Ricardo González (golfer)

Ricardo González
Ricardo González
	González at the 2009 KLM Open
Personal information
Born	24 October 1969 (age 55); Corrientes, Argentina
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	93 kg (205 lb; 14.6 st)
Sporting nationality	Argentina
Residence	Rosario, Argentina
Career
Turned professional	1986
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour Champions; European Senior Tour; TPG Tour
Former tour(s)	European Tour; Challenge Tour
Professional wins	29
Highest ranking	61 (20 October 2002)
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	4
Challenge Tour	2
PGA Tour Champions	1
European Senior Tour	1
Other	21
Best results in major championships;
Masters Tournament	DNP
PGA Championship	T10: 2002
U.S. Open	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT: 1990, 2002
Achievements and awards
TPG Tour; Order of Merit winner
TPG Tour; Order of Merit winner	2018
PGA Tour Champions; Rookie of the Year	2024

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

In February 2024, González won the Trophy Hassan II on PGA Tour Champions.^[4] 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.^[5]

Professional wins (29)

European Tour wins (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	9 Sep 2001	Omega European Masters	−16 (65-67-68-68=268)	3 strokes	Søren Hansen
2	26 Oct 2003	Telefónica Open de Madrid	−14 (69-70-66-65=270)	1 stroke	Paul Casey, Pádraig Harrington, Nick O'Hern, Mårten Olander
3	18 Apr 2004	Open de Sevilla	−14 (70-66-69-69=274)	2 strokes	Stephen Gallacher, Jonathan Lomas
4	26 Jul 2009	SAS Masters	−10 (68-68-77-69=282)	2 strokes	Jamie Donaldson

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	2013	Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles	Tommy Fleetwood, Stephen Gallacher	Fleetwood won with birdie on first extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	23 Sep 1990	Esab Open	−9 (67-68=135)*	Playoff	Ole Eskildsen
2	15 Mar 1998	Tusker Kenya Open	−12 (69-65-69-69=272)	Playoff	Jacob Okello

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

Challenge Tour playoff record (2–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1990	Esab Open	Ole Eskildsen	Won with par on second extra hole
2	1998	Tusker Kenya Open	Jacob Okello	Won with par on third extra hole

TPG Tour wins (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	9 Jun 2007	Abierto del Norte	−19 (65-67-66-67=265)	Shared title with Andrés Romero
2	29 Nov 2009	Abierto del Litoral	−3 (70-69-71-67=277)	Playoff	Andrés Romero
3	3 Oct 2010	Abierto del Litoral (2)	−7 (71-70-68-64=273)	3 strokes	Rafael Gómez, Mauricio Molina
4	30 Sep 2012	Argentine PGA Championship	−9 (73-72-66-68=279)	4 strokes	Francisco Bidé, Clodomiro Carranza, Roberto Cóceres, Emilio Domínguez
5	24 Nov 2013	Abierto del Litoral (3)	−12 (66-69-64-69=268)	4 strokes	Sergio Acevedo
6	28 Jan 2018	Abierto del Sur	−20 (68-67-60-65=260)	1 stroke	Maximiliano Godoy
7	30 Sep 2018	Abierto de Salta	−15 (69-64-69-67=269)	1 stroke	Maximiliano Godoy
8	15 Mar 2020	Abierto Norpatagónico	−6 (69-67=136)*	Shared title with Andrés Gallegos
9	22 Jan 2023	Abierto del Sur (2)	−11 (64-71-65-69=269)	7 strokes	Exequiel López, 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]}
1998 JPGA Championship (Arg)
2003 Abierto del Litoral (Arg)
2005 Abierto del Litoral (Arg)
2006 Parana Open (Arg)

PGA Tour Champions wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	24 Feb 2024	Trophy Hassan II	−10 (69-70-70=209)	1 stroke	Thomas Bjørn

European Senior Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	23 Oct 2022	Italian Senior Open	−2 (69-72-70=211)	3 strokes	James Kingston

Results in major championships

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Open Championship	CUT
PGA Championship

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
The Open Championship			CUT
PGA Championship			T10	CUT	CUT

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

Top 10

Did not play

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

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament	2002	2004	2009
Match Play
Championship
Invitational	T28	T50
Champions			T45

Did not play

"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

^ "Week 42 2002 Ending 20 Oct 2002" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
^ "Final flourish earns Gonzalez victory in Malmo". The Guardian. 26 July 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
^ "European Tour Q School: Major winner Yang and Ryder Cup victor Molinari earn cards". BBC Sport. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
^ "Ricardo Gonzalez earns PGA Tour Champions win in Morocco". ESPN. Associated Press. 25 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^ Kukreti, Shobhit (17 January 2025). "55-year-old Ricardo Gonzalez named Rookie of the Year by PGA Tour Champions". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 18 January 2025.

External links

Ricardo González at the European Tour official site
Ricardo González at the Official World Golf Ranking official site

[w200242-1] "Week 42 2002 Ending 20 Oct 2002" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.

[2] "Final flourish earns Gonzalez victory in Malmo". The Guardian. 26 July 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2009.

[3] "European Tour Q School: Major winner Yang and Ryder Cup victor Molinari earn cards". BBC Sport. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2025.

[4] "Ricardo Gonzalez earns PGA Tour Champions win in Morocco". ESPN. Associated Press. 25 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.

[5] Kukreti, Shobhit (17 January 2025). "55-year-old Ricardo Gonzalez named Rookie of the Year by PGA Tour Champions". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 18 January 2025.

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