Paul Broadhurst

Broadhurst did not have a long list of credentials when he turned professional in 1988. He won the 1988 Lytham Trophy and was a low amateur in the 1988 Open Championship conducted by The R&A. To finance his amateur career, he had to work as a van driver, a gardener, and a technician in a fiberglass factory. Despite all of the jobs, when Broadhurst turned professional, he had only about $200 in the bank, so he knew he had to play well fast, to survive on the PGA European Tour. In his first tournament, he missed the cut, but in his second event in 1989, the Desert Classic in Dubai, he finished third, three strokes behind winner Mark James. In his seventh event, the Jersey Open, he added another third-place finish behind Christy O'Connor Jr. and, in seven weeks on Tour, banked over $40,000. But the best was yet to come; in his next event, the Cannes Open, he scored his first victory with rounds of 65-70-72, proving good enough to secure a $50,000 jackpot when the fourth round was washed out by storms. He enjoyed the thrill of a lifetime in 1990 when he shot a 63 in The Open Championship at St. Andrews to equal the then Old Course record. He went on to win Rookie of the Year honors. He played in the 1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island, enjoying an unbeaten debut thanks to a four-ball win with Ian Woosnam over Paul Azinger and Hale Irwin and a singles victory over Mark O'Meara. He suffered a serious injury to his right hand during the second round of the 2000 Dubai Desert Classic, necessitating surgery that August. He played in 2001 on a full medical exemption but had to go to the Qualifying School Finals after finishing 157th on the Volvo Order of Merit. He was unable to gain a card but put that statistic right in 2002 at Emporda and Pals, a return trip to the Finals required after he finished 141st on the 2002 Volvo Order of Merit. He regained full exempt status in 2003 after finishing third in The Diageo Championship at Gleneagles.
He played his 500th European Tour event as a professional at the 2008 BMW PGA Championship, a fitting milestone for more than two decades for a stalwart of the Tour. He finished 85th in The 2009 Race to Dubai, but a shoulder injury blighted the following season; he did not play an event after the beginning of September and was given a medical exemption for his first five events in 2011. He played a total of 590 European Tour events with six wins, nine runner-ups, and a total of 72 top-10s. He won a total of Euro 6,840,379 on the European Tour. They played on the European Ryder Cup team in 1991.
2015 Notes: Followed in the footsteps of Carl Mason by winning both European and Senior Rookie of the Year honors. He won that title on the Senior Tour when he became the 10th player to win a title in their Senior Tour debut as he beat Gordon Manson in a playoff at Archerfield Links Golf Club in the Prostate Cancer UK Scottish Senior Open. He finished T-4th in the French Riviera Masters before closing the season with a T-10th in the MCB Tour Championship. Was 12th on the European Senior Tour Order of Merit. Did attend PGA Tour Champions Q-School but finished T-30th.
2016 Notes: Winner of the John Jacobs Trophy in 2016 for topping the Order of Merit in his first full season on the European Senior Tour. He produced a career-defining performance at Carnoustie by capturing the Senior Open Championship conducted by The R&A with a bogey-free 68 over the notoriously tricky links layout, signing for an 11-under-par total of 277. After winning the Senior Tour Rookie of the Year award in 2015, he duplicated Carl Mason's feat, becoming the second player to have won both the European and Senior Rookie titles. They also had three runner-up finishes in SSE Enterprise Wales Senior Open, WINSTONgolf Senior Open, and MCB Tour Championship. His earnings were euro399,285.
He was not exempt from PGA Tour Champions, but after winning The Senior Open Championship became exempt and played in 12 events. He also won at the Nature Valley First Tee Pebble Beach. For the year finished 27th on the money list and 31st in Schwab rankings.
2017 Notes: Played full-time schedules on both Champions and European Staysure Tours; on the Champions Tour, played in 22 events with 4 top-ten finishes, best T-4th at the Allianz Championship Championship. They finished 33rd on the final Charles Schwab Cup money list. On the European Staysure Tour, played in 7 events, winning twice, Scottish Senior Open and Paris Legends Championship. It was 6th in the order of merit with earnings of euro158,282.
2018 Notes: Turning into one of the best years in his professional life. Broadhurst shot a final-round 63 and turned a two-shot deficit into a four-shot victory at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. The win was his second senior major and fourth victory on PGA Tour Champions. Broadhurst's total of 265 matched the lowest 72-hole total in the tournament's 79-year history, and his final-round 63 was the best finish by a winner in the tournament history. A month earlier, he teamed up with Kirk Triplett to win the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge in a playoff over Bernhard Langer and Tom Lehman. As a team, Broadhurst/Triplett went bogey-free en route to a 24-under total, and they won after Triplett holed a bunker shot for birdie on the first extra hole. Shot a pair of 69s over the weekend to finish 1-under-par 279 for T-5th at the U.S. Senior Open. Playing in the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship in London, shot a final-round 65 to finish T-3rd, 3 shots back of winner Philip Golding. Broadhurst won again on the PGA Tour Champions with a 2 shot win over Brandt Jobe at eh Ally Challenge. Competed in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship for the third consecutive year, finishing 10th in the standings. On the European Staysure Tour, won the Staysure Tour Order of Merit with Euro547,793
2019 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour Champions with seven top-ten finishes. He was 16th on the Schwab Cup points list. They teamed up again with Kirk Triplett, but this year, they were runners-up, 5 shots short of the winner's Scot Hoch/Tom Pernice Jr. in the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf. He was 3rd at the Senior PGA Championship, 2 shots back of winner Ken Tanigawa. T-6th in the Regions Tradition. Finished 2nd at the Senior Open Championship, two shots back of winner Bernhard Langer after he led through 54 holes. T-7th at the Sanford International and 3rd at the Pure Insurance Championship, a shot back for the Triplett/Andrade playoff.
2020 & 2021 Notes: Played in 38 PGA Tour Champions with six top-ten finishes. He was 27th on the Schwab Cup points list. Started the season T-6th at the 2020 Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He was T-10th at Morocco Champions. He finished 2nd after losing to Kevin Sutherland on the ninth extra hole at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. They started the final round six shots behind Sutherland and closed with a bogey-free 63 to force extra holes. It was his 3rd career runner-up finish and 1st since the 2019 Senior Open Championship. He didn't have another top ten until June 2021, a T-10th at the 2021 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship. With rounds of 69-65-69-69 finished 5th at the Senior Open Champions at Sunningdale, five shots back of winner Stephen Dodd. He was T-5th at the SAS Championship, two shots back of the Lee Janzen/Miguel Angel Jimenez playoff. His last event of the season was a T-27th finish at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour Champions events with six top-ten finishes. He was 13th in the Schwab Cup and 13th on the money list with earnings of $1,008,017. Was T-8th at the Rapiscan Systems Classic, T-7th at the ClubCorp Classic, and T-7th at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, five shots back of winner Steve Flesch. Finished 7th at the American Family Insurance Open and T-7th at the U.S. Senior Open. He finished T-3rd at The Senior Open Championship in Gleagles, Scotland, after rounds of 65-70-66-71. He was tied for the lead with Darren Clarke going into the final round and ended two shots back of Clarke. The season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship was 11th.
2023 Notes: Was T-20th at the Trophy Hassan II. At the Regions, Tradition was T-5th, eight shots back of winner Steve Stricker.