Ryan Palmer

Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Palmer, who took up the game early in his childhood, 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. He graduated in 2000, and turned professional. In his early professional career, Palmer played on the mini-tours (Tightlies Tour and Hooters Tour) from 2000 to 2002.
Palmer has established a fund through the Northern Texas PGA to help junior golfers with financial needs pay for tournament fees or NTPGA membership dues. Nominations for recipients of a grant from the Ryan Palmer Foundation are funneled through the NTPGA. In November 2009, the Palmer Foundation gave $100,000 to The Children's Hospital at Northwest Texas Healthcare System in Amarillo, Texas, to build the Ryan Palmer Foundation Healing Garden, which includes a nine-hole putting green. For over 10 years, the Foundation has continued to grow and help children through various programs within the Texas Panhandle, the Dallas Metro Area and College Station.
2003 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 24; rounds played - 84; in money - 18; top-10 finishes - 4; scoring average - 70.31 (ranked 26th); money - $286,066 (ranked 6th); best finish - winner, Clearwater Classic.
Reached the 2004 PGA Tour due to a 6th-place ranking on the Korn Ferry Tour money list the previous year. The rookie ended his year with a bang, first with a runner-up finish at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic, then posted his first tournament title in his 34th career start at the FUNAI Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort.
2005 Notes: Had seven top 25s. Best finish, runner-up B.C. Open.
2006 Notes: had eight top 25s. Best finish, runner-up FBR Open.
2007 Notes: In the 21st start of the season, finished T-3rd at the Canadian Open. Returned to Q-School after finishing 144th on the money list.
2008 Notes: Struggled until he won the second-to-last event of the year, the Ginn Sur Mer Classic.
2009 Notes: After arthroscopic shoulder surgery in the off-season, he had four top 25s and one top 10, finishing 150th on the money list.
2010 Notes: Started year with a win at Sony Open in Hawaii, finished with five top 10s and nine top 25s. Played all four FedExCup Playoff events and was 23rd on the final points list. Also finished 17th on the money list with just under $3 million in earnings.
2011 Notes: Made 18 of 26 cuts to go with eight top 25s, including a playoff loss to Keegan Bradley at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
2012 Notes: Finished 58th on the money list and 55th in the FedExCup rankings. Best finish, T-3rd at FedEx St. Jude Classic. It was one of four top 10s and 10 top 25s.
2013 Notes: Finished the season 71st in the FedExCup, marking the first time in four years he failed to advance to the BMW Championship. The season included four top-10 finishes, T-6th at the Humana Challenge on the strength of opening and closing 65s. Made eight birdies and an eagle in the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open en route to a 9-under 62, good for 5th place. Posted two eagles in a three-hole stretch (Nos. 9 and 11) at TPC Sawgrass in the second round of The Players Championship en route to a T-5th with Henrik Stenson and Martin Laird. Claimed the top-5 finish despite mourning due to the news of the loss of a best friend in San Antonio, killed in an auto accident earlier in the week. Finished 4th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, played the final 37 holes at TPC Southwind without a bogey. Was also 59th on the money list.
2014 Notes: Was T-8th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, the next week was runner-up at Humana Challenge. Two months later, was runner-up again, losing to Russell Henley in a four-man playoff at the Honda Classic. Had a T-7th at Shell Houston Open and a T-5th at the Crowne Plaza Colonial. Had another top-5 with a T-5th at the PGA Championship. Played in all four FedExCup Playoff events for the second time in his career (also in 2010). Was T-4th at the BMW Championship and 7th at the Tour Championship. Finished 14th in the FedExCup rankings and 24th on the money list.
2015 Notes: Finished T-10th at the Humana Challenge, with rounds of 71-61-68-69. His week in Palm Springs was highlighted by a 9-under-par 27 on the Nicklaus Private course, which matched the second-lowest nine-hole score in PGA Tour history. Corey Pavin posted an 8-under 26 on the front nine in the opening round of the 2006 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Following an opening-round, 7-under 64, led by a shot at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Ensuing rounds of 72-68-66 was good for a 14-under 270 total and a T-2nd, one behind winner Brooks Koepka. Registered his third top 10 with a T-6th at the Valero Texas Open and his fourth with a T-10th finish at the AT&T Byron Nelson. His fifth one was a T-6th at the Barclays Championship. Played 22 events and made 18 cuts, was 38th in the FedEx Cup race, and 45th on the money list.
