Thomas Bjørn

Thomas Bjørn
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Bjørn
Born	18 February 1971 (1971-02-18) Silkeborg, Denmark
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	88 kg (190 lb; 13.9 st)
Nationality	Denmark
Residence	Silkeborg, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden
Spouse	Pernilla (m.1998)
Children	Filippa (b. 1999), Oliver and Julie (twins b. 2003)
Career
Turned professional	1993
Current tour(s)	European Tour (joined 1996)
Professional wins	19
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	13 (tied 19th all time)
Japan Golf Tour	2
Challenge Tour	4
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament	T18: 2002
U.S. Open	T22: 2001
The Open Championship	T2: 2000, 2003
PGA Championship	T2: 2005
Achievements and awards
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	1996
Challenge Tour Rankings winner	1995

Thomas Bjørn (born 18 February 1971) is a professional golfer from Denmark who plays on the European Tour. He is the most successful Danish golfer to have played the game having won thirteen tournaments worldwide on the European Tour. In 1999 he also became the first Dane to qualify for a European Ryder Cup team. Despite his success all over the world, Bjørn is widely remembered for his infamous collapse at Royal St. George's during the 2003 Open Championship, when he led by two strokes with three holes to play, but took three attempts to get out of a greenside bunker on the par three 16th, handing the tournament to young rookie Ben Curtis. This moment is so well recognised that even to the present day the bunker on the 16th at Royal St. George's is affectionately known as 'Bjørn's Bunker'.

Professional career

Bjørn started his career playing on the Challenge Tour from 1993 to 1995. In 1995 he won four tournaments on the Challenge Tour to earn his card for his debut year on the European Tour in 1996. Bjørn made his breakthrough immediately winning his maiden tour title in his debut season at the Loch Lomond World Invitational. He became the first golfer from Denmark to win a tournament on the European Tour. He finished the 1996 season placed tenth on the Order of Merit. The follow up season in 1997 was steady with a number of top ten finishes without a win, however Bjørn did not have long to wait until his next win arrived. He won early in the 1998 season in Perth, Australia taking the Heineken Classic for his second European Tour title. Despite an over par final round of 74, Bjørn won by a single stroke from Ian Woosnam. A couple months later after a five week break from competitive golf, Bjørn won for the second time in 1998 at the Peugeot Open de Espana after a final round 66 took him to 21 under and one stroke ahead of the chasing pack. He later said “I didn’t really expect this after taking five weeks off, but when your confidence has gone like mine did after winning in Perth, it just shows it’s best to take a break and regroup." After his two wins he finished the year 6th on the Order of Merit.

After a winless period due to injuries and the birth of his first child, Bjørn returned to the winner's circle in October 1999 at the Sarazen World Open. This was his fourth career European Tour win and after an unspectacular year, he jumped up the standings to finish the season 14th on the Order of Merit.

He has finished in the top ten on the Order of Merit five times with a best finish of fifth in 2000. He has come close to winning a major championship at the 2003 Open Championship when he was in the lead with 4 holes to play before a slump handed victory to Ben Curtis. At the 2005 PGA Championship, he was tied for the lead before finishing as runner-up to Phil Mickelson in a second-place tie with Steve Elkington.

Bjørn was a member of the winning European Ryder Cup teams in 1997 and 2002. He made the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for one week in 2001 after a second place finish at The Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

Bjørn picked up his first European Tour win in four years and 10th of his career in 2010 at the Estoril Open de Portugal, winning with a score of 23-under-par, five better than Richard Green. He followed this with three more wins at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in February 2011, Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in August 2011, winning in a five-man playoff on the fifth extra hole, birdieing the final three holes and Omega European Masters in September 2011. It was Bjørn's 13th career European Tour win.

In 2005 and 2006, Bjørn sponsored the Thomas Bjørn Open, an event on the Challenge Tour played in his home country. In 2007, Bjørn was elected chairman of the European Tour's tournament committee.

Bjørn's last name is sometimes written Björn or Bjorn outside Denmark. The Danish (and Norwegian) letter 'ø' represents approximately the same sound as 'ö' in German and Swedish. Literally translated, his surname means bear in Danish.

