Michael George Wilfred Hoey (born 13 February 1979) is a retired Northern Irish professional golfer 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 fi ...

and the

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 T ...

Amateur career

Hoey was born in

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( ga, Baile Monaidh , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated i ...

but played much of his early golf at Shandon Park Golf Club in East Belfast. He won the

British Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

in 2001 and was a member of the victorious 2001 Great Britain & Ireland

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

team. As British Amateur Champion, he was invited to play in the Masters Tournament in 2002, where he missed the cut by a single stroke. He turned professional later that year. He played his collegiate golf at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

Professional career

Until 2009, Hoey had struggled to secure his place on the main

and had mostly competed in the second tier

where he has three tournament victories, the 2005

BA-CA Golf Open The Austrian Open is a men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 1990, and was a European Tour event for seven straight years up to 1996, being held under a variety of names due to regular changes of title sponsor. ...

, the 2007 Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata, and the 2008 Banque Populaire Moroccan Classic. He finished 8th on the end of season rankings in 2005, which gave him automatic promotion to the European Tour. Following a largely unsuccessful début season in 2006, he returned to the Challenge Tour the following year. He regained his playing privileges on the European Tour for the 2009 season at final

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. Early in 2009, Hoey finished runner-up to

Retief Goosen Retief Goosen (born 3 February 1969) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He has won two U.S. Opens, in 2001 and 2004, headed the European Tour Order of Merit in 2001 and 2002, and was in the top ten of th ...

in the Africa Open on the Sunshine Tour. Then in April, he claimed his first European Tour title, at the Estoril Open de Portugal where he defeated Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño on the third hole of a sudden death playoff. The win also gave him a one-year exemption on the European Tour. He won twice in 2011, including his most prestigious title to date at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He picked up his fourth victory on the European Tour in 2012 at the Trophée Hassan II. In July 2013, Hoey won his fifth European Tour title at the M2M Russian Open, prevailing by four strokes from

Alexandre Kaleka Alexandre Kaleka (born 6 March 1987) is a French professional golfer. Kaleka turned professional in July 2009 and won his first tournament as a professional, the Allianz EurOpen de Lyon on the Challenge Tour. The win gave him a full exemption o ...

and

Matthew Nixon Matthew Nixon (born 12 June 1989) is an English professional golfer. Amateur career Nixon was a top amateur golfer nationwide from an early age; he won the Boys Amateur Championship in 2006 at the age of 17, and played in the Jacques Léglise ...

. His victory was set up by a third round score of 65, which took him into the lead heading into the final round. Hoey represented Ireland, alongside

Gareth Maybin Gareth Maybin (born 14 September 1980) is a Northern Irish professional golfer. Career Born in Belfast, Maybin turned professional in 2005 after completing a scholarship at the University of South Alabama. He remained in the United States and ...

at the 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup where they finished in 24th position. In February 2022, Hoey announced his retirement from professional golf, becoming a referee on the European Tour.

Amateur wins

*1998 Irish Amateur Open Championship *2001

Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

Professional wins (8)

European Tour wins (5)

¹Dual-ranking event with the

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

Challenge Tour wins (4)

¹Dual-ranking event with the

Challenge Tour playoff record (1–1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = disqualified
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur *

European Youths' Team Championship The European Youths' Team Championship was a European amateur team golf championship for men under 22 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1961. It was played every year until 1982, then every second year. It ...

(representing Ireland): 1998, 2000 *

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been ...

(representing Ireland):

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 shoot ...

, 2001 * Palmer Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland):

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2001 (winners) Professional *

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): 2007 * European Championships (representing Ireland):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoey, Michael Male golfers from Northern Ireland Clemson Tigers men's golfers European Tour golfers Sportspeople from Ballymoney Sportspeople from Belfast 1979 births Living people