Montford Johnson Wagner (born March 23, 1980) 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 golf analyst who 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

Korn Ferry 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. ...

between 2003 and 2022.

Early years and amateur career

Wagner was born in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

and grew up in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

, where his father taught computer sciences at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. He caddied for three summers at Hudson National in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

. Wagner attended

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, where he was a golf team member. He was a two-time All-Big East Conference selection and individual medalist at the 2002 Big East Conference Championship. He met his wife, Katie, at Virginia Tech; she was a player on the women's soccer team. Wagner earned a spot in the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Wagner turned professional in 2002 and is currently a

member. He was a member of 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. ...

from 2003 to 2006. He earned his PGA Tour card for the 2007 season by finishing 2nd on the money list in the Nationwide Tour in 2006. In 2008 Wagner gained his first PGA Tour victory at the Shell Houston Open. The win earned him an invitation to the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

and a two-year Tour exemption. In 2010, Wagner finished 126th on the PGA Tour after a rally at the season finale fell short, just missing full Tour privileges. He was described as "delighted" because he started the week 153rd on the money list. Wagner's improved position meant avoiding the second stage of PGA Tour Q School and retaining conditional status on the PGA Tour rather than having to play out of the past champions category, earning him a few more starts. On February 27, 2011, he won the

Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun The World Wide Technology Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Mexico, contested at the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal golf course within the Diamante Cabo San Lucas resort. It debuted in February 2007 PGA Tour, 2007 ...

in a playoff over

Spencer Levin Spencer Joseph Levin (born June 15, 1984) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the Korn Ferry Tour. Early years and amateur career Levin was born in Sacramento, California, the son of Carlene (Rossi) and Don Levin. His mothe ...

with a par on the first hole and regained his Tour card through 2013. It was the first time since 2000 that a golfer (

Robert Allenby Robert Allenby (born 12 July 1971) is an Australian professional golfer. Early life Allenby was born in Melbourne on 12 July 1971. He is of English descent, with his father being a native of Leeds. Professional career He turned professional i ...

) finished 126th on the Tour and won the following season. Johnson won the first full-field event of 2012, the

Sony Open in Hawaii The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian ...

, and extended his Tour privileges through 2014. He also moved into the Top 100 in the OWGR for the first time in his career, moving from 198 to 92. Wagner had a disappointing 2014 season on the PGA Tour and finished 150th on the FedEx Cup points list (the last position to retain any PGA Tour status), leaving him conditionally exempt for the 2014–15 season. Having lost his full playing privileges, Wagner earned entry as a sponsor exemption for the 2015 Shell Houston Open. Wagner lost in a sudden-death playoff to J. B. Holmes on the second extra hole. This moved Wagner from 180th in the FedEx Cup standings to 81st. He would regain his PGA Tour card after finishing 87th in the FedEx Cup. The last PGA Tour tournament Wagner competed in was the 2022 Butterfield Bermuda Championship where he missed the cut.

Broadcasting

As of 2023, Wagner is working as a golf analyst for NBC Sports and Golf Channel.

Amateur wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *2001 Metropolitan Amateur *2002 Metropolitan Amateur

Professional wins (7)

PGA Tour wins (3)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

Nationwide Tour wins (2)

Other wins (2)

*2001 Metropolitan Open (as an amateur) *2002 Metropolitan Open

Results in major championships

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

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Johnson American male golfers Virginia Tech Hokies men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Amarillo, Texas Golfers from Charlotte, North Carolina 1980 births Living people