Ricardo Gonzalez

One of six Argentine golfers to have won on The European Tour, joining an illustrious group featuring Jorge Berendt, Angel Cabrera, Jose Coceres, Vicente Fernandez, and Eduardo Romero.
Gonzalez turned professional in 1986 and has spent much of his career in Europe. He won a place on the European Tour in 1992 through qualifying school after playing on the second Challenge Tour in 1991. Having failed to win sufficient money to retain his tour card, he returned to the Challenge Tour in 1993. He played full-time on the European Tour between 1999 and 2015.
He captured his first European Tour title when he led from start to finish at the 2001 Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre, emulating the feat of Romero 12 months earlier, and added his second when he won the 2003 Telefonica Open de Madrid, holding off a strong chasing pack which included Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington, Nick O'Hern and Marten Olander. Won for the third time in Spain in the 2004 Open de Sevilla.
A former caddie in his native Corrientes in northern Argentina tried his luck in Africa. He won the 1998 Tusker Kenya Open in Nairobi on the Challenge Tour after a play-off with local hero Jacob Okello. He secured his place on The European Tour by finishing 5th on the Challenge Tour that year. He represented Argentina in the 1996 and 1998 World Cup, finishing T-6th with Jorge Berendt and T-3rd with Cabrera. Aside from his win in Spain, Gonzalez's best performance in 2003 was a tie for second in the 60th Italian Open Telecom Italia, which helped him to 47th on the Volvo Order of Merit. After several down years, Gonzalez qualified for the European Tour through qualifying school in 2016. At age 47, he was the oldest Q school graduate in Tour history.
Gonzalez played in 51 Challenge Tour events with 14 top-ten finishes, including a win at the 1998 Tusker Kenya Open.
Gonzalez played in 429 European Tour events making 258 cuts with 43 top-ten finishes. In his 20-year career, he won euro6,503,107.
2021 Notes: Played in 11 European Legends Tour events with two top-ten finishes. Was 12th in the Order of Merit earning euro90,771. His best finishes was 7th at the Senior Open and T-7th at the Legends French Open.
2022 Notes: Played in 9 Legends tour events with five top-ten finishes. Was 15th in the Order of Merit, earning euro112,190. Won the Italian Senior Open by three shots over James Kingstone. He played in six PGA Tour Champions events, best finish T-20th at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. He finished T-17th at the Qualifying Tournament.
2023 Notes: He finished 4th in the Race to Mauritius standings in 2023 after a season where he registered two runner-up finishes and one, third place in 14 starts on the Legends Tour. Was 2md at the Irish Legends and Farmfoods European Masters. Was T-3tf at the Vinpearl DIC Legends Vietnam.
2024 Notes: In his 13th start on PGA Tour Champions, the Argentinian earned his first win on the PGA Tour Champions at the Trophy Hassan II. Gonzalez, the 36-hole co-leader, made a bogey on the par-5 12th hole to fall two shots off the lead. He then made four consecutive birdies on holes. 13 through 16 to capture a one-shot victory. Gonzalez earned his spot in the field at Trophy Hassan II by virtue of a top-four finish in the 2023 Staysure Order of Merit on the Legends Tour. With his win at Trophy Hassan II, he becomes fully exempt on PGA TOUR Champions through the end of the 2025 season and earns a spot in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai for both 2025 and 2026. Was the 36-hole leader, finished T-2nd at The Galleri Classic, a shot back of the winner Retief Goosen.