Mark Joseph Wilson (born October 31, 1974) 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 ...

. In 1996, he received the Ben Hogan Award, given by Friends of Golf and the

Golf Coaches Association of America The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) is a non-profit organization that is a professional association of men's collegiate golf coaches. It was founded in 1958, and is located on 1225 West Main Street in Norman, Oklahoma. The GCAA has ov ...

, to the best college golf player in the United States. He is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, with his most recent win coming at the 2012 Humana Challenge.

Professional career

Wilson turned professional in 1997 and played on the NGA Hooters Tour for the early part of his career, where he won three times between 1998–2001. He then won his PGA Tour card for the 2003 season after finishing T17 at the Q School in 2002. In his first full season on tour, Wilson narrowly missed out on retaining his card when he finished 128th on the money list. He held conditional status for the 2004 PGA Tour season and alternated between the PGA Tour and

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. ...

for the season. He then regained his tour card for 2005 season at Q School and finished the year with three top-10 finishes including a T3 at 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 ...

, which at the time was his best finish on the PGA Tour. He continued with conditional status in 2006 after finishing 133rd on the money list in 2005, then again regained full status at the 2006 Q School for the 2007 season. Wilson won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the Honda Classic in March 2007, where he triumphed in a four-way playoff. He won the tournament on the third extra hole after being tied with José Cóceres,

Camilo Villegas Camilo Villegas Restrepo (; born 7 January 1982) is a Colombian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life Villegas was born in Medellín, Colombia, and took up golf as a child. After several different National Junior Championshi ...

and Boo Weekley at 5-under-par. This victory lifted Wilson into the top 100 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 ...

for the first time in his career. Wilson has since won the 2009

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 ...

, the 2011

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 the 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open where he triumphed in a playoff against Jason Dufner. The Sony Open victory earned Wilson his first trip to the Masters. Wilson earned his fifth PGA Tour victory at the 2012 Humana Challenge, holding off the challenge of Robert Garrigus, Johnson Wagner and

John Mallinger John Charles Mallinger (born September 25, 1979) is an American professional golfer. Early life Mallinger was born in Escondido, California, and is the youngest of four children. He graduated from Escondido High School. Amateur career Mal ...

by two strokes. He finished at 24-under-par, helped by a second round 62 which included eight birdies and an eagle. With the win, he moved to a career high of 40th in the

. The following month, Wilson enjoyed a good run at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship where he made it all the way to the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Hunter Mahan, 2&1. He did however win the consolation match to finish third, defeating world number three

Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour an ...

, 1 up. In his run for the semi-finals, Wilson beat Bo Van Pelt (3 and 2), Robert Rock (3 and 2),

Dustin Johnson Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two Men's major golf championships, major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open (golf), 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 ...

(4 and 3) and Peter Hanson (4 and 3). This was Wilson' best showing at a WGC event and he moved to a career high 24th in the world ranking. For the first time since joining the PGA Tour, Wilson played the 2016–17 season out of the past champion's category. Wilson now works full time as a golf commentator for PGA Tour Radio, PGA Tour LIVE, found on ESPN+, and PGA Tour Champions coverage on Golf. He has played one PGA Tour event in 2022, getting in as a past champion of The American Express in La Quinta, California.

Personal life

Wilson was born in

Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Menomonee Falls is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 38,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most-populous village in Wisconsin. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. ...

and currently resides in Greer, South Carolina. Along with his wife, Amy, he is heavily involved in the Blessings in a Backpack charitable organization, with a mission of sending needy school children home every weekend with nonperishable food they can eat on Saturday and Sunday.

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour wins (5)

PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)

NGA Hooters Tour wins (3)

Other wins (1)

*2001 Wisconsin State 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

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:Wilson, Mark American male golfers North Carolina Tar Heels men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from Wisconsin Golfers from Illinois Sportspeople from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Elmhurst, Illinois 1974 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen