Ricardo González (golfer)

{{Infobox golfer

| name = Ricardo González

| image = KLM 2009 Ricardo Gonzales.JPG

| imagesize = 200px

| caption = González at the 2009 KLM Open

| fullname =

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|10|24|df=y}}

| birth_place = Corrientes, Argentina

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{height|m=1.83|precision=0}}

| weight = {{convert|93|kg|lb st|abbr=on}}

| nationality = {{ARG}}

| residence = Rosario, Argentina

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

| college =

| yearpro = 1986

| tour = PGA Tour Champions
European Senior Tour
TPG Tour

| extour = European Tour
Challenge Tour

| prowins = 29

| pgawins =

| eurowins = 4

| japwins =

| asiawins =

| sunwins =

| auswins =

| nwidewins =

| chalwins = 2

| champwins = 1

| seneurowins = 1

| otherwins = 21

| majorwins =

| masters = DNP

| usopen = DNP

| open = CUT: 1990, 2002

| pga = T10: 2002

| wghofid =

| wghofyear =

| award1 = TPG Tour
Order of Merit winner

| year1 = 2018

| award2 = PGA Tour Champions
Rookie of the Year

| year2 = 2024

| awardssection =

}}

Ricardo González (born 24 October 1969) is an Argentine professional golfer.

Professional career

González turned professional in 1986, and has spent much of his career in Europe. He won a place on the European Tour in 1992 through qualifying school after playing on the second tier Challenge Tour in 1991. Having failed to win sufficient money to retain his tour card, he returned to the Challenge Tour in 1993.

Having moved to Africa, González returned to Europe in 1998 after winning the Challenge Tour sanctioned Tusker Kenya Open, and secured a second shot on the European Tour by finishing 5th on the Challenge Tour Rankings that season. He has successfully retained his playing privileges since then by consistently finishing inside the top 115 of the Order of Merit each year.

González has accumulated four European Tour wins, with a best year-end ranking on the European Tour Order of Merit of 25th place in 2001. He has also won many tournaments in South America, and has represented Argentina at the World Cup on four occasions, in 1996, 1998, 2005 and 2007.

He won his fourth career European Tour event in 2009 at the SAS Masters in Sweden by two strokes over Welshman Jamie Donaldson. It was his first win on the European Tour in five years.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jul/26/gonzalez-sas-masters-golf|title=Final flourish earns Gonzalez victory in Malmo|date=2009-07-26|work=The Guardian|accessdate=2009-07-27}}

After several down years, González qualified for the European Tour through qualifying school in 2016. At age 47, he was the oldest Q school graduate in Tour history.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/38020522 |title=European Tour Q School: Major winner Yang and Ryder Cup victor Molinari earn cards |work=BBC Sport |date=17 November 2016 |access-date=18 January 2025}}

In February 2024, González won the Trophy Hassan II on PGA Tour Champions.{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.ph/golf/story/_/id/39590326/ricardo-gonzalez-earns-pga-tour-champions-win-morocco |title=Ricardo Gonzalez earns PGA Tour Champions win in Morocco |work=ESPN |agency=Associated Press |date=25 February 2024 |access-date=25 February 2024}} He played the remainder of the season on PGA Tour Champions, finishing 10th on the season-long Charles Schwab Cup standings and being awarded with Rookie of the Year honours.{{cite news |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/golf/news-55-year-old-ricardo-gonzalez-named-rookie-year-pga-tour-champions |title=55-year-old Ricardo Gonzalez named Rookie of the Year by PGA Tour Champions |work=Sportskeeda |first=Shobhit |last=Kukreti |date=17 January 2025 |access-date=18 January 2025}}

Professional wins (29)

=European Tour wins (4)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runner(s)-up

align=center|1

|align=right|9 Sep 2001

|Omega European Masters

|−16 (65-67-68-68=268)

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|DEN}} Søren Hansen

align=center|2

|align=right|26 Oct 2003

|Telefónica Open de Madrid

|−14 (69-70-66-65=270)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|ENG}} Paul Casey, {{flagicon|IRE}} Pádraig Harrington,
{{flagicon|AUS}} Nick O'Hern, {{flagicon|SWE}} Mårten Olander

align=center|3

|align=right|18 Apr 2004

|Open de Sevilla

|−14 (70-66-69-69=274)

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|SCO}} Stephen Gallacher, {{flagicon|ENG}} Jonathan Lomas

align=center|4

|align=right|26 Jul 2009

|SAS Masters

|−10 (68-68-77-69=282)

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|WAL}} Jamie Donaldson

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponents!!Result

style="background:#F2C1D1;"

|align=center|1

|2013

|Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles

|{{flagicon|ENG}} Tommy Fleetwood, {{flagicon|SCO}} Stephen Gallacher

|Fleetwood won with birdie on first extra hole

=Challenge Tour wins (2)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runner-up

align=center|1

|align=right|23 Sep 1990

|Esab Open

|−9 (67-68=135)*

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|DEN}} Ole Eskildsen

align=center|2

|align=right|15 Mar 1998

|Tusker Kenya Open

|−12 (69-65-69-69=272)

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|KEN}} Jacob Okello

*Note: The 1990 Esab Open was shortened to 36 holes due to rain.

