Ross McGowan

Ross Ian Thomas McGowan (born 23 April 1982) is an English professional golfer. He has won twice on the European Tour, the 2009 Madrid Masters and the 2020 Italian Open.

Ross McGowan
Personal information
Full nameRoss Ian Thomas McGowan
Born (1982-04-23) 23 April 1982
Basildon, Essex, England
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Nationality England
ResidenceLondon, England
Career
CollegeUniversity of Tennessee
Turned professional2006
Current tour(s)European Tour
Sunshine Tour
Former tour(s)Challenge Tour
Professional wins8
Highest ranking63 (21 February 2010)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour2
Sunshine Tour1
Challenge Tour3
Other2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA Championship70th: 2010
U.S. OpenT40: 2010
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 2010

Early life and amateur career

McGowan was born in Basildon, Essex, and grew up in Banstead, Surrey and educated at Epsom College. With the assistance of College Prospects of America, he went to university in the United States and played collegiate golf at the University of Tennessee. McGowan won the 2006 English Amateur, where he defeated Oliver Fisher in the final by the score of 5&4. Shortly after that he turned professional.[2]

Professional career

McGowan led the 2007 Challenge Tour Rankings going into the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final, thanks to two wins and three runner-up finishes during the year. Having finished in a tie for 28th place in the final event of the season, he dropped to second place on the money list, as Mike Lorenzo-Vera won the tournament and jumped to the top of the Challenge Tour's money list.

Courtesy of his final Challenge Tour Rankings position in 2007, McGowan graduated to the European Tour for the 2008 season.[2] He moved into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings in January of that year, and in June played in his first major championship, the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He made the halfway cut and eventually finished in 77th place.

McGowan won his first European Tour event in 2009 at the Madrid Masters, most notably for shooting 12 under par 60 in the third round. He finished at −25, winning by three strokes over Mikko Ilonen.[3] McGowan finished second at the inaugural Dubai World Championship, and was ranked 12th in the Race to Dubai.

Following this McGowan suffered injuries and his form slumped. He lost his full playing rights at the end of the 2011 season. From 2012 to 2015 he played on the Challenge Tour and the Sunshine Tour. He showed a return to form in 2015, winning for the first time on the Sunshine Tour in April at the Mopani/Redpath Zambia Open, finishing two strokes ahead South African golfer Daniel van Tonder.[4] In May he was runner-up in the D+D Real Czech Challenge, a stroke behind Jens Fahrbring. At the end of the year he finished tied for 4th in the 2015 European Tour Qualifying School final stage at PGA Catalunya Resort to regain his European Tour card for 2016.

In 2016, McGowan made 6 cuts from 18 events and lost his place on the European Tour. At the end of 2017, he again gained a place on the European Tour through the European Tour Qualifying School. 2018 was another disappointing season on the main tour and he returned to the Challenge Tour for 2019. In May 2019, he won the D+D Real Czech Challenge, his first win on the Challenge Tour since 2007.

As a Challenge Tour winner in 2019, McGowan was able to get an entry to a number of European Tour events in 2020. In October, he won the Italian Open by one shot over Laurie Canter and Nicolas Colsaerts. It was his first European Tour victory in over 11 years.[5]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (8)

European Tour wins (2)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 11 Oct 2009 Madrid Masters −25 (66-66-60-71=263) 3 strokes Mikko Ilonen
2 25 Oct 2020 Italian Open −20 (66-64-67-71=268) 1 stroke Laurie Canter, Nicolas Colsaerts

Sunshine Tour wins (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 26 Apr 2015 Mopani/Redpath Zambia Open −13 (68-69-71-67=275) 2 strokes Daniel van Tonder

Sunshine Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2014 Lion of Africa Cape Town Open Jaco Ahlers, Hennie Otto Ahlers won with par on fourth extra hole
Otto eliminated by par on first hole

Challenge Tour wins (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 3 Jun 2007 Oceânico Developments Pro-Am Challenge −15 (66-63-69-67=265) Playoff Mike Lorenzo-Vera
2 1 Jul 2007 Estoril Challenge de Portugal −12 (68-68-70-66=272) 3 strokes Stuart Manley
3 26 May 2019 D+D Real Czech Challenge −18 (66-66-66-68=266) 4 strokes Ricardo Santos

Challenge Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2007 Oceânico Developments Pro-Am Challenge Mike Lorenzo-Vera Won with par on second extra hole
2 2007 Open AGF-Allianz Côtes d'Armor Bretagne Peter Baker Lost to par on first extra hole

MENA Tour wins (2)
  • 2012 Abu Dhabi Golf Citizen Open
  • 2015 Royal Golf Dar es Salaam Open

Results in major championships
Tournament 200820092010
U.S. Open 77 T40
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship 70

Note: McGowan never played in the Masters Tournament.

  Did not play

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

Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament2010
Match Play R32
Championship T30
Invitational T55
Champions
  Did not play

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

Team appearances

Amateur

See also

References
  1. "Week 8 2010 Ending 21 Feb 2010" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  2. Dixon, Peter (3 April 2009). "Ross McGowan all smiles after opening-round 64". The Times. London. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  3. "McGowan holds on for maiden title". BBC Sport. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  4. "Ross marches in to Zambia victory". Sunshine Tour. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  5. "Magical McGowan back in the winner's circle in Italy". European Tour. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
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