Ryan Hunter Palmer (born September 19, 1976) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Ryan Palmer
Personal information
Full nameRyan Hunter Palmer
Born (1976-09-19) September 19, 1976 (age 48)
Amarillo, Texas
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceColleyville, Texas
Spouse
Jennifer Fuller
(m. 2002)
Children2
Career
CollegeUniversity of North Texas
Texas A&M University
Turned professional2000
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
Professional wins5
Highest ranking23 (April 5, 2015)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour4
PGA Tour of Australasia1
Korn Ferry Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament10th: 2011
PGA ChampionshipT5: 2014
U.S. OpenT21: 2011
The Open ChampionshipT30: 2011, 2015, 2016

Early life and amateur career

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Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Palmer graduated from Amarillo High School in 1995. He played college golf at the University of North Texas (one year) and then transferred to Texas A&M University for his final three years and graduated in 2000.[2]

Professional career

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Palmer turned professional in 2000. He played on the mini-tours (Tightlies Tour and Hooters Tour) from 2000 to 2002.[2] He played the Nationwide Tour in 2003, winning the Clearwater Classic and finishing 6th on the money list to earn his 2004 PGA Tour card.

Palmer's first career PGA Tour win came at the 2004 FUNAI Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort, with a three stroke victory over Briny Baird and Vijay Singh. Four years later, he earned his second career win during the PGA Tour Fall Series, at the 2008 Ginn sur Mer Classic where wet, rainy conditions made the course play tough all week. He won by making a ten-foot putt for birdie on the final hole on Sunday to finish seven under par and win by one stroke over five players. He was 143rd on the money list entering the week, but this win secured his playing status on Tour for 2009 and 2010.

In January 2010, Palmer won his third career PGA Tour title at the Sony Open in Hawaii. A final round 66 secured his victory by one stroke over Robert Allenby.[3]

Palmer came close to winning a fourth career title at his hometown event the HP Byron Nelson Championship in Texas in May 2011. Palmer entered the final round leading by one stroke, but as the final round progressed in windy conditions he had to hole a birdie putt on the last to enter a playoff with Keegan Bradley. On the first playoff hole, the 18th, both players hit their tee shots out to the right amongst the trees. Bradley played his approach to just short of the green whereas Palmer hooked his approach shot into the water. Palmer pitched up close to the hole and made bogey but Bradley was able to win with a pitch and putt par.[4]

In March 2014, Palmer lost another sudden-death playoff at the Honda Classic, after missing a five footer for what would have been the win on the 18th green in regulation play. He entered the four-man playoff, having been the only one to shoot an under-par final round. However, in the playoff, after missing the green in two, he could not get up and down, leaving Russell Henley to hole from three feet for victory. This was Palmer's second runner-up finish of the year, after finishing two shots behind Patrick Reed at the Humana Challenge in January 2014.

Palmer started the 2017–18 season on a Major Medical Extension under the family crisis provision as his wife underwent chemotherapy treatment. He met the terms of his medical extension at the CareerBuilder Challenge, then lost in a sudden-death playoff at the Farmers Insurance Open the following week. Trying to end an eight-year winless drought on tour, Palmer, playing in the final group, birdied the 72nd hole to join a playoff with Jason Day and Alex Norén. However, Palmer was eliminated at the first extra hole, as he could only make par to the others' birdies on the 18th.[5]

In April 2019, Palmer won the Zurich Classic with teammate Jon Rahm.

Professional wins (5)

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PGA Tour wins (4)

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No. Date Tournament Winning Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 24, 2004 Funai Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort 68-68-68-62=266 −22 3 strokes   Briny Baird,   Vijay Singh
2 Nov 2, 2008 Ginn sur Mer Classic 67-71-72-71=281 −7 1 stroke   Ken Duke,   Michael Letzig,
  George McNeill,   Vaughn Taylor,
  Nicholas Thompson
3 Jan 17, 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii 65-66-68-66=265 −15 1 stroke   Robert Allenby
4 Apr 28, 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
(with   Jon Rahm)
64-65-64-69=262 −26 3 strokes   Tommy Fleetwood and   Sergio García

PGA Tour playoff record (0–3)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2011 HP Byron Nelson Championship   Keegan Bradley Lost to par on first extra hole
2 2014 The Honda Classic   Russell Henley,   Russell Knox,
  Rory McIlroy
Henley won with birdie on first extra hole
3 2018 Farmers Insurance Open   Jason Day,   Alex Norén Day won with birdie on sixth extra hole
Palmer eliminated by birdie on first hole

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Mar 9, 2003 Clearwater Classic1 69-63-71-68=271 −17 3 strokes   Andre Stolz

1Co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Mar 9, 2003 Clearwater Classic1 69-63-71-68=271 −17 3 strokes   Andre Stolz

1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia

Results in major championships

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Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 1998 1999
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament T39
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship T47 T49 CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament CUT 10 CUT T33
U.S. Open T21 CUT CUT T52 CUT
The Open Championship T30 T58 T30 T30
PGA Championship T33 T19 CUT T47 T5 CUT T42
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022
Masters Tournament T34 CUT
PGA Championship CUT T43 CUT CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT NT CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 4
PGA Championship 0 0 0 1 1 2 14 8
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 2
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4
Totals 0 0 0 1 2 4 36 18
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (twice)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Players Championship CUT CUT T75 CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
The Players Championship CUT CUT CUT T5 T59 CUT T23 CUT T23 CUT
Tournament 2020 2021 2022 2023
The Players Championship C T17 CUT CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

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Results not in chronological order before 2015.

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Championship T45 T49 T12 T54
Match Play R32 T52 NT1 17
Invitational T3 2 T70 T15 T26
Champions T46 T22 NT1 NT1

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 14 2015 Ending 5 Apr 2015" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Ryan Palmer Foundation - Road to the PGA". Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
  3. ^ "Palmer holds on to claim Sony Open title". CNN. January 18, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  4. ^ "Palmer beaten in hometown event by rookie Bradley". Sky Sports. May 29, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  5. ^ "Jason Day beats Alex Noren on sixth playoff hole to win Farmers Insurance Open". ESPN. Associated Press. January 29, 2018.
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