Challenge Tour playoff record (2–0)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result

style="background:#D0F0C0;"

|align=center|1

|1990

|Esab Open

|{{flagicon|DEN}} Ole Eskildsen

|Won with par on second extra hole

style="background:#D0F0C0;"

|align=center|2

|1998

|Tusker Kenya Open

|{{flagicon|KEN}} Jacob Okello

|Won with par on third extra hole

=TPG Tour wins (9)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runner(s)-up

align=center|1

|align=right|9 Jun 2007

|Abierto del Norte

|−19 (65-67-66-67=265)

|colspan=2|Shared title with {{flagicon|ARG}} Andrés Romero

align=center|2

|align=right|29 Nov 2009

|Abierto del Litoral

|−3 (70-69-71-67=277)

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|ARG}} Andrés Romero

align=center|3

|align=right|3 Oct 2010

|Abierto del Litoral (2)

|−7 (71-70-68-64=273)

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|ARG}} Rafael Gómez, {{flagicon|ARG}} Mauricio Molina

align=center|4

|align=right|30 Sep 2012

|Argentine PGA Championship

|−9 (73-72-66-68=279)

|4 strokes

|{{flagicon|ARG}} Francisco Bidé, {{flagicon|ARG}} Clodomiro Carranza,
{{flagicon|ARG}} Roberto Cóceres, {{flagicon|ARG}} Emilio Domínguez

align=center|5

|align=right|24 Nov 2013

|Abierto del Litoral (3)

|−12 (66-69-64-69=268)

|4 strokes

|{{flagicon|ARG}} Sergio Acevedo

align=center|6

|align=right|28 Jan 2018

|Abierto del Sur

|−20 (68-67-60-65=260)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|ARG}} Maximiliano Godoy

align=center|7

|align=right|30 Sep 2018

|Abierto de Salta

|−15 (69-64-69-67=269)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|ARG}} Maximiliano Godoy

align=center|8

|align=right|15 Mar 2020

|Abierto Norpatagónico

|−6 (69-67=136)*

|colspan=2|Shared title with {{flagicon|ARG}} Andrés Gallegos

align=center|9

|align=right|22 Jan 2023

|Abierto del Sur (2)

|−11 (64-71-65-69=269)

|7 strokes

|{{flagicon|ARG}} Exequiel López, {{flagicon|ARG}} Jaime López Rivarola

*Note: The 2020 Abierto Norpatagónico was shortened to 36 holes due to COVID-19 concerns.

=Other wins (12)=

1987 Rosario City Open (Arg)
1988 Praderas Grand Prix (Arg)
1995 Uruguay Open, La Plata Open (Arg)
1996 Chile Open
1997 Foz Iguazu Open (Brazil), Prince of Wales Open (Chile), Nigerian Open{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}
1998 JPGA Championship (Arg)
2003 Abierto del Litoral (Arg)
2005 Abierto del Litoral (Arg)
2006 Parana Open (Arg)

=PGA Tour Champions wins (1)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runner-up

align=center|1

|align=right|24 Feb 2024

|Trophy Hassan II

|−10 (69-70-70=209)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|DEN}} Thomas Bjørn

=European Senior Tour wins (1)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runner-up

align=center|1

|align=right|23 Oct 2022

|Italian Senior Open

|−2 (69-72-70=211)

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|ZAF}} James Kingston

Results in major championships

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1990

!1991

!1992

!1993

!1994

!1995

!1996

!1997

!1998

!1999

align=left|The Open Championship

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!2000

!2001

!2002

!2003

!2004

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:yellow;"|T10

|CUT

Note: González never played in the Masters Tournament or the U.S. Open.

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!Tournament!!2002!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009

align="left"|Match Play

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align="left"|Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align="left"|Invitational

|T28

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T50

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align="left"|Champions

|colspan=7 style="background:#D3D3D3;"|

|T45

"T" = Tied

Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

World Cup (representing Argentina): 1996, 1998, 2005, 2007

References

External links

{{EuroTour player|5609}}
{{OWGR|5054}}

Category:Argentine male golfers

Category:European Tour golfers

Category:Sportspeople from Corrientes

Category:1969 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century Argentine sportsmen

Ricardo González (golfer)

Professional career

Professional wins (29)

=European Tour wins (4)=

=Challenge Tour wins (2)=

=TPG Tour wins (9)=

=Other wins (12)=

=PGA Tour Champions wins (1)=

=European Senior Tour wins (1)=

Results in major championships

Results in World Golf Championships

Team appearances

See also

References

External links