Michael Jancey "Briny" Baird (born May 11, 1972) is an American professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er who has played 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 ...

and

Buy.com 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. T ...

Early life

Baird was born in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, the son of professional golfer

Butch Baird Fred "Butch" Baird (born July 20, 1936) is an American professional golfer. He played on the PGA Tour and the Senior PGA Tour. Early life Baird was born in Chicago, Illinois. He learned the game at the age of 14 from his father. After he gradua ...

. He played varsity golf in the 7th grade at Miami Country Day.

Amateur career

Baird originally attended

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

before transferring to

Valdosta State University Valdosta State University (VSU or Valdosta State) is a public university in Valdosta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1906, it launched in 1913 as an all-girls college. VSU is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System ...

where he won the NCAA Division II individual golf championship in 1994 and 1995.

Professional career

In 1995, Baird turned professional. He won the 2000

Monterrey Open The Monterrey Open, known as the Abierto GNP Seguros for sponsorship reasons, is a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Monterrey, Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in Nort ...

on the

. He currently plays on the PGA Tour, but a poor 2005 season saw him lose his card. His highest placing to date on the end of year tour money list was 22nd in 2003. In 2008, he finished 27th in

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 ...

, automatically qualifying him for the 2009 PGA Tour season. Although he has never won a PGA Tour event, he has finished second on six separate occasions, most recently at the 2013

McGladrey Classic The RSM Classic is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played in the autumn in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It debuted in October 2010 on St. Simons Island, Georgia at the Sea Island Golf Club. The tournament was known as the McGladrey Classic un ...

. Baird is known for his odd putting style that worked for him when he was doing it as a drill and it just stuck. On May 19, 2009, Baird hit a 230-yard shot from the top of the Omni San Diego Hotel to a bulls-eye in the center of Petco Park in order to give everyone a free chicken wrap at P. F. Chang's China Bistro. In 2010, Baird entered the final event of the season 125th on the PGA Tour money list. He stumbled in the final round and a number of other players had better finishes. Baird finished 127th on the Tour, two spots out of retaining full Tour status. In 2011, Baird nearly won his first PGA Tour event, the Frys.com Open. He lost on the sixth playoff hole to

Bryce Molder Bryce Wade Molder (born January 27, 1979) is an American former professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. Early life Molder was born in Harrison, Arkansas and attended public school in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Conway, Arkansas. He has Poland s ...

. Despite the loss, the finish moved Baird from 148th to 93rd on the Tour's money list, which meant avoiding Q School. Baird still has status on the PGA Tour via a medical exemption but he has not played a tour event since 2014. Baird had the distinction of being the richest golfer never to win a PGA Tour event, earning over $13 million during his career, but coming up short six times. Cameron Tringale now holds that status, as Baird is currently 3rd on that list behind Tringale and also British golfer Brian Davis.

Professional wins (3)

Buy.com Tour wins (1)

Golden Bear Tour wins (2)

Playoff record

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

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

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2001 U.S. Open – 2003 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 0

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"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:Baird, Briny American male golfers Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Florida Valdosta State University alumni Miami Country Day School alumni Sportspeople from Miami Beach, Florida 1972 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen