Brian Watts

Brian Peter Watts (born March 18, 1966) is an American professional golfer

For the ice hockey player, see Brian Watts (ice hockey).
Brian Watts
Personal information
Full nameBrian Peter Watts
Born (1966-03-18) March 18, 1966
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight95 kg (209 lb; 15.0 st)
Nationality Canada
 United States
Children3
Career
CollegeOklahoma State University
Turned professional1988
Former tour(s)Japan Golf Tour
PGA Tour
Asia Golf Circuit
Professional wins13
Highest ranking18 (January 3, 1999)[1]
Number of wins by tour
Japan Golf Tour12
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT31: 1999
PGA ChampionshipT41: 1999
U.S. OpenT23: 1999
The Open Championship2nd: 1998
Achievements and awards
Asia Golf Circuit
Order of Merit winner		1993

Watts was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to European parents, but is now a U.S. citizen who lives in Texas.[2] He played college golf at Oklahoma State and won the NCAA Division I Championship in 1987[3] and was a member of the team that won the 1987 NCAA Division I Team Championship. He also won the 1986 Big 8 Conference Championship and the 1985 and 1987 Morris Williams Intercollegiate (tied Ben Crenshaw's scoring record in '85) as part of his 7 collegiate wins. Only Lindy Miller, Scott Verplank and Willie Wood have more college wins in OSU's long successful golf history. Watts was a four-time All-American (two-time first team and two-time second team) and a 1987 runner-up for the Fred Haskins award. Only Watts and Tom Jones are credited for never shooting a score in the 80s while at OSU. Watts won the 1984 Texas State 5A High School Championship and added the prestigious A.J.G.A. Player of the Year honors later that year. As a 15 year old, once shot a 59 (−13) at his home course Brookhaven C.C. Presidents Course.

Watts turned professional in 1988. During the 1990s, he played mainly on the Japan Golf Tour, having gained his card via the Asia Golf Circuit, where he topped the Order of Merit in 1993.[4] During his six seasons on the Japan Golf Tour from 1993 to 1998 he had 12 tournament victories and 12 runner-up finishes, amassing 63 top-10s in 124 events. When he left the tour he was the second all-time foreign money leader (593 million yen) to David Ishii. Only foreign players to have won more events were Ishii and Graham Marsh when Watts left for the PGA Tour in late 1998. His biggest victories in Japan were the 1994 Bridgestone Open where he defeated then World Number 1 Nick Price on the final day and the 1998 Casio World Open where then World Number 1 Tiger Woods was making his Japan Golf Tour debut. His first professional win was at the 1993 Hong Kong Open. However, he is best known for his performance at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in 1998, where he lost in the playoff to Mark O'Meara.[5] He had a two stroke lead entering the final round and shot 70. On the 72nd hole Watts faced a bunker shot where his right leg was out of the bunker and he nearly holed it from 45 feet. After making the 1 foot par putt on the final hole Watts failed to make two short birdie putts on the first two playoff holes and ended up losing by two shots in the four hole playoff. This performance helped earn Watts a PGA Tour card and by the end of the year he reached the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

In a successful 1999 season on the PGA Tour he finished 57th on the money list, including 26th in scoring average. He was one of a handful of players to make the cut in all four major championships and the Players Championship but his career was ended soon afterwards due to injuries.

Following a number of poor seasons, Watts has played little competitive golf since 2005 while rehabilitating from hip, knee, foot, and back injuries.[3]

Amateur wins

this list may be incomplete

Professional wins (13)

Japan Golf Tour wins (12)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Apr 3, 1994 Descente Classic −8 (67-71-69-73=280) 3 strokes Hisao Inoue, Hideki Kase,
Frankie Miñoza, Tsukasa Watanabe
2 Jun 26, 1994 Mizuno Open −8 (68-68-73-71=280) Playoff Eduardo Herrera, Yoshinori Kaneko,
Koichi Suzuki
3 Aug 28, 1994 Hisamitsu-KBC Augusta −17 (66-67-71-67=271) 2 strokes Masashi Ozaki
4 Oct 23, 1994 Bridgestone Open −14 (68-67-67-72=274) 3 strokes Mark Calcavecchia
5 Oct 30, 1994 Philip Morris Championship −12 (71-66-71-68=276) 1 stroke Masashi Ozaki, Naomichi Ozaki,
Duffy Waldorf
6 Mar 19, 1995 Dydo Drinco Shizuoka Open −8 (69-72-71-68=280) 2 strokes Shigeki Maruyama
7 Jun 25, 1995 Mizuno Open (2) −15 (71-65-66-71=273) 3 strokes Rick Gibson
8 May 5, 1996 Fujisankei Classic −12 (66-67-71-68=272) Playoff Todd Hamilton
9 Jun 29, 1997 Mizuno Open (3) −10 (69-69-71-69=278) 2 strokes Toshimitsu Izawa
10 Nov 2, 1997 Philip Morris Championship (2) −8 (70-73-67-70=280) 2 strokes Kaname Yokoo
11 Jun 21, 1998 Yomiuri Open −10 (66-68=134)* 1 stroke Kaname Yokoo
12 Nov 29, 1998 Casio World Open −14 (69-70-67-68=274) Playoff Toshimitsu Izawa

*Note: The 1998 Yomiuri Open was shortened to 36 holes due to rain.

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (3–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1994 Mizuno Open Eduardo Herrera, Yoshinori Kaneko,
Koichi Suzuki		 Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 1995 PGA Philanthropy Tournament Katsunari Takahashi, Kazuhiro Takami Takami won with birdie on first extra hole
3 1996 Fujisankei Classic Todd Hamilton Won with par on second extra hole
4 1997 Tokai Classic Brandt Jobe Lost to birdie on first extra hole
5 1998 Casio World Open Toshimitsu Izawa Won with birdie on second extra hole

Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Feb 14, 1993 Hong Kong Open −10 (63-69-68-74=274) 1 stroke Chen Tze-chung

Playoff record

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1998 The Open Championship Mark O'Meara Lost four-hole aggregate playoff;
O'Meara: −1 (4-4-5-4=17),
Watts: +1 (5-4-5-5=19)

Results in major championships
Tournament 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Masters Tournament T31 CUT
U.S. Open CUT T23
The Open Championship CUT T55 T40 CUT CUT 2 T24
PGA Championship CUT T47 CUT T56 T41 T51
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Summary
TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00000021
U.S. Open00000121
The Open Championship01011274
PGA Championship00000064
Totals0101131710
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (1998 Open Championship – 1999 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship
Tournament 199719981999200020012002
The Players Championship T37 T38 T73 CUT
  Did not play

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

Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament19992000
Match Play R64 R64
Championship T55
Invitational
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

See also

References
  1. "Week 1 1999 Ending 3 Jan 1999" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  2. "Second best not so bad for Brian Watts". Golf Today. Archived from the original on October 14, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  3. Harig, Bob (July 11, 2008). "Injuries derailed Watts after losing '98 British Open playoff". ESPN. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  4. "International results – Golf – Asian Circuit final top ten". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 26 April 1993. p. 22. Retrieved 19 February 2020 – via Trove.
  5. "O'Meara wins Open thriller". BBC News. July 19, 1998. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
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