James David McGovern (born February 5, 1965) 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 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 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. ...

Early life

McGovern was born in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

. He grew up in

Oradell, New Jersey Oradell is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8,244, an increase of 266 (+3.3%) from the 2010 census count of 7,978, which in turn reflected a decline ...

in a house adjoining the Hackensack Golf Club.Friend, Tom
"Golf; You Can't Take the Hackensack Out of This Guy"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', February 28, 1993. Accessed February 16, 2011. "He grew up in Oradell, N.J., in a house literally adjacent to the fourth green at Hackensack Golf Club. ''I remember once finding a stray ball in the upstairs bathroom,'' he said." McGovern attended

Bergen Catholic High School Bergen Catholic High School is an all-male Roman Catholic high school in Oradell, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade. Bergen Catholic operates under the supervision of the Roman ...

and was a star football player there. However, a coach introduced him to golf during his junior year.

Amateur career

McGovern initially attended the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

as a non-scholarship member of its golf team. He transferred after two years to

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

and was a member of that school's golf team. He turned pro in 1988 and joined the

in 1991.

Professional career

McGovern was a member of the PGA Tour from 1991–1998. His career year was 1993 when he won once, had two other top-10 finishes, earned $587,495 and finished 27th on the money list. His best finish in a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

was T5 at the

1994 Masters Tournament The 1994 Masters Tournament was the 58th Masters Tournament, held April 7–10 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. José María Olazábal won the first of his two Masters titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Lehman, and beca ...

. He had 14 career top-10 finishes in 386 PGA Tour events. McGovern finished 19th in

qualifying 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 ...

and earned his PGA Tour card for 2008; he made the cut in 11 of 26 events. In 2009, he was back on the Nationwide Tour. On January 1, 2011, McGovern became the head golf professional at White Beeches Golf & Country Club in

Haworth, New Jersey Haworth ( ) is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 3,343, a decrease of 39 (−1.2%) from the 2010 census count of 3,382, which in turn reflected a decl ...

, 20 miles from midtown Manhattan. He is one of the few PGA Professionals who was also a PGA Tour winner. On May 17, 2011, McGovern earned medalist honors at the local U.S. Open qualifier. His 4-under 68 at Ballyowen Golf Club gave him medalist honors by two strokes and also secured for him one of five spots available for the U.S. Open sectional qualifier at Canoe Brook on June 6. McGovern earned a spot in the 2014 PGA Championship through his finish at the

PGA Professional National Championship The PGA Professional Championship is a golf tournament for golf club professionals and teachers who are members of the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It has been held by the PGA of America since 1968, when touring professionals spl ...

after having to qualify in a playoff for one of the twenty positions. He occasionally continues to compete at senior major events and those sanctioned through the New Jersey section of the PGA of America.

Personal life

McGovern lives in

. His brother,

Rob McGovern Robert Patrick McGovern (born October 1, 1966) is an American former professional American football, football linebacker who played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots. He played college football at Holy Cros ...

, played linebacker in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

Amateur wins

*1987 Virginia State Intercollegiate Championship *1988 Metropolitan Amateur

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour wins (1)

''*Note: The 1993 Shell Houston Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.'' PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

Ben Hogan Tour wins (3)

Ben Hogan Tour playoff record (1–0)

Other wins (5)

*1987

Metropolitan Open The Metropolitan Open is a golf tournament organized by the Metropolitan Golf Association. In the early 20th century it was one of the top events in the country and was retroactively given PGA Tour-level status. History The tournament has been ...

(as an amateur) *1994 Diners Club Matches (with

Jeff Maggert Jeffrey Allan Maggert (born February 20, 1964) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Early life and amateur career Maggert was born in Columbia, Missouri. He was raised on a golf course in The Woodlands, Texa ...

) *2015 New Jersey Senior Open *2016 New Jersey Senior Open, Metropolitan Senior Open

Results in major championships

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McGovern, Jim American male golfers Arkansas Razorbacks men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Bergen Catholic High School alumni Old Dominion University alumni Sportspeople from Teaneck, New Jersey Golfers from Bergen County, New Jersey People from Oradell, New Jersey 1965 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen