Eamonn Christopher Darcy (born 7 August 1952) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

professional golfer. He won four times on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

and played in the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

four times.

Professional career

Darcy, with a handicap of 12, turned professional at the age of 16, in 1968,.becoming an assistant at Grange Golf Club in Dublin. The following year he moved to Erewash Valley Golf Club in Derbyshire, staying until 1979. Darcy's tournament career coincided with the start of the

in 1972. He first came to notice in 1974 when he was a joint runner-up in the Nigerian Open. In Europe he was tied for third place in the

Portuguese Open The Open de Portugal, previously the Portuguese Open, is an annual professional golf tournament, currently played on the Challenge Tour. History It was first played in 1953, and was part of the European Tour's schedule from 1973 to 2010. After a ...

and tied sixth in the

Dunlop Masters The Betfred British Masters is a professional golf tournament. It was founded in 1946 as the Dunlop Masters and was held every year up to 2008, except for 1984. Dunlop's sponsorship ended in 1982, and the name sponsor changed frequently therea ...

, finishing 36th in the Order of Merit. Darcy finished third on the Order of Merit in 1975 and made that year's

team, his first of four performances. The following year he was second on the Order of Merit, only behind Ballesteros. Despite a number of great performances, however, Darcy did not win either season. This became something of a trend as Darcy only posted four European Tour wins compared to 13 runner-ups. This was punctuated by his tough-luck playoff record of 0–4. Darcy's first

win was at the

Greater Manchester Open The Greater Manchester Open was a professional golf tournament which was played annually from 1975 to 1981. It was a European Tour event from 1976. It was held at Wilmslow Golf Club in Wilmslow, Cheshire, just to the south of Manchester. Three of ...

in 1977, handily defeating a trio of British golfers by 8 shots. In the off-season, Darcy would often play on the Australian Tour with much success, winning the 1980 Air New Zealand Shell Open and the 1981

West Lakes Classic The West Lakes Classic was a golf tournament held in the Adelaide area of South Australia from 1975 to 1982. History The event was historically sponsored by the Commercial Bank of Australia. In 1982 it was merged into a new bank called Westpac ...

. He would also finish runner-up at the 1980

New Zealand Open The New Zealand Open is the premier men's golf tournament in New Zealand. It has been a regular fixture on the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule since the 1970s. The 2019 event was the 100th edition of the tournament. Since 2014 it has ...

. Darcy was a consistent performer on the European Tour in the 1980s, finishing in the top 30 of the Order of Merit eight times. He won the 1983 Benson & Hedges Spanish Open and 1987

Volvo Belgian Open The Belgian Open (name owned by the Royal Belgian Golf Federation) is a men's golf tournament which has been played intermittently from 1910 to 2000. All editions since 1978 have been part of the European Tour. After not having been played since 20 ...

, shooting a final round 64 to defeat

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo, (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. A top player of his era, renowned for his dedication to the game, he was ranked No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking for ...

and

Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam (born 2 March 1958) is a Welsh professional golfer. Nicknamed 'Woosie', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europ ...

down the stretch. However, his greatest moment may have come at the historic

1987 Ryder Cup The 27th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 25–27, 1987 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The European team won their second consecutive competition by a score of 15 to 13 points in probably the mo ...

. In his last Ryder Cup match, he defeated American

Ben Crenshaw Ben Daniel Crenshaw (born January 11, 1952) is a retired American professional golfer who has won 19 events on the PGA Tour, including two major championships: the Masters Tournament in 1984 and 1995. He is nicknamed ''Gentle Ben''. Professiona ...

on the last hole to secure an individual win and the team's 13th point. His performance was indispensable as it ultimately determined an outright win. (Europe would win by the score 15–13.) His victory was especially memorably because he had an extremely poor Ryder Cup record (0–8–2) entering the match. It was his only Ryder Cup win as an individual (or as a member of team). Darcy's career began to wind down in the 1990s. He recorded his final official victory at the 1990 Emirates Airlines Desert Classic. The following year, he contended for a major championship for the first time at the 1991 Open Championship. He entered the final round just one shot out of the lead. He could not keep up with the rest of the leaders but his even-par 70 was good enough for T-5, his best finish ever in a major. Though he still kept his card through the decade, 1991 was the last season he was in the top-50 of the Order of Merit. In 2002 he joined the

European Seniors Tour The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insur ...

. Darcy was noted for having one of golf's strangest swings.

Professional wins (16)

European Tour wins (4)

''*Note: The 1987 Volvo Belgian Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.'' European Tour playoff record (0–4)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)

PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (1–0)

Safari Circuit wins (3)

Other wins (7)

*1976 Sumrie-Bournemouth Better-Ball (with

Christy O'Connor Jnr Christy O'Connor Jnr (born Christopher O'Connor; 19 August 1948 – 6 January 2016) was an Irish professional golfer. He is best known for defeating American Fred Couples at the 1989 Ryder Cup, helping Europe secure the trophy. Early life O'C ...

Cacharel World Under-25 Championship The Cacharel World Under-25 Championship was a professional golf tournament for under-25 golfers which was played annually in France from 1976 to 1983, except in 1977. In 1976 it was played in Évian-les-Bains but from 1978 to 1983 it was played in ...

, Irish Dunlop Tournament *1978 Sumrie-Bournemouth Better-Ball (with

) *1981 Carroll's Irish Match Play Championship *1988 Irish National PGA Championship *1992 Irish National PGA Championship

Playoff record

Champions Tour playoff record (0–1) European Senior Tour playoff record (0–3)

Results in major championships

''Note: Darcy only played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1975 and 1984 Open Championships)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain and Ireland/Europe):

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

(winners) *

Double Diamond International The Double Diamond International was a team golf tournament that was played from 1971 to 1977. It was hosted in England for the first three years, and then in Scotland. From 1974 and 1977 the event was preceded by an individual 36-hole stroke pla ...

(representing Ireland): 1975, 1976, 1977 *

Hennessy Cognac Cup The Hennessy Cognac Cup was a biennial team golf tournament contested from 1976 to 1984. The contests in 1976, 1978 and 1980 were between teams of professional male golfers; one team representing Great Britain and Ireland, the other team representi ...

(representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1976 (winners), (representing Ireland) 1984 (captain) *

Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris I ...

(representing Ireland): 1976 *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing Ireland):

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

Alfred Dunhill Cup The Alfred Dunhill Cup was a team golf tournament which ran from 1985 to 2000, sponsored by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. It was for three-man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country, and was promoted as the "World Team Championshi ...

(representing Ireland):

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

(winners),

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darcy, Eamonn Irish male golfers European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe RTÉ Sports Person of the Year winners Sportspeople from County Wicklow 1952 births Living people