2016 Notes: Took 12 starts in the 2016 season to record his first top-10 which was a T-4th at the Valero Texas Open. The next one came on his home course, Colonial Country Club, when he finished T-3rd at the Dean & Deluca, four shots back of winner Jordan Spieth. Played a total of 23 events and made the cut in 20 of them. Had three top-tens, including a T-4th in his last start of the year at the BMW Championship. Was 34th in the FedExCup standings and 54th in the money race. The year didn't end without suffering, in July while playing in the RBC Canadian Open Ryan's wife Jennifer was diagnosed with breast cancer and started chemotherapy on September 19th, Ryan's 40th birthday.
2017 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events making 10 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Had a three-week stretch in which he was T-11th at the RBC Heritage, T-6th at the Valero Texas Open, and then teamed with fellow Texan Jordan Spieth to finish 4th at 22-under in the two-man team, Zurich Classic of New Orleans. 2017 was a hard year for Palmer, he played a limited schedule largely due to his wife Jennifer undergoing chemotherapy for stage two breast cancer. He did finish T-9th at the Barracuda Championship to get close to getting into the FedExCup playoffs but after missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship was 134th in the FedExCup standings missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Then in October, he underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery to clean up a bone spur. By the end of the year his shoulder was doing better and his wife, Jennifer, was getting favorable scans in her recovery from cancer.
2018 Notes: Began the season on a Major Medical Extension and retained full eligibility in his second of six available events with a T-20th at the CareerBuilder Challenge. At the next event, the Farmers Insurance Open, birdied the 72nd hole to get into a playoff with Jason Day and Alex Noren. Palmer was eliminated on the first hole of the playoff but his runner-up finish was his best PGA Tour finish since his T-2nd at the 2015 WM Phoenix Open. Was T-8th at the Quicken Loans and was able to return for the FedExCup Playoffs. Just before that in August, the Palmers got great news when Jennifer's treatment ended and doctors said she was almost cancer-free. In the Northern Trust, Ryan shot a final-round 65 to finish T-5th and jumped from 100 to 50 in the FedExCup standings. Missed the cut at the Dell Technologies and was T-65th in the BMW Championship to finish the year 63rd in the FedExCup standings.
2019 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events making 15 cuts with six top-ten finishes. Was 35th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-3rd at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges and T-7th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Shot 69-63 on the weekend at the Honda Classic to finish T-4th, two shots back of winner Keith Mitchell. Teamed with Jon Rahm to claim his fourth PGA Tour victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and his first since the 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii, a span of 3,388 days between victories. At 26-under 262, they posted a three-shot win over Sergio Garcia/Tommy Fleetwood. Was T-6th at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Was T-7th in the Barracuda Championship. In the FedExCup Playoffs was T-77th in the Northern Trust and T-43rd in the BMW Championship.
2020 Notes: Played in 19 PGA Tour events making 15 cuts with five top-ten finishes. Was 24th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-10th in the Zozo Championship. T-4th in the Sony Open in Hawaii, he was two shots back of the Cameron Smith/Brendan Steele playoff. After the break was T-8th at the RBC Heritage. T-2nd at the Memorial, three shots back of winner Jon Rahm. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-8th at the Northern Trust, T-40th at the BMW Championship, and T-24th at the Tour Championship.
2021 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events making 18 cuts with four top-ten finishes. Was 69th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-4th at the Zozo Championship, four shots back of winner Patrick Cantlay. Was 4th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, two shots back of the Harris English/Joaquin Niemann playoff. Was T-2nd at the Farmers Insurance Open, five back of winner Patrick Reed. It was his second runner-up at the event, losing in a playoff in 2018. Was T-7th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Jon Rahm. Shot a final-round 64 at the Abrdn Scottish Open to finish T-4th a shot back of the Lee/Detry/Fitzpatrick playoff. In the FedExCup playoffs missed the cut at the Northern Trust and T-57th at the BMW Championship.
2022 Notes: Palmer went over a year on the PGA Tour and 23 events since his last top-ten finish, a 7th place finish in the 2021 Zurich Classic before he got back into the top-ten at the AT&T Byron Nelson (he finished 4th in Scottish Open, but that was on the European Tour 18 events ago). Palmer shot a final-round 66 to finish T-5th, three shots back of winner K.H. Lee.