Matthew Nixon (born 12 June 1989) is an English

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 ...

Amateur career

Nixon was a top amateur golfer nationwide from an early age; he won the Boys Amateur Championship in 2006 at the age of 17, and played in the

Jacques Léglise Trophy The Jacques Léglise Trophy is an annual amateur boys' team golf competition between Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It was first played in 1977, as a one-day match before the Boys Amateur Championship, but since 1996 it has ...

that year. He played for the national side from 2006 onwards, and was ranked as high as 14th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. In the USA, he was ranked 7th in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking. He broke the course record at Pannal Golf Club, Harrogate, England on 24 August 2005, shooting 63, 9-under-par at age 16. He reached the semi-finals of

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

in 2010, losing to the eventual winner Jin Jeong of South Korea.

Professional career

Nixon entered the

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 ...

for 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 ...

in autumn of 2010, and came through all three stages to earn his playing rights for 2011, prompting him to turn professional. After a promising start to the season, he failed to make a cut between July and November but returned to Qualifying School at the end of the year to regain his card. He also secured his European Tour card at Qualifying School in 2012, 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Nixon had a strong year, finishing 13th at the

Commercial Bank Qatar Masters The Qatar Masters is a European Tour golf tournament held at Doha Golf Club in Doha, Qatar. When founded in 1998, it was one of two European Tour events to be staged in the Arabian Peninsula, but was at one point, one of six. From 2005 to 2007 ...

, tied for 18th at the BMW International Open, ninth at the Porsche European Open and eighth at the Andalucía Valderrama Masters. Nixon contributes a regular column to the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

''.

Amateur wins

*2006 Boys Amateur Championship *2008 Rudersdal Open (Denmark)

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing Great Britain and Ireland): 2006 * St Andrews Trophy (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 2010

References

External links