Personal life

Bjørn married his wife Pernilla in 1998. They have three children Filippa (b. 1999) and twins Oliver and Julia (b. 2003). Bjørn currently resides in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Bjørn is a football fan and a keen follower of Liverpool FC. Alongside football he also states his other interest to be movies.

Professional wins (19)

European Tour wins (13)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	22 Sep 1996	Loch Lomond World Invitational	-11 (70-68-69-70=277)	1 stroke	Jean van de Velde
2	1 Feb 1998	Heineken Classic	-8 (70-68-68-74=280)	1 stroke	Ian Woosnam
3	26 Apr 1998	Peugeot Open de Espana	-21 (68-67-66-66=267)	1 stroke	Greg Chalmers, José María Olazábal
4	17 Oct 1999	Sarazen World Open	-15 (66-69-70-68=273)	2 strokes	Paolo Quirici, Katsuyoshi Tomori
5	22 Aug 2000	BMW International Open	-20 (69-93-69-67=268)	3 strokes	Bernhard Langer
6	4 Mar 2001	Dubai Desert Classic	-22 (64-66-67-69=266)	2 strokes	Pádraig Harrington, Tiger Woods
7	1 Sep 2002	BMW International Open	-24 (68-64-66-66=264)	4 strokes	John Bickerton, Bernhard Langer
8	15 May 2005	Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters	-6 (73-68-73-68=282)	Playoff	Brian Davis, David Howell
9	21 May 2006	Irish Open	-5 (78-66-67-72=283)	1 stroke	Paul Casey
10	14 Jun 2010	Estoril Open de Portugal	-23 (67-65-65-68=265)	5 strokes	Richard Green
11	6 Feb 2011	Commercialbank Qatar Masters	-13 (74-65-66-69=274)	4 strokes	Álvaro Quirós
12	28 Aug 2011	Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles	-11 (68-69-71-69=277)	Playoff	George Coetzee, Mark Foster, Pablo Larrazábal, Bernd Wiesberger
13	4 Sep 2011	Omega European Masters	-20 (68-68-66-62=264)	4 strokes	Martin Kaymer

Challenge Tour wins (4)

• 1995 Coca-Cola Open, C*Esbjerg Danish Closed, Interlaken Open, Himmerland Open

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

• 1999 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament
• 2003 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament

Results in major championships

Tournament	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	T68	T25	CUT
The Open Championship	CUT	CUT	T9	T30
PGA Championship	DNP	T45	CUT	T70

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
The Masters	T28	CUT	T18	DNP	CUT	T25	T32	CUT	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T46	T22	T37	CUT	CUT	T52	T48	CUT	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	T2	CUT	T8	T2	CUT	CUT	T41	T53	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	3	T63	CUT	CUT	DNP	T2	CUT	T62	DNP	DNP

Tournament	2010	2011
The Masters	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	4
PGA Championship	DNP	CUT

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

• Tournaments played: 44
• Wins: 0
• 2nd: 3
• 3rd: 1
• Top 10s: 7
• Top 25s: 11
• Missed cuts: 19
• Most consecutive cuts made: 6

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Accenture Match Play Championship	R32	R16	DNP	DNP	R64	R32	R64	DNP	R64	DNP
Cadillac Championship	T59	T40	NT1	T27	T28	2	WD	T41	T11	DNP
Bridgestone Invitational	DNP	T10	T31	T15	T61	DNP	18	T18	DNP	DNP

Tournament	2009	2010	2011
Accenture Match Play Championship	DNP	DNP	R32
Cadillac Championship	DNP	DNP	T28
Bridgestone Invitational	DNP	DNP	T68
HSBC Champions	DNP	DNP	T42

¹Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Professional team appearances

• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1997 (winners), 2002 (winners)
• World Cup (representing Denmark): 1996, 1997, 2001
• Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2000 (winners), 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 (non-playing captain), 2011
• Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2006 (winners)

See also

• List of golfers with most European Tour wins

External links

• Thomas Bjørn at the European Tour official site
• Thomas Bjørn at the PGA Tour official site
• Thomas Bjørn at the Japan Golf Tour official site
• Thomas Bjørn at the Official World Golf Ranking official site