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 four-time winner on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

, 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 TNT Sports unit. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. The magazine started by John F. ...

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

Early life

Curtis was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

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.

Amateur career

Curtis attended

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

where he was a star on the golf team. He earned a bachelor's degree in recreation management in 2000. As an amateur, Curtis found much success, winning the Ohio Amateur 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. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

and Frank Stranahan as the only men to win the Ohio Amateur in consecutive years), and also the Players Amateur in 2000.

Professional career

Curtis turned professional in 2000, originally playing on the Hooters Tour 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 The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

. 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 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 Danish professional golfer 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 also b ...

and one stroke behind second-place Davis Love III. While Bjørn shot a final round 72, Curtis fired a 69 to finish at −1, one stroke ahead of Bjørn and Vijay Singh. 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 (golf), U.S. Open in 1913 U.S. Open (golf), 1 ...

in the 1913 U.S. Open to win his major championship debut, later accomplished by Keegan Bradley 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. 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 titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

, 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 and the 84 Lumber Classic. His consistent form continued into 2007 and he tied for 8th place at that year's Open Championship in

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

, 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 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. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

Oakland Hills Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. 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 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. 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 Va ...

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 and John Huh. 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 the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

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 "rolling ...

. 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. 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, Ohio, 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 United States ...

after previously living in neighboring Stow. In 2013, Ben and Candace started the Ben Curtis Family Foundation to benefit needy children in the Kent area. Currently coaching his son as the Head Golf Coach at Kent Roosevelt High School

Amateur wins

*1999 Ohio Amateur *2000 Ohio Amateur, Players Amateur

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (4)

European Tour wins (1)

NGA Hooters 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 Palmer Cup is a 1200–1215 CE goblet from northern Syria or Jazira region, Jazira, and an example of early Islamic glass. It is sometimes described as "Ayyubid", since it corresponds to the time when the Ayyubids disputed control of areas of ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

(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 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

(winners) Professional *

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...