Ben Clifford Curtis (born May 26, 1977) 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 ...

and 4-time winner 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 ...

, best known for winning the 2003 Open Championship. In January 2018, Curtis told ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competiti ...

'' that he has stopped playing golf competitively, opting to teach instead.

Early career

Curtis was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

and grew up in Ostrander. His family runs th
Mill Creek Golf Club
also in Ostrander. Curtis is a graduate of

Buckeye Valley High School Buckeye Valley High School is a rural public high school located in Delaware County's Troy Township, north of Delaware, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Buckeye Valley Local School District. The mascot is the Fighting Baron. BVHS was part ...

and

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

, where he was a star on the golf team and earned a bachelor's degree in recreation management in 2000. As an amateur, Curtis found much success, winning the

Ohio Amateur The Ohio Amateur Championship hosted annually by the Ohio Golf Association (OGA) visits the a variety of courses in the state. The event is open to amateur golfers who are residents of the state of Ohio or attending a state university or college i ...

in 1999 and 2000 (joining professional golfers John Cook,

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

and

Frank Stranahan Frank Richard Stranahan (August 5, 1922 – June 23, 2013) was an American sportsman. He had significant success in both amateur and professional golf. He was ranked number one in his weight class in powerlifting, from 1945 to 1954, and he became ...

as the only men to win the Ohio Amateur in consecutive years), and also the

Players Amateur The Players Amateur was an annual amateur golf tournament. It was played from 2000 to 2019. It was organized by the Heritage Classic Foundation, which also sponsored the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour. It was last played at Berkeley Hall Club in Bl ...

in 2000.

Professional career

Curtis turned professional in 2000, originally playing 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 ...

without much success. At the end of 2002, he finished in a tie for 26th at that year's Q-School, earning his

card for the following year, becoming one of the few players to completely skip the Nationwide Tour. His first year on tour began unspectacularly as he made a fair amount of cuts, but had no finishes in the top 25, until a tie for 13th at the

Western Open The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour. The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the ye ...

on July 6, which qualified him for

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

in England less than two weeks later.

2003 Open Championship win

Curtis entered the 2003 Open Championship at

Royal St George's The Royal St George's Golf Club located in Sandwich, Kent, England, is a golf club in the United Kingdom and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation and is the only Open rota golf course to be located in South East England. It has ...

as a 300–1 outsider, defying the odds to win the tournament. After an opening round 72 (+1), he shot a second round 72 to pull into a seven-way tie for fourth. A third round 70 put Curtis in a five-way tie for third, two strokes behind leader

Thomas Bjørn Thomas Bjørn (born 18 February 1971) is a professional golfer from Denmark who plays on the European Tour. He is the most successful Danish golfer to have played the game having won fifteen tournaments worldwide on the European Tour. In 1997 he a ...

and one stroke behind second-place

Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. He was in th ...

. While Bjørn shot a final round 72, Curtis fired a 69 to finish at −1, one stroke ahead of Bjørn and

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( hif, विजय सिंह ; born 22 February 1963), nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer. He has won 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three major championships: one Masters title (2000) and two ...

. The 2003 Open Championship was Curtis' first appearance in a major. He became the first golfer since

Francis Ouimet Francis DeSales Ouimet () (May 8, 1893 – September 2, 1967) was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the U.S. Open in 1913 and was the first non-Briton elected ...

in the 1913 U.S. Open to win his major championship debut, later accomplished by

Keegan Bradley Keegan Hansen Bradley (born June 7, 1986) is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour. He has won five tour events, most notably the 2011 PGA Championship. He is one of six golfers to win in his major debut, along with Ben Cu ...

in the 2011 PGA Championship. After his victory, Curtis jumped from 396th in the world rankings to 35th. This victory and a solid first season on the

led to Curtis being named the 2003

PGA Tour Rookie of the Year 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 ...

. Curtis was the lowest-ranked player to win a major since official world rankings were first calculated.

Further success

2004–07 Curtis' Open Championship victory gave him a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a 10-year exemption 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 he played events on both tours in 2004. However, he did not experience immediate success, missing many cuts and only recording one top-10 finish on the

. He missed even more cuts in 2005 and only had two top-10 finishes. In 2006, his results improved as he made the cut much more consistently and recorded two wins, the

Booz Allen Classic The Kemper Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1968 to 2006. Perhaps more so than any other "regular" PGA Tour stop, the event wandered about, not just from course to course within a given metropolitan area, but along the East Co ...

and the

84 Lumber Classic The Pennsylvania Classic was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held from 2000 through 2006 at three different Pennsylvania courses. The event's final title sponsor was lumber company 84 Lumber. The host course from 2003 to 2006 was Mystic Rock n ...

