Webb Simpson
Webb Simpson | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||||
Full name | James Frederick Webb Simpson | ||||
Born | Raleigh, North Carolina | August 8, 1985||||
Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||
Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st) | ||||
Sporting nationality | United States | ||||
Residence | Charlotte, North Carolina | ||||
Spouse |
Taylor Dowd Keith (m. 2010)Nationwide Tour | ||||
Professional wins | 7 | ||||
Highest ranking | 4 (July 5, 2020)[2] (as of April 14, 2024) | ||||
Number of wins by tour | |||||
PGA Tour | 7 | ||||
European Tour | 1 | ||||
Best results in major championships (wins: 1) | |||||
Masters Tournament | T5: 2019 | ||||
PGA Championship | T13: 2016 | ||||
U.S. Open | Won: 2012 | ||||
The Open Championship | T12: 2018 | ||||
Achievements and awards | |||||
|
James Frederick Webb Simpson (born August 8, 1985) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour who won the 2012 U.S. Open and the 2018 Players Championship.
As an amateur, he was a member of the United States' victorious 2007 Walker Cup and 2007 Palmer Cup teams. In college, Simpson played on the Wake Forest University golf team on the Arnold Palmer scholarship.
After turning professional, Simpson played on the
Amateur career
Simpson played high school golf at
Professional career
Early years
After turning professional in June 2008, Simpson played on the
Simpson's 2010 season was less successful, with only two top-ten finishes all season, both of these occurring towards the latter end of the season. His season took a similar pattern to his first on tour when he missed six straight cuts in the middle of season, before a strong summer saw him make six of next eight cuts to again qualify for the season ending playoffs. This time, however Simpson missed the cut at the second playoff event and was eliminated. He finished the year 94th on the money list to keep his playing privileges for the 2011 season.
2011
After starting the season well with three top-25 finishes in his opening five events on tour, Simpson had a chance to win his first PGA Tour title at the 2011
Simpson won his first PGA Tour title at the
Simpson was also in contention at the third FedEx Cup playoff event, the BMW Championship, before scores of 73–71 on the weekend led to a fifth-placed finish. He maintained his lead of the FedEx Cup standings going into the final playoff event at the Tour Championship. Bill Haas won the Tour Championship to finish top of the standings by 15 points, with Simpson in second place after finishing 22nd in the field of 30 players.[9]
Simpson came close to picking up his third victory of the year at the
2012
Simpson opened the 2012 season at the
2012 U.S. Open win
On June 17, Simpson won the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.[10] He shot a two-under 68 in the final round for a final score of one-over par. It was good enough to win by one stroke over Graeme McDowell and Michael Thompson.[11] McDowell missed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that would have forced a playoff. It was Simpson's first major championship win.[12] The win moved Simpson to a career-high fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking.[13]
Rest of 2012
Following his victory at the U.S. Open, Simpson announced his intention to skip The Open Championship the following month, as his wife was due to give birth to their second child.[14] He finished in a tie for 29th at the Travelers Championship the week after winning the U.S. Open. In July, Simpson held a two stroke lead going into the final round of the Greenbrier Classic. He had only one bogey all tournament before bogeying four of five holes on the back nine, finishing in a tie for seventh place. Having withdrawn from The Open Championship, Simpson did not compete until at the final major of the year, the PGA Championship. He started the first round at six-over-par through seven holes on his way to an opening round of 79. Despite shooting an even-par round in difficult conditions, he missed the cut by one stroke. On August 13, Simpson was confirmed as one of the automatic qualifiers for the 2012 Ryder Cup team, finishing in 5th place in the final standings. It would be Simpson's first appearance in the team event.
2013
In April, Simpson lost a playoff in the RBC Heritage to Graeme McDowell. In the season's final event, Simpson shot a 63 in the final round of the Tour Championship to finish in fourth place. Simpson had five top-tens and finished 20th on the PGA Tour's money list. Following the season, Simpson was a member of the winning American team in the Presidents Cup played at Murfield Village in Ohio.
2014
Simpson won the
2015
Simpson was winless for the season though he did have five top-ten finishes. Simpson's highest finish was a tie for second at the Wells Fargo Championship which was won by seven strokes in a record-setting performance by Rory McIlroy. For the season Simpson finished 43rd on the PGA Tour's money list. For the first time in five years, Simpson did not represent the United States in a year-end international competition.
