Kevin Stadler (born February 5, 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 ...

who plays 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 formerly 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 ...

Early life

Stadler, the son of former Masters champion and 13-time

winner

Craig Stadler Craig Robert Stadler (born June 2, 1953) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level, including one major championship, the 1982 Masters Tournament. Early life Stadler was bo ...

and Susan Barrett, was born in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. He moved with his family to

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, where he attended Kent Denver School, excelling on the school's golf team. He graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

and turned professional in 2002.

Professional career

In 2004 Stadler won twice on the second tier

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. ...

, and finished 13th on the money list to win a place on the 2005 PGA Tour. In his rookie season on the elite tour he came 168th on the money list, thus losing his playing status. Early in 2006 Stadler won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia, gaining a two-year exemption on the European, Asian, and Australasian tours. Stadler commented, "I am honestly baffled by this win.... It was my intention this year just to play the Nationwide Tour and get my PGA Tour card back but now I have no idea what I will do". His dilemma was that the European Tour, on which he became eligible to play, is much more prestigious and lucrative than the Nationwide Tour, but unlike the Nationwide Tour it did not offer a direct route to his objective of regaining his playing privileges on the PGA Tour. For the remainder of 2006 he divided his time between the two tours, winning twice on the Nationwide Tour, and finishing twelfth on the money list to regain his PGA Tour card with effect from the start of the 2007 season. During the 2009 season Stadler lost in a playoff at the

Wyndham Championship The Wyndham Championship is a professional golf tournament in North Carolina on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in Greensboro and was originally the Greater Greensboro Open. History Founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open, it was usua ...

to Ryan Moore. At the time Moore and Stadler were both trying to capture their first

title. On February 2, 2014, Stadler won the Waste Management Phoenix Open marking his first PGA Tour victory. Stadler won after

Bubba Watson Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson Jr. (born November 5, 1978) is an American professional golfer. He has two major championships, with victories at the Masters Tournament in 2012 and 2014, and a total of 12 PGA Tour wins. In February 2015, Watson reac ...

made bogey on the 18th hole. The event was Stadler's 239th PGA Tour start and would ensure him of his first Masters invitation. Craig and Kevin were the first father-son duo to play at Augusta in the same tournament. Kevin is also the first son of a Masters champion to play in that tournament. Kevin is nicknamed as "Smallrus," a play on his father's nickname of "Walrus." Kevin finished T8 in his Masters debut, ensuring him of making the 2015 field. He missed the cut in 2015. His career-best world ranking was 52nd in 2014. Stadler was one of the few golfers to employ the use of an anchor putter, which the PGA Tour banned on January 1, 2016. In preparation for the ban, Stadler started putting left-handed. A broken bone in his left hand limited Stadler to five events during the 2014−15 season. Stadler attempted a comeback on the Web.com Tour's Digital Ally Open in 2017, but he withdrew after the first round. He entered the 2017–18 season with a Major Medical Extension that required him to earn 454.420 FedEx Cup points or $717,890 in 26 starts in order to retain his PGA Tour privileges, but was unable to meet the terms.

Amateur wins

*1997 Doug Sanders Junior World Championship

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

European Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned with the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf professional golf tours, tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on ...

and the

PGA Tour of Australasia The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently titled as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf ...

Nationwide Tour wins (4)

Nationwide Tour playoff record (2–0)

Challenge Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Tour de las Américas The Tour de las Américas (TLA) was the principal men's professional golf tour throughout Latin America and the Caribbean from 2000 through to 2012 when it was superseded by the PGA Tour Latinoamérica. History Top level tournament golf in Lat ...

and the PGA of Argentina Tour

Other wins (2)

Other playoff record (2–0)

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

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
WD = withdrew
"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stadler, Kevin American male golfers USC Trojans men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour of Australasia golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Nevada Golfers from Denver Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona Kent Denver School alumni The Bishop's School alumni Sportspeople from Reno, Nevada 1980 births Living people