Victor Perez

Perez started playing golf at a young age and connected with Mike Magher, his current coach, at Biarritz Golf Club. Perez enjoyed a fine amateur career and represented France at the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy, where he was the joint second-lowest individual scorer behind Jon Rahm. He graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor of Science degree, focusing on psychology. He turned professional in 2015 and spent the 2016 season playing on the Alps Tour. He finished 5th on the Order of Merit, which secured his status on the Challenge Tour in 2017.
2017 Notes: Played in 20 European Challenge Tour events, making 14 cuts with four top-10 finishes. It was 17th on the Order of Merit. Was T-5th at the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Match Play, T-2nd at the Made in Denmark Challenge, two strokes behind winner Oscar Stark. Shot 61-65 to break out of the pack and win by three at the Challenge de Espana in Spain. Was T-7th at the Ras Al Khaimah.
Despite being French, Perez lives in Dundee, Scotland, with his girlfriend, Abigail Gliksten, a Vocational Dental Practioner at ESK Dental Care in Brechin, Scotland.
2018 Notes: Competed in a mix of Challenge Tour and European Tour events. He played in 19 Challenge Tour tournaments, making 16 cuts with seven top-10 finishes. He secured a memorable playoff victory at the 2018 Foshan Open, where he holed a 45-foot putt to play his way into extra holes. Thanks partly to that triumph, he secured his European Tour card for 2019 by finishing 3rd in the 2018 Challenge Tour Rankings. He played in 10 events on the European Tour, making five cuts with one top-10 finish, a T-3rd at the Belgian Knockout.
2019 Notes: Played in 24 European Tour events, making 19 cuts with seven top-10 finishes. He finished 13th in the Race to Dubai. His season started with a T-3rd at the Honma Hong Kong Open. Didn't record another top-10 until August, a T-10th at the Scandinavian Invitation. He captured his first European Tour win just 14 miles down the road from his adopted home of Dundee, Scotland, when he won the Alfred Dunhill Links at St. Andrews, winning by a stroke over Matthew Southgate. The victory produced another milestone as he advanced from 184th to 72nd in the Official World Golf Ranking. He added to the excellent play with a T-4th at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, his first start in a PGA Tour event, four strokes out of the McIlroy/Schauffele playoff. The following week, he placed T-2nd at the Turkish Airlines Open, losing to Tyrrell Hatton in a six-man playoff. He finished T-20th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, and at the end of the year, moved to 45th in the OWGR, which secured a place at the 2020 Masters.
2020 Notes: Played in 14 European Tour events making 11 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Was 6th in the Race to Dubai. He started his European Tour season with a T-2nd at the Abu Dhabi Championship, two strokes behind winner Lee Westwood. After the break from COVID-19, he got to play in the U.S. for the first time, but the experience wasn't much fun as he missed the cut at Charles Schwab, Heritage, and The Memorial. In his first major, he finished T-22nd at the PGA Championship. He earned 172 FedExCup points, including those from the fall of 2019 at the WGC-HSBC Champions, but needed 281 to get a PGA Tour card for 2021. Returned to the European Tour, was T-14th at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, and the following week 2nd at the BMW PGA Championship. Perez shot 68 in the final round but was four strokes behind winner Tyrrell Hatton. He ended his season with a 7th-place finish in Dubai's DP World Tour Championship.
2021 Notes: Played in 21 European Tour events making 13 cuts with three top-ten finishes. He was 47th in the Race To Dubai. He was T-4th at the Saudi International, three shots back of winner Dustin Johnson. Shot a final-round 67 to finish T-9th at The Players Championship, six shots back of winner Justin Thomas. At the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, he got out of group play and beat Robert MacIntyre 5 & 4 in the round of 16. He then beat Sergio Garcia in the quarterfinals 4 & 3. Going into Sunday, he needed a third-place finish to make him eligible for Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour. But he couldn't accomplish that losing to Billy Horschel 3 & 2 in the semifinals, and then he lost to Matt Kuchar in the consolation match 2 & 1 to finish 4th, so his wait to get on the PGA Tour will be a little longer. He missed the cut at the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and the Open Championship. He got his last top-ten of the season at the Portugal Masters, finishing T-8th.
2022 Notes: Played in 21 DP World Tour events making 16 cuts with four top-ten finishes. Was 22nd in the Race to Dubai. He was T-8th at the ISPS Hando Championship in Spain. At the Dutch Open, Perez went into the final round sharing the lead but was three shots back on the 17th tee. When Perez made a birdie on the final hole and when Ryan Fox made a double-bogey, it set up a playoff. With a 40-foot birdie on the fourth playoff hole, Perez claimed his second win on the DP World Tour. Perez also earned himself a spot at the 2022 Open Championship along with Fox as the top-ten players got spots at St. Andrews. The next week at the Porsche European Open, Perez was the leader going into the final round but shot 74 to finish T-3rd, three shots back of winner Kalle Samooja. Perez also got a spot into the U.S. Open at Brookline but missed the cut. He was T-43rd in the British Open. Shot a final round 66 to finish 3rd at the Italian Open, a shot back of the Robert MacIntyre/Matt Fitzpatrick playoff. He ended the season with a T-12th finish at the DP World Tour Championship.
2023 Notes: Shot a final round 66 to win the Abu Dhabi Championship by a shot over Min Woo Lee and Sebastian Soderberg. He was T-9th at the Italian Open.