2018
Simpson won the 2018 Players Championship at 18 under par. He began the final round with the largest Sunday lead ever at this event and, even though he double-bogeyed the final hole, his round of 73 was good enough for the win. This was his first win in four years. Simpson won for the fifth time in his career and moved to No. 20 in the world rankings and took home $1.98 million, the second-largest tournament payoff, behind only the U.S. Open.[16]
In September 2018, Simpson qualified for the U.S. team participating in the 2018 Ryder Cup. Europe defeated the U.S. team 17 1/2 to 10 1/2. Simpson went 2–1–0. He won his singles match against Justin Rose.[17]
2019
In December 2019, Simpson played on the U.S. team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Simpson went 1–3–0 and won his Sunday singles match against An Byeong-hun.[18]
2020
In February, Simpson won the
Junior tournament
Simpson founded an annual junior golf tournament with friend and current director Mark Bentley in 2010. The tournament is currently called the Webb Simpson Challenge.[21]
Personal life
Simpson was born on August 8, 1985, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Evander Samuel "Sam" Simpson III and Debbie Webb Simpson, the fifth of six children.[3][22] Simpson is a Christian. After his first PGA tour win, he thanked his "...Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ".[23] Simpson frequently posts Bible verses and other statements about his faith on his Twitter account.[24]
Amateur wins
- 2001 Rolex Tournament of Champions
- 2004 Azalea Invitational
- 2005 Southern Amateur
- 2006 Sunnehanna Amateur
- 2007 Dogwood Invitational, Southern Amateur, Azalea Invitational
Professional wins (7)
PGA Tour wins (7)
Legend |
Major championships (1) |
Players Championships (1) |
FedEx Cup playoff events (1) |
Other PGA Tour (4) |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Aug 21, 2011 | Wyndham Championship | 66-65-64-67=262 | −18 | 3 strokes | George McNeill |
2 | Sep 5, 2011 | Deutsche Bank Championship
|
69-68-67-65=269 | −15 | Playoff | Chez Reavie |
3 | Jun 17, 2012 | U.S. Open | 72-73-68-68=281 | +1 | 1 stroke | Graeme McDowell, Michael Thompson |
4 | Oct 20, 2013 | Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
|
64-63-67-66=260 | −24 | 6 strokes | Jason Bohn, Ryo Ishikawa |
5 | May 13, 2018 | The Players Championship | 66-63-68-73=270 | −18 | 4 strokes | Xander Schauffele, Charl Schwartzel, Jimmy Walker |
6 | Feb 2, 2020 | Waste Management Phoenix Open
|
71-63-64-69=267 | −17 | Playoff | Tony Finau |
7 | Jun 21, 2020 | RBC Heritage | 65-65-68-64=262 | −22 | 1 stroke | Abraham Ancer |
PGA Tour playoff record (2–5)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2011 | Zurich Classic of New Orleans | Bubba Watson | Lost to birdie on second extra hole |
2 | 2011 | Deutsche Bank Championship
|
Chez Reavie | Won with birdie on second extra hole |
3 | 2011 | McGladrey Classic
|
Ben Crane | Lost to par on second extra hole |
4 | 2013 | RBC Heritage | Graeme McDowell | Lost to par on first extra hole |
5 | 2017 | Waste Management Phoenix Open
|
Hideki Matsuyama | Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole |
6 | 2019 | RSM Classic | Tyler Duncan | Lost to birdie on second extra hole |
7 | 2020 | Waste Management Phoenix Open
|
Tony Finau | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
Playoff record
Nationwide Tour playoff record (0–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2008 | Chattanooga Classic
|
Arjun Atwal | Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
Major championships
Wins (1)
Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | U.S. Open | 4 shot deficit | +1 (72-73-68-68=281) | 1 stroke | Graeme McDowell, Michael Thompson |
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
Tournament | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | T44 | CUT | CUT | T28 | T29 | CUT | T20 | |
U.S. Open | T14 | 1 | T32 | T45 | T46 | CUT | T35 | T10 |
The Open Championship | T16 | T64 | CUT | T40 | T39 | T37 | T12 | |
PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | T25 | CUT | T54 | T13 | T33 | T19 |
Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | T5 | T10 | T12 | T35 | |
PGA Championship | T29 | T37 | T30 | T20 | CUT |
U.S. Open | T16 | T8 | CUT | CUT | |
The Open Championship | T30 | NT | T19 | CUT |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 8 |
PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 9 |
U.S. Open | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 9 |
The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 8 |
Totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 46 | 34 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 16 (2017 U.S. Open – 2021 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2020 U.S. Open – 2020 Masters)
The Players Championship
Wins (1)
Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | The Players Championship | 7 shot lead | −18 (66-63-68-73=270) | 4 strokes | Xander Schauffele, Charl Schwartzel, Jimmy Walker |
Results timeline
Tournament | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Players Championship | CUT | CUT | T69 | CUT | T15 | CUT | T66 | T16 | 1 | T16 |
Tournament | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Players Championship | C | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships
Results not in chronological order before 2015.
