Joost Luiten

His full name is Willebrordus Adrianus Maria Luiten. Joost started golf and ski jumping at age 9. The next year, he fractured his elbow and nose and bruised a knee during a jump. He turned to golf full-time and worked on his game with his uncle, Wim, who introduced him to the sport. He won the 2005 German and Spanish Amateur Open titles, as well as the Dutch National Open. He inspired the Netherlands to a surprise victory at the Eisenhower Trophy, playing his last five holes in 6 under par.
In 2007, Luiten didn't get either a European Tour or Challenge Tour card. Started as a player on the EPD tour, which encourages development. Because of excellent results, he was regularly invited to play Challenge Tour events. After four tournaments, he won in Toulouse (64 on the final day) and shortly afterward, the Vodafone Open (61 on the final day). Made a charge during the KLM Open on the Kennemer Golf Course in the Netherlands. He didn't win but earned respect by climbing to 2nd place on the last holes. Promoted to the European Tour for 2008.
A wrist injury at the 2008 BMW Asian Open provided a medical exemption for the first 11 events of 2009, five of which carried over into 2010. It was not until late in the year that he returned to action.
From 247th in The Race to Dubai in 2009, he climbed to 28th place in 2010 (which secured a berth at the 2011 Open Championship), thanks to a share of 2nd place at the Portugal Masters and five other top-10 finishes.
He made his European Tour breakthrough when he won the 2011 Iskandar Johor Open. He then traveled straight to China, where he represented Holland with Robert-Jan Derksen in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup. The win in Malaysia capped a fine season during which he had six other top-10s and finished 24th in The Race to Dubai.
2012 Notes: Played in 26 events. T-2nd at the ISPS Handa Wales Open and finished 44th in The Race to Dubai.
2013 Notes: Thrilled home galleries by winning the KLM Open, defeating Miguel Angel Jimenez in a playoff to become the first home winner of the Dutch National Open in 10 years. It was his second season title, following a victory at the Lyoness Open. Finished 12th in The Race to Dubai, his first year going over the million-euro mark.
2014 Notes: Started the year with a T-3rd at the Volvo Golf Champions, then 6th at Abu Dhabi. Also had a 4th at Open de Espana and a 3rd at the Lyoness Open. Had a big stretch in the fall, starting with a T-4th at the Italian Open, T-5th at the KLM Open, and a win at the Handa Wales Open. He also had top 10s with a 3rd at the Volvo World Match Play and T-9th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. Finished the year 11th in the Race to Dubai.
2015 Notes: Played in 20 events and made 18 cuts with just one top-10, a T-4th at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. Finished the year 50th in the Race to Dubai.
2016 Notes: Played in 26 European Tour events, making 31 cuts with 9 top-tens. He got off to a great start, he had 6 top-10s in his first 9 starts, including a 2nd at the Open de Espana (finishing 1 back of winner Andrew Johnston), and then the next week, he finished T-2nd at the Shenzhen international (2 back of winner Soomin Lee). Going into the PGA Championship, he has 8 top-10 finishes. After finishing T-33rd at the PGA Championship, he represented the Netherlands at the Olympics and finished T-27th. He delighted the hometown fans by picking up his fifth European Tour victory, closing with a course-record-tying 63 to make up a three-shot deficit to win the KLM Open by three shots over Bernd Wiesberger. It would be his last top-ten of the year, he finished 15th in the Race to Dubai with euros1,596,853 in earnings.
2017 Notes: Played in 26 European Tour events, making 23 cuts with 2 top-ten finishes. Was T-7th at the Lyoness Open and then 2nd at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, a shot back of winner Sergio Garcia. Finished 36th in the Race to Dubai.
2018 Notes: The year started on a promising note, in his 4th start of the year won the NBO Oman Open by 2 shots over Chris Wood. Unfortunately, just after that, his wrist, which has given him problems for most of his career flared up at the time he finished T-9th at the Hero Indian Open. The pain was so bad he had to withdraw from the WGC-Dell Match Play. After a month of rest, he tried to come back at the Trophee Hassan and finished T-9th, but the pain grew, and after he missed the cut at the BMW PGA Championship, he had an MRI scan of his left wrist, which confirmed that he had fluid at the tendons and bone on the wrist. The injury created pain and irritation, the next week, he had it operated on. He took 20 weeks off and made his return, pain-free at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, finishing T-11th. He played in all three of the playoff events and finished the year 55th in the Race to Dubai.
2019 Notes: Played in 24 European Tour events, making 20 cuts with six top-ten finishes. Was 25th in the Race to Dubai. In his first event of the year, he finished 3rd at the Abu Dhabi Championship, a good omen that the wrist was back to normal. He was T-6th at the Saudi International, T-10th at the WGC-Mexico Championship, and T-12th at the Oman Open. Despite missing a spot by one to play in the WGC-Dell Match Play, he flew to Austin as the first alternate, but nobody withdrew. But the trip wasn't a total loss. He was given a sponsor invite to play in the Valero Texas Open, which he finished T-63rd. He was T-8th at the Betfred British Masters. Was T-10th at the KLM Open and T-10th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Ended his season with a T-20th finish at the DP World Tour Championship Dubai.
2020 Notes: Played in 22 European Tour events, making 16 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Was 73rd in the Race to Dubai, earning euro307,088. T-10th Oman Open, after the break, was T-6th at the Euram Bank Open, four shots back of winner Joel Stalter, and T-10th at the Italian Open. Ended the season T-43rd at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
2021 Notes: Played in 24 DP World Tour events, making 17 cuts with two top-ten finishes. He was 89th in the Race to Dubai with earnings of euro327,263. He was T-7th at the Kenya Savannah Classic and Gran Canaria Lopesan Open.
2022 Notes: Played in 21 DP World Tour events, making 13 cuts with two top-ten finishes. Was 126th in the Race to Dubai, earning euro327,263. He was T-10th at the Steyn City Championship, and he ended his season with a 7th-place finish at the Portugal Masters.
2023 Notes: Played in 27 DP World Tour events, making 21 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. Was 26th in the Race to Dubai, earning euro1,274,582. He was T-3rd at the Thailand Classic, six shots back of the winner Thorjern Olesen. The next week was 3rd at the Hero Indian Open, two shots back of winner Marcel Siem. He was T-3rd at the Korea Championship, three shots back of winner Pablo Larrazabal. He was 2nd at the BMW International Open, led going into the final round, but shot 74 to finish a shot back of the winner, Thriston Lawrence. He was T-8th at the Betred British Masters. With the great season, he qualified for the 151st Open Championship through being in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai. He finished T-71st at the Open Championship. He shot a final round 65 to finish T-5th at the Omega European Masters, four shots back of the winner Ludvig Aberg. Finished his season with a 48th place finish at the DP World Tour Championship.
2024 Notes: Best finish, T-11th at the Porsche Singapore Classicc and Hero Indian Open.