Richard Bland (born 3 February 1973) is an English professional

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 ...

er who currently plays on the LIV Golf League. In 2021, he became the oldest first-time winner 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 ...

when he won the Betfred British Masters aged 48. He also won two senior major championships in 2024; the

KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship The Senior PGA Championship, established in 1937, is the oldest of the five major championships in men's senior golf. It is administered by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and is recognized as a major championship by both PGA ...

and the U.S. Senior Open.

Career

Bland was born in

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

, Staffordshire, England. He turned professional in 1996 and reached the final stage of 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 ...

in 1997 to gain his card on Europe's second tier

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 ...

for 1998. In 2001 he won for the first time, at the season ending Challenge Tour Grand Final. The win elevated him in the rankings sufficiently to gain a place on the European Tour for 2002. During his first season on the European Tour, Bland’s best tournament finish was a tie for 2nd place at the Murphy's Irish Open, losing in a

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, and ended the year in 73rd place on the Order of Merit. In subsequent seasons, he failed to win enough money to maintain his card on the European Tour several times but regained his playing status each time, via the Challenge Tour rankings in 2004, 2008, and 2019, and via qualifying school in 2007 and 2011. In May 2021, in his 478th start on the European Tour, Bland achieved his first victory at the Betfred British Masters. At age 48, he became the oldest first-time winner on the European Tour; only Malcolm MacKenzie, with 509, had played more tournaments before claiming his first win on the tour. In June 2021, Bland played in the U.S. Open for just the second time in his career. At 48 years old, he became the oldest player to ever hold a share of the lead of the U.S. Open after two rounds, however he fell back over the weekend to finish in a tie for 50th. With eight top-10 finishes during the

2021 European Tour The 2021 European Tour was the 50th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972. Changes for 2021 Following a heavily disrupted 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a ...

season, Bland finished a career-best 11th place on the

Race to Dubai 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 ...

rankings. In January 2022, Bland finished as runner-up at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, losing to

Viktor Hovland Viktor Hovland (born 18 September 1997) is a Norwegian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and European Tour. He won the 2018 U.S. Amateur and reached number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in 2019. Hovland became the first Norw ...

in a playoff. Being just outside the Top 50 in 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 ...

in March 2022, Bland looked to find form in order to qualify for 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 ...

. He won his group at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, halving with

Bryson DeChambeau Bryson James Aldrich DeChambeau (born September 16, 1993) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the LIV Golf League. He formerly played on the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships, the 2020 and 2024 U.S. Open. A ...

as well as beating

Talor Gooch Talor Keith Gooch (born November 14, 1991) is an American professional golfer. Early life and amateur career Gooch was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma. He played college golf at Oklahoma State University. He was already drawing notice for his ta ...

and

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 ...

along the way. However, he was defeated in the last 16 by

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 ...

, ultimately just missing out on progressing to the Top 50. Bland made his full

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 ...

debut the following week 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 ...

, needing a victory to get into The Masters. He recorded a Top-30 finish, seeing him move to a highest ranking of 48th. In June 2022, Bland joined the inaugural

LIV Golf Invitational Series LIV Golf ( ) is a professional men's golf tour. The name "LIV" refers to the Roman numerals for 54, the number of holes played at LIV events. The first LIV Golf Invitational Series event started on 9 June 2022, at the Centurion Club near St Alban ...

. He was subsequently subject to fines and suspension from the European Tour for playing without a conflicting event release. After those sanctions were upheld by an independent arbitrator, in May 2023, the European Tour announced that he had resigned his membership of the tour.

Senior career

In May 2023, Bland applied for entry to the

2023 Senior Open Championship The 2023 Senior Open Championship was a senior major golf championship for players aged 50 and over and the 36th Senior Open Championship. It was held 27–30 July at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Porthcawl, Wales. It was the 20th Senior Open Cham ...

, to be played in late July, for which he had fulfilled one exemption category as a former European Tour winner being at the exact age of 50 years at the time of the championship. However, Bland was denied entry due to outstanding fines to the European Tour, related to breaching conflicting tournament regulations. In May 2024, Bland won his first senior major at the

. In July 2024, he won his second senior major, defeating

Hiroyuki Fujita Hiroyuki Fujita (, born 16 June 1969) is a Japanese professional golfer. Career Fujita has won 18 tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour and has featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, reaching a height of 43rd and finishing in 48 ...

in a playoff to win the U.S. Senior Open. In a quest to complete the "Bland Slam" (winning all senior majors in which he was eligible for), Bland was unable to enter

The Senior Open Championship The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open), is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is jointly owned and run by The R&A, the same body that organises The O ...

at the end of July at

Carnoustie Carnoustie (; ) is a town and former police burgh in the subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland. It is at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast. In the UK census 2011, 2011 census, Carnoustie had a population of ...

. Having not paid outstanding fines to the European Tour (DP World Tour), as the case in 2023, Bland was again denied entry to play.

Amateur wins

*1994 European Under 21 Championship

Professional wins (4)

European Tour wins (1)

European Tour playoff record (1–2)

Challenge Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour Champions wins (2)

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–0)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.

Senior major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

Team appearances

Amateur *

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 England): 1994

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bland, Richard English male golfers European Tour golfers LIV Golf players Winners of senior major golf championships Sportspeople from Burton upon Trent Sportspeople from Southampton 1973 births Living people