Tournament | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Championship
|
T35 | T20 | T47 | T7 | T37 | T39 | T61 | T6 | |||
Match Play
|
R64 | QF | R16 | T17 | T58 | T29 | T56 | NT1 | T28 | T35 | |
Invitational
|
T14 | T31 | T25 | T24 | 2 | T12 | T15 | ||||
Champions | NT1 | NT1 | NT1 |
1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.
PGA Tour career summary
Season | Starts | Cuts made | Wins (Majors) | Top 10 | Top 25 | Earnings ($) | Money list rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
2008 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38,460 | 250 |
2009 | 30 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1,249,674 | 70 |
2010 | 31 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 972,962 | 94 |
2011 | 26 | 23 | 2 | 12 | 21 | 6,347,353 | 2 |
2012 | 22 | 18 | 1 (1) | 7 | 10 | 3,436,758 | 17 |
2013 | 25 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 2,957,582 | 20 |
2014 | 25 | 19 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 3,539,601 | 17 |
2015 | 22 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 2,046,260 | 43 |
2016 | 20 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1,450,355 | 73 |
2017 | 28 | 23 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 3,209,646 | 23 |
2018 | 26 | 23 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 5,376,417 | 9 |
2019 | 21 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 4,690,572 | 10 |
2020 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 5,097,742 | 5 |
Career* | 297 | 231 | 7 (1) | 75 | 140 | 40,413,381 | 19 |
*As of the 2020 season.
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup: 2007 (winners)
- Palmer Cup: 2007 (winners)
Professional
See also
- 2008 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
- List of men's major championships winning golfers
- List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
References
- ^ "Prez Cup wives/girlfriends: Dowd Simpson". Golf Channel. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
- OWGR. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
- ^ a b "Webb Simpson". Wake Forest Sports. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
- ^ "Simpson denied first PGA Tour win by Woodland". PGA Tour. March 20, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
- ^ "Simpson issued one-shot penalty". PGA Tour. May 2, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
- ^ "Simpson loses out in playoff to Bubba Watson in New Orleans". Sky Sports. May 2, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
- ^ "Simpson claims first win on the PGA Tour". PGA Tour. August 21, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
- ^ "Simpson seals Deutsche Bank Fed Ex playoff win". BBC Sport. September 5, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
- ^ "Simpson pipped to FedEx Cup by Bill Haas". PGA Tour. September 25, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
- ^ "US Open: Webb Simpson beats McDowell at the Olympic Club". BBC Sport. June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
- ^ "Webb Simpson wins US Open". Fox Sports. Associated Press. June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
- ^ Ferguson, Doug (June 17, 2012). "Webb Simpson wins US Open". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
- ^ "Simpson fifth in OWGR; one player up 560 spots". Golf Channel. June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
- ^ "Webb Simpson withdraws from Open as wife is due to give birth". BBC Sport. July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
- ^ "Ryder Cup Golf Leaderboard". ESPN. September 28, 2014.
- ^ "Webb Simpson completes big win at Players Championship". ESPN. Associated Press. May 14, 2018.
- ^ "Europe wins back Ryder Cup, beating US 17 1/2-10 1/2". The Hamilton Spectator. The Canadian Press. September 30, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ Dusek, David (December 15, 2019). "Presidents Cup grades: Captains, Royal Melbourne score high marks". Golfweek.
- ^ Gray, Will (February 2, 2020). "Power of precision: Simpson stays true to roots to beat heavy-hitting Finau". Golf Channel.
- ^ Piastowski, Nick (June 21, 2020). "Webb Simpson wins RBC Heritage by one stroke over Abraham Ancer". Golf Magazine.
- ^ "Webb Simpson Challenge". Retrieved June 18, 2012.
- ^ Simpson, Dowd (November 12, 2011). "My husband, the Tour pro: 18 things about Simpson". PGA Tour. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
- ^ "Webb Simpson Gives Jesus Christ Credit in First PGA Tour Win". August 22, 2011.
- ^ "Webb Simpson".
External links
- Webb Simpson at the PGA Tour official site
- Webb Simpson at the Official World Golf Ranking official site