Stephen Gallacher

Gallacher won the 2013 OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic, holing his second shot for an eagle at the 16th (his fifth eagle of the week) in the final round to shake off Richard Sterne and win by three. His previous triumph came at the 2004 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, exactly 35 years after his uncle, former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, won his maiden professional title. He successfully defended his Omega Dubai Desert Classic title in 2014, doing so in record-setting fashion. In the third round, after shooting an even-par 35 on the front nine at Emirates G.C., he went bogey-free on the final nine of the day, recording seven birdies and an eagle en route to a 9-under 28. He held a two-shot, 54-hole lead over Rory McIlroy and stumbled early as he began his final round with back-to-back bogeys, shooting a 4-over 39 on the front nine. He righted his play for a second consecutive day on the back nine with a four-birdie, five-par performance to hold off Emiliano Grillo by one stroke.
He won a European Tour card in his first attempt in 1995. He sustained a back injury in the summer of 1996 while removing his luggage from an airport carousel, and did not play from June onward. He won the Scottish Amateur Match Play and Stroke Play Championships to accompany his Lytham Trophy success and was a member of the victorious Walker Cup side at Royal Porthcawl in 1995. His first European Tour win was at the 2005 Dunhill Links Championship when he beat Graeme McDowell in a playoff, delighting the home crowds at St. Andrews and fulfilling the promise he had shown since turning professional in 1995. He suffered from a debilitating viral infection, sarcoidosis, which attacked his lungs and joints in 2009, but returned to full health in 2010. A year later, he guided Scotland, alongside Martin Laird, to a joint fourth-place at the Mission Hills World Cup.
2014 Notes: Along with his Dubai win, Gallacher also finished T-6th at WGC-Cadillac and then T-5th at the BMW PGA Championship. The next week, he lost a playoff to Thongchai Jaidee at the Nordea Masters, then finished T-4th at the Aberdeen Asset Scottish Open. He finished the year with a pair of top-10s at the Czech Masters (T-7th) and the Italian Open (third). He finished the year 16th on The Race to Dubai rankings. Thanks to his good finish in Italy, he received one of three Captain?s picks and made his Ryder Cup debut less than 50 miles from his home in Bathgate, Scotland. He went 0-2-0 during the European Team?s five-point victory over the USA Team.
2015 Notes: In defense of his Omega Dubai Desert Classic title, he finished third, six shots behind winner Rory McIlroy for his only top-ten of the year.