} Paul Francis Stankowski (born December 2, 1969) 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 currently plays on the

PGA Tour Champions PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

. He previously played on the

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. ...

, where he won one event, and 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 ...

, where he was a two-time champion.

Early life

Stankowski was born in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

. He first played

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

on Easter Sunday in 1978 at the age of 8. He attended the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public university, public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the Univers ...

Professional career

In 1991, Stankowski turned professional. He initially played on the

Nike Tour Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

. His first and only victory in this tour came at the 1996 Nike Louisiana Open. The following week, he played in the

BellSouth Classic The Atlanta Classic was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, a regular stop in suburban Atlanta for over four decades. It was founded in 1967, although previous events dating to 1934 are included in the PGA Tour's past winners list. AT&T was the las ...

on the

. Stankowski started the week as the sixth alternate. He won becoming the only golfer in history to win a developmental tour event and a PGA Tour event in back-to-back weeks. He had another big year in 1997, winning the United Airlines Hawaiian Open. 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

1997 Masters Tournament The 1997 Masters Tournament was the 61st Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Tiger Woods won his first major championship, twelve strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Kite. The margin of victory i ...

. In 1998, however, his fortunes began to change due to a host of injury-related ailments. He injured his right shoulder at the

Bay Hill Invitational The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played each March at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, a private golf resort owned since 1974 by Arnold Palmer in Bay Hill, Florida, Bay Hill, a suburb southwest of ...

that year and also had LASIK surgery. As a Callaway sponsored player in 1999, he tried to help his game by sneaking

Ping Ping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Ping, a domesticated Chinese duck in the illustrated book '' The Story about Ping'', first published in 1933 * Ping, a minor character in ''Seinfeld'', an NBC sitcom * Pingg, a ...

clubs into his bag at the Colonial. In 2004, he suffered a major injury to his left wrist and played the two following years under a Major Medical Extension. Stankowski made over 400 starts on the PGA Tour. Towards the end of his PGA Tour career, his desire to be closer to his family resulted in him focusing entrepreneurship and radio broadcasting. He is the co-owner of Francis Edward, a leather goods company whose name is derived from the middle names of Stankowski and co-founder Mike Vicary. In 2018 and 2019, he took advantage of an exemption reserved for those 48 and 49 years old on the

, playing in a total of six events but not making the cut in any of them. In December 2021, Stankowski finished high enough at the PGA Tour Champions Qualifying School (Q-School) to earn eligibility to compete in open qualifiers for PGA Tour Champions events in 2022.

Personal life

Stankowski is married and has two children. Stankowski is active in the

Fellowship of Christian Athletes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international nonprofit Christian sports ministry based in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City. History FCA was founded in 1954 by Eastern Oklahoma State College, Eastern Oklahoma A&M basketball c ...

(FCA) and sponsored the annual ''Paul Stankowski FCA Golf Scramble'' in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

for a time. He lives in

Flower Mound, Texas Flower Mound is an incorporated town located in Denton and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Located northwest of Dallas and northeast of Fort Worth adjacent to Grapevine Lake, the town derives its name from a prominent mound loca ...

in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (1–0)

Nike Tour wins (1)

Gateway Tour wins (1)

*2009 DFW Summer 10

Other wins (3)

*1992 New Mexico Open *1996 Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua International *2001

Straight Down Fall Classic The Straight Down Fall Classic is a professional golf team tournament. It is played at San Luis Golf and Country Club near San Luis Obispo, California shortly after the PGA Tour's final tournament of the season. It pairs a professional with an amat ...

(with Brad Payne)

Results in major championships

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

Results in The Players Championship

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

Results in senior major championships

''Results not in chronological order'' CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stankowski, Paul American male golfers UTEP Miners men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from California Golfers from Texas Sportspeople from Oxnard, California Sportspeople from Ventura County, California Sportspeople from Flower Mound, Texas 1969 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen