} Michael Hayes Thompson (born April 16, 1985) 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 ...

. He has won two tournaments on the PGA Tour, with the most recent one coming at the 2020 3M Open.

Amateur career

Thompson attended University High School in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

from 1999 to 2003. While there he won the Class 4A state team championship in 2003, and was named the Arizona High School State Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003. Thompson attended

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

two seasons until they disbanded their golf team after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

. Thompson then transferred to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

. While playing on Alabama's golf team, Thompson was the 2008 SEC Player of the Year. Thompson was a finalist in the 2007

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

, but was defeated by

Colt Knost Colt Knost (born June 26, 1985) is a retired American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. Beginning in January 2022, he became a regular analyst and on-course commentator for PGA Tour events televised by CBS Sports. Amateur career Kn ...

2 & 1. This earned him invitations to the

2008 Masters Tournament The 2008 Masters Tournament was the 72nd Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Trevor Immelman won his first major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Tiger Woods, a four-time champion. Immel ...

and the 2008 U.S. Open. He missed the cut in the Masters but was the low amateur at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He scored a nine-over-par 292 to finish in 28th place. The following week he was invited to play in the

Travelers Championship Traveler(s), traveller(s), The Traveler(s), or The Traveller(s) may refer to: People Generic terms *One engaged in travel *Explorer, one who searches for the purpose of discovery of information or resources *Nomad, a member of a community withou ...

, where he made the cut and shot a three-under-par 277 to finish tied for 58th.

Professional career

Thompson spent one week as number one in the

World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by The R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs p ...

before turning professional in July 2008. In 2010 Thompson played on the

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 ...

, and was named the 2010 Hooters Tour Player of the Year. In the 2010

Q-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 ...

, Thompson finished tied for 16th, which earned him a 2011 PGA Tour card. After earning his spot through sectional qualifying, Thompson led after the first round of the 2012 U.S. Open after shooting a four-under par round of 66, which included seven birdies, to lead by three strokes. This was the low round of the week. He followed this up with rounds of 75–74 to enter the final round six back of the leaders. Thompson then completed a three-under par round of 67 to hold the clubhouse lead at +2, until

Webb Simpson 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 C ...

bettered it by a stroke. Thompson finished tied for second with

Graeme McDowell Graeme McDowell (born 30 July 1979) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland. He has a total of eleven tournament victories on the European Tour, and four on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Be ...

to record his best finish in a major championship. Thompson moved up over 50 places in 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 ...

(OWGR) to 52nd with this finish. After a number of players withdrew due to injury or personal reasons, Thompson earned entry into the 2012 Open Championship as an alternate due to his OWGR ranking. He went on to miss the cut. Thompson earned his first PGA Tour win at the 2013

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 winter ...

. The win moved Thompson to a career-high 45th in the OWGR, up from 114th before the tournament. After 2013, Thompson only had a combined three top ten finishes. After finishing 145th in the FedEx Cup in 2016, he played in the Web.com Tour Finals and won the Albertsons Boise Open. On July 26, 2020, Thompson won the 3M Open at

TPC Twin Cities TPC Twin Cities is a private golf club in the north central United States, located within the subdivision of Deacon’s Walk in Blaine, Minnesota, a suburb north of Minneapolis. Opened in 2000, the 18-hole championship golf course was designed ...

just outside of

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. The win gave Thompson an exempt status on the Tour for two years and spots in both the

WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational The WGC Invitational was a professional golf tournament that was held in the United States. Established in 1999 as a successor to the World Series of Golf, it was one of three or four annual World Golf Championships (WGC) until 2021, when the num ...

and the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

. Prior to the win, Thompson only had one other top-10 finish in the

2019–20 PGA Tour The 2019–20 PGA Tour was the 105th season (53rd since separating from the PGA of America) of the United States-based elite men's professional golf circuit. The season started on September 12, 2019. The 2020 FedEx Cup Playoffs began on August 2 ...

season, finishing T8 at the

RBC Heritage The RBC Heritage, known for much of its history as the Heritage Classic or simply the Heritage, is a PGA Tour event in South Carolina, first played in 1969. It is currently played in mid-April, the week after The Masters in Augusta, Georgia. T ...

. He missed the cut at the

Workday Charity Open The Workday Charity Open was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour played in 2020, intended to serve as a one-time replacement for the John Deere Classic, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament was played at M ...

two weeks before the tournament, and finished outside of the top 45 in his other two appearances on Tour once play resumed after the COVID-19 hiatus. He missed the cut in seven of his first 11 appearances in the 2019–20 season, but at the first round of the 2020 Players Championship on March 12 at Sawgrass, Florida, Thompson shot a bogey-free 68, before the tournament was cancelled and the PGA Tour took a three-month break.

Personal life

Thompson attained the rank of

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

in the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

while in high school. He is married to Rachel Thompson, who is a Doctor of

Physical Therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

, and an

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

graduate. She caddied for Thompson during his only win on the regular Hooters Tour. The two met while attending

together. Thompson and his wife have together adopted two children, in 2016 and 2020 respectively.

Professional wins (4)

PGA Tour wins (2)

Web.com Tour wins (1)

NGA Hooters Tour wins (1)

* 2010 Michelob Ultra Classic

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' LA = Low Amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (2008 U.S. Open – 2012 U.S. Open) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the

Results in World Golf Championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2015.'' ¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Palmer Cup The Arnold Palmer Cup is an annual team golf competition for college/university golfers. From 2018 it has been contested between a United States team and an International team representing the rest of the world. The teams consist of 12 men and 12 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

External links

* *
Profile on University of Alabama's official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Michael American male golfers Tulane Green Wave men's golfers Alabama Crimson Tide men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Arizona Golfers from Louisiana Golfers from Birmingham, Alabama Sportspeople from Tucson, Arizona 1985 births Living people