. His consistent form continued into 2007 and he tied for 8th place at that year's Open Championship in

Carnoustie Carnoustie (; sco, Carnoustie, gd, Càrn Ùstaidh) is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast. In the 2011 census, Carnoustie had a population of 11,3 ...

, his best result in a major since winning the tournament. 2008–09 Curtis recorded five top-10 finishes and missed only four cuts. He bettered his Open Championship result from the previous year by finishing in a tie for 7th at

Royal Birkdale Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Champ ...

and followed it up a month later by finishing tied for 2nd place in 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 ...

Oakland Hills Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. This second-place finish qualified him for the 2008 Ryder Cup, his first appearance in the event. For 2009, Curtis missed only three cuts in 18 PGA Tour events. However, Curtis managed only one top-20 finish and ended the year outside the top 100 in the money list. He did achieve two top-10 finishes on the European Tour. At the

2009 Open Championship The 2009 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 138th Open Championship, held from 16–19 July at the Ailsa Course of the Turnberry Resort, in Ayrshire, Scotland. Stewart Cink won his only major championship after a f ...

at Turnberry, Curtis shot a 65 to tie for second after the first round, but a second round 80 meant that he missed the cut by one shot. 2010–12 In 2010, Curtis missed only eight cuts in 24 events, but achieved only one top-10 finish and he ended outside the top 100 on the money list for a second consecutive year. A rough 2011 season saw Curtis finish 149th on the PGA Tour money list after making 10 cuts in 23 events, leaving him partially exempt for the 2012 PGA Tour season. For the start of the 2012 season, he split his time between the European Tour and PGA Tour, taking advantage of his European Tour exemption and attempting to qualify for the

Race to Dubai 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 ...

. In April 2012, Curtis won 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 ...

for his fourth PGA Tour victory, ending a six-year winless drought. Curtis held a one-shot lead entering the 71st hole and made a 22-foot putt for par to maintain his lead. He went on to birdie the last hole, sinking a 12-foot birdie putt for a two-stroke victory over

Matt Every Matthew King Every (born December 4, 1983) is an American professional golfer who has won on both the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour. Early years Every was born in Daytona Beach, Florida. He attended Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, wh ...

and

John Huh John Huh (; ko, 허찬수, translit=Heo Chan-su; born May 21, 1990) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. His sole victory on the PGA Tour came at the 2012 Mayakoba Golf Classic. Amateur career Huh was born in New York ...

. With the win, Curtis regained full exemption status on the

through 2014. Curtis jumped from 200th to 28th in the

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is a championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Announced in November 2005, it was first awarded in 2007. Rory McIlroy is the 2022 champion. Th ...

standings and moved up over 100 places in the world rankings to 156th. Curtis followed up his win at the Valero Texas Open with three straight top-15 finishes (tied for 13th at the Zurich Classic, tied for 5th at the Wells Fargo Classic, and tied for 2nd at The Players Championship). This moved him into the top 75 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 ...

. His career high ranking is 24th. He also finished tied for 11th in the PGA Championship, his best finish in a major championship in four years. 2013–16 In 2013 Curtis played in 20 PGA Tour events, making the cut in 10 with three top-25 finishes. His 2014 season netted him one top 10 and ten missed cuts in 24 starts to finish 131st in the FedEx Cup, leaving him partially exempt for the 2015 season. In 2015 Curtis played a partial schedule on the PGA Tour with little success. He played 14 events and only made the cut three times, with his best finish a tie for 29th at the

Sanderson Farms Championship The Sanderson Farms Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually in Mississippi. It moved to the Country Club of Jackson in Jackson in autumn 2014, early in the 2015 season. The tournament has been part of the PG ...

. With a finish well outside 150th, Curtis played the 2015–16 season with only past champion status. He only played five events during the 2016 season, missing the cut in all but one tournament.

Personal life

Curtis, his wife Candace, and their two children reside in Franklin Township, just north of

Kent, Ohio Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 28,215 at the 2020 Census. The city is counted as pa ...

after previously living in neighboring

Stow Stow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Stow, Lincolnshire or Stow-in-Lindsey, a village * Stow of Wedale or Stow, Scottish Borders, a village * Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, a small town * Stow, Shropshire or Stowe, a village * Stow ...

. In 2013, Ben and Candace started the Ben Curtis Family Foundation to benefit needy children in the Kent area.

Amateur wins

*1999 Ohio Amateur *2000 Ohio Amateur,

Professional wins (4)

PGA Tour wins (4)

European Tour wins (1)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2008 Open Championship – 2009 U.S. Open) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2008 Open Championship – 2008 PGA)

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.

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 ...

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 ...

(winners) *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

(winners) Professional *

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 ...

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; ...