Heinz-Peter Thül (born 27 July 1963) is a German professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er who played 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 ...

. Thül started playing golf at age 8 and has played in 350 tournaments over three decades. By the time of

Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first official number one ra ...

's wedding in 1984 he was considered Germany's number two golfer, and as such would team up with Langer in international matches such as

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 ...

and

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 ...

Professional career

Thül turned professional in 1980 and played in his first European Tour the same year. He played another 40 events throughout the 1980s with limited success, until he started competing on the nascent Challenge Tour towards the end of the decade. On the Challenge Tour he recorded four victories between 1988 and 1992, and remained the only German winner until

Sven Strüver Sven Strüver (born 9 August 1967) is a German professional golfer. Early life and professional career Strüver was born in Bremen. In the 1989 German Open, he shot a 62 in the second round to set a new record for the lowest round by an amateur ...

won the American Express Trophy in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. Thül won the 1991 Neuchatel Open in Switzerland, a title he successfully defended a year later, and almost won again in 1996, but lost in a playoff. A pair of runner-up finishes in 1991 ensured Thül finished the year 13th on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, a result he bettered only once in the next six years when he finished 11th in 1997. In total, Thül played over 65

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History The ...

events 1991–2003, recording two wins and six runner-up finishes, in addition to the two Challenge Tour events he won before the order of merit was introduced in 1990. Thül played almost 200

events between 1980 and 2000, recording six top-10 finishes. He won the 1989

European Tour Qualifying School The European Tour Qualifying School is an annual golf tournament which enables professional golfers to gain a place on the European Tour and its official development tour, the Challenge Tour. The European Tour Qualifying School In professional ...

at La Manga, and finished 11th on the 1997 Challenge Tour Rankings, earning a spot on the

1998 European Tour The 1998 European Tour was the 27th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour. The season was made up of 33 tournaments counting for the Order of Merit, and several non-counting "Approved Special Events". The Order of Me ...

. At the 13th hole of the 1st round of the 1993

Spanish Open Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, he was struck by lightning, but was able to continue playing and finished the tournament in 8th place. Thül has represented Germany in four

s, with best finish fifth place at the 1992 World Cup where he teamed up with

. He has also represented Germany in three

s, with best finish a tie for fifth in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, together with

and Torsten Giedeon.

Professional wins (4)

Challenge Tour wins (3)

''*Note: The 1992 Neuchâtel Open SBS Trophy was shortened to 36 holes due to rain.'' Challenge Tour playoff record (1–2)

Other wins (1)

*1988 Torneo dei Campioni

Team appearances

Professional *

(representing Germany):

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

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 Germany):

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thul, Heinz-Peter German male golfers European Tour golfers Sportspeople from Cologne 1963 births Living people