crane carded a final-round 70 to win the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines by a single stroke.[4] In May he finished third at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, fourth at The Players Championship and seventh at the Byron Nelson Championship. In October, he won the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia, an event co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour (but unofficial money) and Asian Tour.[5] With 12 top-25s in 24 events, he ended 23rd on the money list with over $2.8 million.

He picked up his fourth win on the PGA Tour in 2011 at the McGladrey Classic, defeating Webb Simpson in a playoff.[6] Crane shot a final round 63 to make the playoff, having at one stage been eight strokes back of the leader. The round included eight birdies and one bogey in ten holes from the 8th to the 17th.

Crane picked up his fifth victory on the PGA Tour in 2014 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He would pick up the victory in wire to wire fashion, winning by a single stroke over Troy Merritt despite three bogeys and no birdies for his final round.

Personal

Crane is married to Heather Crane; the couple has four children. Crane is a Christian.[7]

Crane currently is one of four golfers in the PGA Tour exclusive boy band, "Golf Boys" - with Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, and Hunter Mahan. The Golf Boys currently have a popular YouTube video for the song "Oh Oh Oh." Farmers Insurance will donate $1,000 for every 100,000 views of the video. The charitable proceeds will support both Farmers and Ben Crane charitable initiatives.[8]

Incorrect quotation about Tiger Woods

In early December 2009 Life & Style magazine reported that Crane had called Tiger Woods a "fake and a phony" due to Woods' recently publicized marital infidelity. Crane denied making the remarks, stating that he was not even at Q-school, where the magazine claimed he was interviewed.[9]

"My wife and I have prayed for Tiger and Elin, and we want nothing but the best for them", Crane said.[10] In January 2010 the magazine retracted its story, stating that the evidence indicated that the comments were made by someone impersonating Crane.[11]

Amateur wins (1)

this list may be incomplete

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (5)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 Apr 6, 2003 BellSouth Classic 73-72-64-63=272 −16 4 strokes Bob Tway
2 Jul 24, 2005 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee 62-65-64-69=260 −20 4 strokes Scott Verplank
3 Jan 31, 2010 Farmers Insurance Open 65-71-69-70=275 −13 1 stroke Marc Leishman, Michael Sim,
Brandt Snedeker
4 Oct 16, 2011 McGladrey Classic 65-70-67-63=265 −15 Playoff Webb Simpson
5 Jun 8, 2014 FedEx St. Jude Classic 63-65-69-73=270 −10 1 stroke Troy Merritt

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2011 McGladrey Classic Webb Simpson Won with par on second extra hole

Asian Tour wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Oct 31, 2010 CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia1 67-64-66-69=266 −18 1 stroke Brian Davis

1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but unofficial money event.

Buy.com Tour wins (2)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1 Jul 23, 2000 Buy.com Wichita Open 67-63-66-67=263 −25 3 strokes Kelly Grunewald, Vance Veazey
2 Oct 14, 2001 Gila River Classic at Wild Horse Pass Development 63-66-64-68=271 −23 Playoff Jason Caron, Bo Van Pelt

Buy.com Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2001 Gila River Classic at Wild Horse Pass Development Jason Caron, Bo Van Pelt Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Caron eliminated with par on second hole

Results in major championships
Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament CUT CUT
U.S. Open CUT 62 T53 CUT
The Open Championship CUT T11 CUT
PGA Championship T48 T9 T40 CUT CUT T43
Tournament201020112012201320142015
Masters Tournament T24 CUT T17 CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT CUT
PGA Championship T39 T37 WD
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary
TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00000262
U.S. Open00000072
The Open Championship00000151
PGA Championship00001196
Totals0000142711
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (four times)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship
Tournament 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
The Players Championship CUT T66 T36 T6 T5 T4 T45 CUT T8 CUT CUT T79
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014
Match Play R32 R32 R16 R16 R64
Championship T37 WD T37 T51
Invitational T42 T58 16 T58 WD WD
Champions T30 T46
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
WD = Withdrew
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

See also

References
  1. "Week 48 2005 Ending 27 Nov 2005" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  2. "Ben Crane – Profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  3. "Sabbatini apologizes to Crane after snapping". ESPN. June 14, 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
  4. "Ben Crane claims Farmers Open win at Torrey Pines". BBC Sport. January 31, 2010. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
  5. "Ben Crane gets by with 69 for victory". ESPN. Associated Press. October 31, 2010.
  6. "Ben Crane rallies to win McGladrey". ESPN. Associated Press. October 16, 2011.
  7. "Ben Crane, PGA Tour Pro". Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  8. "Golf Boys - Oh Oh Oh (Official Video)". June 13, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  9. "PGA pros deny making inflammatory quotes about Tiger". Yahoo! Sports. December 10, 2009. Archived from the original on December 14, 2009. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
  10. Arkush, Michael (January 13, 2010). "A new season for the Daly Show – Mistaken identity". Yahoo! Sports.
  11. "Life & Style correction". Life & Style. January 13, 2010. Archived from the original on January 18, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
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