Ben Crane

Benjamin McCully Crane (born March 6, 1976) is an American golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Early life

Crane was born in Portland, Oregon. He was age 5 when his grandfather taught him how to play golf, and he grew up playing at the nearby Portland Golf Club where Ben Hogan won the 1945 Portland Open. He attended Beaverton High School and went on to attend a Christian College in Texas. He later graduated from the University of Oregon and turned professional in 1999. Crane won an event on the second tier Nationwide Tour in both 2000 and 2001. He won a PGA Tour card for 2002, and the following season won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the BellSouth Classic. He also had a win in 2005. In February 2006, just before he turned thirty, he was the highest ranked American golfer under that age in the Official World Golf Rankings.

He has said how he doesn't like to know whom he will be paired with, saying, "I looked up to a lot of these guys who I'm now playing with. So, I didn't want to have to go to sleep thinking about it."

He is also considered one of the slowest players in the tour. On at least 2 occasions his extremely slow progress through a course has become a media issue, including one in which a fellow tour player Rory Sabbatini was cited for unsportsmanlike conduct for playing out of turn, which led to a week-long diatribe by TV commentator/former player Paul Azinger.

Crane missed the majority of the 2007 season due to back problems, and is playing on the PGA Tour in 2008 on a major medical extension.

Crane is a devoted Christian and lives with his wife, Heather, and their baby girl in Texas.

Amateur wins

"this list may be incomplete"
*1998 Pacific Coast Amateur

Professional wins (4)

PGA Tour (2)

*2003 BellSouth Classic
*2005 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee

Nationwide Tour (2)

*2000 BUY.COM Wichita Open
*2001 Gila River Classic at Wild Horse Pass Development

Results in major championships

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

External links

* [http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/35/41 Profile on the PGA Tour's official site]
* [http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/players/bio.sps?ID=6674 Results in ranking events for the last two years from the Official World Golf Ranking site]