Mark Joseph Wilson (born October 31, 1974) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

. In 1996, he received the

Ben Hogan Award The Ben Hogan Award is an annual prize given by Friends of Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America, since 1990, to the best college golf player in the United States. The Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas joined the organization ...

, given by Friends of Golf and the

Golf Coaches Association of America The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) is a non-profit organization that is a professional association of men’s collegiate golf coaches. It was founded in 1958, and is located on 1225 West Main Street in Norman, Oklahoma. The GCAA has o ...

, to the best college golf player in the United States. He is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, with his most recent win coming at the 2012

Humana Challenge The Desert Classic (currently known as The American Express for sponsorship reasons; previously known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, Palm Springs Golf Classic, the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and the Humana Challen ...

Professional career

Wilson turned professional in 1997 and played on the

NGA Hooters Tour SwingThought, formerly the NGA Pro Golf Tour, is the oldest developmental golf tour based in the United States. The tour was acquired by Golf Interact in 2014 and rebranded as SwingThought. The tour consists of around 25 professional golf tourna ...

for the early part of his career, where he won three times between 1998-2001. He then won his PGA Tour card for the 2003 season after finishing T17 at the Q School in 2002. In his first full season on tour, Wilson narrowly missed out on retaining his card when he finished 128th on the money list. He held conditional status for the 2004 PGA Tour season and alternated between the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour for the season. He then regained his tour card for 2005 season at Q School and finished the year with three top-10 finishes including a T3 at the

Valero Texas Open The Texas Open, known as the Valero Texas Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played near San Antonio, Texas. It dates back years to 1922, when it was first called the Texas Open; San Antonio-based Val ...

, which at the time was his best finish on the PGA Tour. He continued with conditional status in 2006 after finishing 133rd on the money list in 2005, then again regained full status at the 2006 Q School for the 2007 season. Wilson won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the

Honda Classic The Honda Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in south Florida. It was founded in 1972 as Jackie Gleason's Inverrary Classic, and prior to a schedule change in 2021 was frequently the first of the Florida events in late winte ...

in March 2007, where he triumphed in a four-way playoff. He won the tournament on the third extra hole after being tied with

José Cóceres José Eusebio Cóceres (born 14 August 1963) is an Argentine professional golfer who spent many years on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. Cóceres was born in Argentina's Chaco province. He is one of 11 children who grew up in a two-bedroo ...

Camilo Villegas Camilo Villegas (; born 7 January 1982) is a Colombian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early years Villegas was born in Medellín, Colombia, and took up golf as a child. After several different National Junior Championships in ...

and

Boo Weekley Thomas Brent "Boo" Weekley (born July 23, 1973) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Overview Born in Milton, Florida, Weekley turned professional in 1997 and played on mini-tours until 2002, when he qualified for the ...

at 5-under-par. This victory lifted Wilson into the top 100 of the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

for the first time in his career. Wilson has since won the 2009

Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Mexico, held at Playa del Carmen, south of Cancún. It debuted in February 2007 and was the first PGA Tour event in Mexico this century. Histo ...

, the 2011

Sony Open in Hawaii The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian ...

and the 2011

Waste Management Phoenix Open The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona. The tournament was originally the Arizona ...

where he triumphed in a playoff against

Jason Dufner Jason Christopher Dufner (born March 24, 1977) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour where he is a five-time winner. He has won one major championship, the 2013 PGA Championship. He was also runner-up in the 2011 PGA Champ ...

. The Sony Open victory earned Wilson his first trip to the Masters. Wilson earned his fifth PGA Tour victory at the 2012

, holding off the challenge of Robert Garrigus,

Johnson Wagner Montford Johnson Wagner (born March 23, 1980) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early years and amateur career Wagner was born in Amarillo, Texas and grew up in upstate New York, where his father taught computer scien ...

and

John Mallinger John Charles Mallinger (born September 25, 1979) is an American professional golfer. Early life Mallinger was born in Escondido, California, and is the youngest of four children. He graduated from Escondido High School. Amateur career Mallin ...

by two strokes. He finished at 24-under-par, helped by a second round 62 which included eight birdies and an eagle. With the win, he moved to a career high of 40th in the

. The following month, Wilson enjoyed a good run at the

WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship The WGC Match Play, currently titled as the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for sponsorship reasons, is a professional men's golf tournament that has been held since 1999. It is the only one of the World Golf Championships to have been contested ...

where he made it all the way to the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion

Hunter Mahan Hunter Myles Mahan (born May 17, 1982) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He is a winner of two World Golf Championship events, the 2010 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the 2012 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. ...

, 2&1. He did however win the consolation match to finish third, defeating world number three Lee Westwood, 1 up. In his run for the semi-finals, Wilson beat Bo Van Pelt (3&2),

Robert Rock Robert Rock (born 6 April 1977) is an English professional golfer. He played on the European Tour from 2003 to 2022. He has won twice on the tour, the 2011 BMW Italian Open and the 2012 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. He lost to Irish amate ...

(3&2),

Dustin Johnson Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...

(4&3) and

Peter Hanson Peter Daniel Hanson (born 4 October 1977) is a Swedish former professional golfer who played on the European Tour and has played on the PGA Tour. Early life Hanson was born in Svedala, in Skåne county in the south of Sweden. He was first intr ...

(4&3). This was Wilson' best showing at a WGC event and he moved to a career high 24th in the world ranking. For the first time since joining the PGA Tour, Wilson played the 2016-17 season out of the past champion's category. Wilson now works full time as a golf commentator for PGA Tour Radio, PGA Tour LIVE, found on ESPN+, and PGA Tour Champions coverage on Golf. He has played one PGA Tour event in 2022, getting in as a past champion of

The American Express The Desert Classic (currently known as The American Express for sponsorship reasons; previously known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, Palm Springs Golf Classic, the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and the Humana Challen ...

in La Quinta, California.

Personal life

Wilson was born in

Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Menomonee Falls is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States, and is part of the Greater Milwaukee area. The population was 35,626 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous village in Wisconsin. It is the fourth largest commun ...

and currently resides in Greer, South Carolina. Along with his wife, Amy, he is heavily involved in the Blessings in a Backpack charitable organization, with a mission of sending needy school children home every weekend with nonperishable food they can eat on Saturday and Sunday.

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour wins (5)

PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)

NGA Hooters Tour wins (3)

*3 wins on the

between 1998 and 2001.

Other wins (1)

*2001

Wisconsin State Open The Wisconsin State Open is the Wisconsin state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Wisconsin section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1919 at courses in the state. It ...

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Mark American male golfers North Carolina Tar Heels men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from Wisconsin Golfers from Illinois People from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin People from Elmhurst, Illinois 1974 births Living people