Des Smyth

Des Smyth
Personal information
Full name	Desmond John Smyth
Born	12 February 1953 (1953-02-12) (age 58) Drogheda, County Louth
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Nationality	Ireland
Residence	Drogheda, County Louth
Career
Turned professional	1974
Current tour(s)	European Seniors Tour Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	European Tour
Professional wins	23
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	8 (tied 30th all time)
Champions Tour	2
European Seniors Tour	4
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP
The Open Championship	1982: T4
PGA Championship	DNP

Desmond John Smyth (born 12 February 1953) is an Irish professional golfer.

Smyth was born in Drogheda, County Louth. He turned professional in 1974 and was a member of the European Tour for over a quarter of a century. His best finish on the European Tour Order of Merit was seventh in 1988. He won eight tournaments on the tour across four different decades, breaking Neil Coles' record as the oldest man to win a European Tour event when he claimed the 2001 Madeira Island Open at the age of 48 years and 34 days.

Smyth represented Europe in the Ryder Cup in 1979 and 1981, losing on both occasions to the United States. Smyth also represented his country in the World Cup and the Alfred Dunhill Cup many times and was a member of the Irish team (alongside Eamonn Darcy and Ronan Rafferty) which won the latter in 1988. At the 2006 Ryder Cup, he was one of Ian Woosnam's vice-captains.^[1]

Since turning fifty in 2003, Smyth has had a successful career in senior golf, winning tournaments on both the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour.

Personal life

Smyth has a son, Greg, a horticultural student at IT Blanchardstown. Greg won Ireland's eighth largest lottery jackpot of €9,426,636 on 13 August 2008.^[2]

Amateur wins

• 1968 South of Ireland Open Amateur

Professional wins (23)

European Tour wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	5 Aug 1979	Sun Alliance European Match Play Championship	3&2		Nick Price
2	8 Jun 1980	Newcastle Brown "900" Championship	-12 (67-70-70-69=276)	1 stroke	Graham Burroughs, Neil Coles, Greg Norman
3	22 Jun 1980	Cold Shield Greater Manchester Open	-7 (67-71-69-66=273)	Playoff	Brian Waites
4	28 Jun 1981	Coral Classic	-6 (67-72-70-73=282)	2 strokes	Michael King, Bernhard Langer, John O'Leary
5	30 Oct 1983	Sanyo Open	-9 (72-66-70-71=279)	1 stroke	Hugh Baiocchi, Mark James
6	23 Oct 1988	BNP Jersey Open	-15 (69-68-69-67=273)	Playoff	Roger Chapman
7	31 Oct 1993	Madrid Open	-16 (65-68-68-71=272)	3 strokes	Domingo Hospital, José Rivero, Mark Roe, Wayne Westner
8	18 Mar 2001	Madeira Island Open	-18 (66-70-68-66=270)	2 strokes	John Bickerton

Other wins (8)

• 1979 Irish National PGA Championship
• 1985 Irish National PGA Championship
• 1986 Irish National PGA Championship
• 1988 Alfred Dunhill Cup (with Eamonn Darcy and Ronan Rafferty)
• 1990 Irish National PGA Championship
• 1995 Glen Dimplex Irish Match Play
• 1996 Irish National PGA Championship
• 2001 Irish National PGA Championship

Champions Tour wins (2)

• 2005 SBC Classic, Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf

European Seniors Tour wins (4)

• 2005 Arcapita Seniors Tour Championship
• 2007 Wentworth Senior Masters
• 2010 Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters
• 2011 Van Lanschot Senior Open

Other senior wins (1)

• 2011 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Raphael Division (with Mark James)

Results in major championships

Note: The only major Smyth played in was The Open Championship.

Tournament	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
The Open Championship	CUT	CUT	CUT	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Open Championship	CUT	T31	T4	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	DNP	CUT

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Open Championship	CUT	T44	CUT	T27	CUT	DNP	DQ	DNP	T15	CUT

Tournament	2000	2001	2002
The Open Championship	DNP	T13	T28

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

Team appearances

• Ryder Cup: 1979, 1981
• Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 (winners), 2000
• World Cup: 1979, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1989
• Hennessy Cognac Cup: 1980 (winners), 1982 (winners), 1984
• UBS Cup: 2001

References

1. ^ "Des Smyth & Peter Baker named Ryder Cup assistants"
2. ^ "Golfer's son wins Lotto jackpot". RTÉ. 2008-08-14. http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0814/lotto.html. Retrieved 2008-08-14. 

External links

• Des Smyth at the European Tour official site
• Des Smyth at the PGA Tour official site

Persondata
Name	Smyth, Des
Alternative names	Smyth, Desmond John
Short description	Professional golfer
Date of birth	12 February 1953
Place of birth	Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland
Date of death
Place of death