European Ryder Cup Champion

Since his first tournament victory in the 1982 Swiss Open, Ian Woosnam has become one of the most exciting and most successful golfers in the world. Ian has won more tournaments worldwide than any other British golfer, excluding the Seniors Tour veteran Neil Coles. He finished in the top twelve of the European Order of Merit for twelve successive years. During that period, he has twice finished in the number one position of the European Order of Merit (1987 & 1990).

In 1987 he won 8 events around the world: the Hong Kong Open, the World Cup individual prize, the Sun City Million Dollar Challenge as well as five victories in Europe.

In 1990 he repeated this form with five victories worldwide. He then began 1991 in the style of the champion he had become, winning his first event of the year, the Mediterranean Open. A few weeks later in New Orleans, he won his first event in the United States and in the following weeks he took over the Sony World number one position and won his first major championship, the US Masters at Augusta. He held this position in the world ranking for a record 51 consecutive weeks.

Since then, Ian Woosnam has consolidated his position as one of the leading golfers in the world and has proceeded to focus on his avowed intention of adding to his one Major championship. In 1992, he showed remarkable consistency in each of the Major championships leading and finishing in the top ten three times. In addition, he became the first player for over 30 years to win an event in three consecutive years by retaining his Monte Carlo Open title. In 1993 Ian played excellent golf as reflected by his two victories, his no.3 ranking in the European Order of Merit and the fact that he won more points (4 out of 5) than any other player in The Ryder Cup.

"Don't ever write me off." said Woosie after a fabulous win in the 1994 Dunhill British Masters at Woburn. He came from seven strokes adrift at halfway to win by four. Earlier in the season, Woosie staged an even better comeback at The Cannes Open - 14 behind after 26 holes, but played the remaining holes in 20 under and triumphed by five.

Woosie had a great start to the 1996 season with back to back victories at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Singapore and The Heineken Classic in Perth, Australia. Ian then triumphed again in July by winning The Scottish Open for the third time on the wind-blown famous links of Carnoustie. Ian then went on to win the rain hit German Open, which was the first time that he had won in Germany in 20 years as a professional.

1997 saw Ian win the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth for the second time by two shots. One week later Ian won again in Korea, beating Sandy Lyle in a play-off for the Hyundai Motor Masters.

Despite the fact that Woosie did not achieve a victory in 1998, he still managed to finish 20th on the Order of Merit. This excellent end of year result was due to his five top ten finishes throughout the year. He finished second in the Heineken Classic and the Standard Life Loch Lomond Invitational, both of which are renowned for their top quality player fields. Woosie also finished 5th at the Dubai Desert Classic and 9th in both the Qatar Masters and the Murphy's Irish Open. Another highlight of 1998 occurred during the British Masters where Ian narrowly missed the world record for nine holes.

The highlight of 1999 was Ian's 14th place at the US Masters as well as two well deserved second places at both the Hong Kong Open and the Argentine Open. Ian achieved four top 10's in 2000, including a 2nd place at the Qatar Masters, and in 2001 he finished 4th at the Dubai Desert Classic, 2nd at the Smurfit European Open, 3rd at The British Open, but most significantly Ian won the Cisco World Match Play Championship 2 and 1, beating Padraig Harrington in the final.

In 2002, his highlight of the year was being appointed Vice Captain to the successful European Ryder Cup Team, a role he relished alongside Sam Torrance. 2003 started well but injury and personal loss affected his season and he finished 75th on the Order Of Merit.

In contrast, 2004 saw him enter the fray leaner and slimmer but unbelievably he missed the cut in his first four tournaments. However, he kept with this new discipline and saved his best golf for the end of the season where he contended strongly at the Heritage and Dunhill links championship, narrowly missing qualification into the Volvo Masters.

Ian Woosnam will always be a contender because he always believes he can win. It is this attitude together with his down to earth personality that attracts him to people and had him nicknamed the People's Champion. He is one of Britain's leading golfing ambassadors, an MBE and an honorary Member of the European tour.

Awarded the 2006 European Ryder Cup Captaincy, Woosie led his European Team to a record equalling 18 - 9 victory over their American counterparts at the K-Club, Ireland. This was also the first time in Ryder Cup history that the European Team won all five sessions. Woosnam received the OBE in the New Year's Honours List in recognition of the feat.

In June 2008, Woosnam won his first stroke play title in 11 years at the Parkridge Polish Seniors Championship at Krakow Valley Golf and Country Club, finishing with a course record 63. The tournament was his third appearance on European Seniors Tour, which he joined after turning 50 years old in March 2008.

Ian plays regularly in Europe, the US and Asia and has developed very strong ties and a large following in each of these major markets. However, his greatest following is in the UK where he is undoubtedly one of the country's most popular golfers.

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