Rhys Davies (born 28 May 1985) is a Welsh former

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 ...

. He is currently the player development manager in Europe for Excel Sports Management. Davies was born in

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, but has lived in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

for the majority of his life. He played collegiate golf in the United States at

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

where he won ten times and was a first team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 2005, 2006, and 2007. He played on two

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

teams (2005 and 2007), and for Europe in four Palmer Cup teams (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007). Davies was second in the

World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by The R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs ...

(May 2007), before turning pro in September 2007. Davies successfully came through 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 ...

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 ...

in 2007 allowing him to play on that tour for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Davies won twice on the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European To ...

in 2009 and finished fourth on that Tour's Rankings to earn his

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 ...

card for 2010. He won his first European Tour title at the 2010

Trophée Hassan II The Hassan II Golf Trophy is a golf tournament in Morocco hosted by Prince Moulay Rachid. The tournament was founded by, and is now named for, his father, Hassan II, who served as King of Morocco. The tournament is currently played on PGA Tour C ...

in Morocco. At the 2010 Celtic Manor Wales Open, he shot a final round 62 to set the course record on his way to finishing runner-up. This performance elevated Davies into the top 50 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 2011 Davies represented Europe against Asia in Thailand, winning 2 points to help win The Royal Trophy. After a poor 2012 season, Davies narrowly failed to maintain his full European Tour playing rights for the 2013 season. Davies earned his first professional win in five years at the 2015

Turkish Airlines Challenge The Turkish Airlines Challenge is a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour, played in Turkey. It was first played in 2010 when Charlie Ford triumphed in a sudden-death playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league a ...

, and followed this three months later with victory at the Challenge de Espana, when he opened with a first round 60. These successes helped Davies secure eighth position on the Challenge Tour order of merit, and regain full European Tour status. Davies retired from playing professional golf in 2019 and then undertook free lance media work for Sky Sports Golf, the European Tour podcast and the R&A. In 2021, Davies became the European Player Development Manager for American company Excelsports management. In total, Davies played 314 professional tournaments with 5 wins, 9 second, 8 third, and 43 top-10 places). These include 170 European Tour tournaments (1 win; 4 second; 2 third and 12 top-10 places), and 6 majors. At age 16, Davies had to choose between cricket and golf. At that time he was a Glamorgan CC Academy, and ECB England National Development Squad player. The latter also included Alistair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan and Samit Patel who would play test cricket subsequently.

Amateur wins

*1999-2003 14 junior championships *2003

Boys Amateur Championship The Boys Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. The competition is organised and run by The R&A. History The Boys Amateur Championship was first played at Royal Ascot in 1921. In 1921 boys had to ...

*2006

Scratch Players Championship The Scratch Players Championship (SPC) was an annual amateur golf tournament held from 2000 to 2010. It was a 72-hole stroke play event with two cuts. The Scratch Players Group ranked the tournament among the top 20 world amateur events in 2010. Th ...

*2003–07 10 collegiate championships in USA

Professional wins (5)

European Tour wins (1)

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

Challenge Tour wins (4)

Challenge Tour playoff record (1–1)

Playoff record

Asian Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

''Note: Davies never played in 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 ...

.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur *Boys' Home Internationals (representing Wales) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 *Men's Home internationals (representing Wales) 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006. *

European Boys' Team Championship The European Boys' Team Championship (Jean-Louis Dupont Trophy) is a European amateur team golf championship for men up to 18 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1980 and it has been played annually since. S ...

(representing Wales): 2001, 2002, 2003 *

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 ...

(representing Great Britain and Ireland): 2002 (winners), 2003 (winners) *

European Youths' Team Championship The European Youths' Team Championship was a European amateur team golf championship for men under 22 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1961. It was played every year until 1982, then every second year. It ...

(representing Wales): 2004, 2006 *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

(representing Wales):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Palmer Cup The Palmer Cup is a 1200–1215 CE goblet from northern Syria or Jazira region, Jazira, and an example of early Islamic glass. It is sometimes described as "Ayyubid", since it corresponds to the time when the Ayyubids disputed control of areas of ...

(representing Europe):

(winners),

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

(winners),

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been ...

(representing Wales):

(representing Great Britain and Ireland):

St Andrews Trophy The St Andrews Trophy is a biennial men's team golf tournament contested between teams of amateur golfers representing Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It takes its name from St Andrews in Scotland. It was first played in 19 ...

(representing Great Britain and Ireland): 2006 (winners) Professional *

Royal Trophy The Royal Trophy was a men's professional team golf tournament which was played between 2006 and 2013. The competing teams represented Europe and Asia. Eight man teams played a series of 16 matches involving foursomes, four-ball and singles for the ...

(representing Europe):

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

(winners) *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(representing Wales):

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Rhys Welsh male golfers East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's golfers Asian Tour golfers European Tour golfers Golfers from Edinburgh Sportspeople from Bridgend 1985 births Living people 21st-century Welsh sportsmen

Amateur wins

Professional wins (5)

European Tour wins (1)

Challenge Tour wins (4)

Playoff record

Results in major championships

Results in World Golf Championships

Team appearances

See also

References

External links