Ronan Rafferty facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ronan Rafferty
Personal information
Full name	Ronan Patrick Rafferty
Born	(1964-01-13) 13 January 1964 (age 61) Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	189 lb (86 kg; 13.5 st)
Nationality	Northern Ireland
Residence	Gleneagles, Scotland
Spouse	Yvonne Rafferty
Children	2
Career
Turned professional	1981
Former tour(s)	European Tour Southern Africa Tour PGA Tour of Australasia European Senior Tour
Professional wins	14
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	7
PGA Tour of Australasia	5
Other	2
Best results in Major Championships
The Masters Tournament	T14: 1990
U.S. Open	63rd: 1990
The Open Championship	T9: 1984
PGA Championship	CUT: 1990
Achievements and awards
European Tour Order of Merit winner	1989

Ronan Patrick Rafferty, born on January 13, 1964, is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland. He used to play on the European Tour, which is a big golf competition in Europe. In 1989, he won the European Tour's top award, called the Order of Merit. This means he was the best player on the tour that year!

Early Golf Days

Ronan Rafferty was born in Newry, Northern Ireland. He started playing golf at a young age and quickly became very good.

• When he was just 15, he won the Boys Amateur Championship, a major competition for young golfers.
• At 16, he was good enough to play in the Open Championship, one of golf's biggest tournaments.
• By 17, he played in the 1981 Walker Cup, a team event for top amateur golfers.
• In 1980, he tied for first place in the English Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship, winning the Brabazon Trophy.

Professional Golf Career

Ronan Rafferty became a professional golfer in 1981. For several years, he was one of the best golfers in Europe. Between 1987 and 1993, he won 12 official tournaments around the world. Five of these wins were in Australia, and seven were in Europe.

Starting on the European Tour

Rafferty joined the European Tour in 1982. In his first year, he did well, finishing in the top 50 players. From 1983 onwards, he had a great run. For eight years in a row, he finished in the top 30 of the Order of Merit. This meant he was consistently one of the best players. He often finished in the top 10 in many tournaments.

Even though he played very well, it took him a while to win his first European Tour event. He had 62 top-10 finishes before finally getting a victory! In 1986, he lost in a playoff at the Lancia Italian Open.

Wins Down Under

Ronan had better luck winning tournaments in Australia. In 1987, he won two events on the Australasian Tour. One of these was the New Zealand Open, where he beat famous American golfer Larry Nelson in a playoff. He was the first European golfer in over 60 years to win New Zealand's national open. In 1988, he also won the Australian Match Play Championship.

His Best Year: 1989

The year 1989 was Ronan Rafferty's best. He finally won his first European Tour event, the Lancia Italian Open, beating Sam Torrance. He went on to win two more tournaments that year. He also had 15 top-10 finishes!

His most important win was the Volvo Masters, where he beat golf legend Nick Faldo. Because of his amazing performance, he won the European Tour Order of Merit. This meant he was the number one player on the European Tour for the whole year.

Rafferty also earned a spot on the 1989 Ryder Cup team. The Ryder Cup is a famous team competition between Europe and the USA. Even though he lost his team matches, he won his singles match against Mark Calcavecchia. This win was very important because the European team tied with the USA, which meant Europe kept the cup!

Continuing Success and Challenges

1990 was another strong year for Rafferty. He won three more tournaments: the Coca-Cola Classic, PLM Open, and Ebel European Masters Swiss Open. He also finished second twice and had 12 top-10 finishes. His great play earned him an invitation to the Masters for the first time. He reached his highest world ranking, number 16, that spring. He also played in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.

The early 1990s brought some ups and downs. In 1991, he didn't win any official events. He also struggled in major tournaments, missing cuts or withdrawing.

However, in early 1992, Rafferty had another fantastic period. He finished first or second in five tournaments in a row! This included a win at the Daikyo Palm Meadows Cup in Australia and the Portuguese Open. He also lost in a playoff to golf superstar Seve Ballesteros at the Dubai Desert Classic. His world ranking went back up to number 16.

After this, his performance slowly started to decline. In 1993, he had a brief return to form, winning the Hohe Brücke Austrian Open. This was his last victory.

End of a Touring Career

From 1994 onwards, Ronan Rafferty's career as a full-time touring professional began to wind down. He didn't win any more tournaments and struggled to finish high on the Order of Merit. In 1997, he broke bones in his left hand, which affected his play even more. He retired from playing full-time after the 2003 season.

Life After Golf

Ronan Rafferty has been married twice and has two children. While playing golf in Australia, he became very interested in Australian wine. He is now a well-known wine collector.

Today, Ronan plays fewer tournaments. He works as a commentator and analyst for golf broadcasts. He also helps design golf courses.

Ronan Rafferty's Impact

Ronan Rafferty is important in golf history because he helped show the world how good Northern Irish golfers could be. He and David Feherty were the first golfers from Northern Ireland to win regularly on the European Tour. After they retired, other famous Northern Irish golfers like Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, and Darren Clarke went on to win major championships.

Ronan Rafferty was one of Europe's top golfers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He won 12 official tournaments worldwide during that time. To give you an idea, Nick Faldo, who was considered the best European golfer then, won 17 events in the same period. This shows how successful Ronan Rafferty was!

Amateur Wins

• 1979 Boys Amateur Championship
• 1980 Brabazon Trophy (tied with Peter McEvoy)

Professional Wins (14)

European Tour Wins (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	21 May 1989	Lancia Italian Open	−15 (71-69-68-65=273)	1 stroke	Sam Torrance
2	6 Aug 1989	Scandinavian Enterprise Open	−20 (70-69-64-65=268)	2 strokes	Michael Allen
3	29 Oct 1989	Volvo Masters	−6 (72-69-70-71=282)	1 stroke	Nick Faldo
4	5 Aug 1990	PLM Open	−18 (64-67-70-69=270)	4 strokes	Vijay Singh
5	2 Sep 1990	Ebel European Masters Swiss Open	−21 (70-65-66-66=267)	2 strokes	John Bland
6	22 Mar 1992	Portuguese Open	−15 (67-71-67-68=273)	1 stroke	Anders Forsbrand
7	15 Aug 1993	Hohe Brücke Austrian Open	−14 (65-69-72-68=274)	Playoff	Anders Sørensen

European Tour Playoff Record (1–4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1986	Italian Open	David Feherty	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
2	1989	KLM Dutch Open	Roger Chapman, José María Olazábal	Olazábal won with double-bogey on ninth extra hole Chapman eliminated by par on first hole
3	1990	Vinho Verde Atlantic Open	Richard Boxall, Stephen Hamill, Stephen McAllister, Anders Sørensen, David Williams	McAllister won with par on first extra hole
4	1992	Dubai Desert Classic	Seve Ballesteros	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
5	1993	Hohe Brücke Austrian Open	Anders Sørensen	Won with par on first extra hole

PGA Tour of Australasia Wins (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	14 Nov 1987	West End South Australian Open	−8 (72-68-71-69=280)	1 stroke	Peter Fowler
2	13 Dec 1987 (1988 season)	Nissan-Mobil New Zealand Open	−9 (72-65-71-71=279)	Playoff	Larry Nelson
3	7 Feb 1988	Mercedes-Benz Australian Match Play Championship	1 up		Mike Clayton
4	21 Jan 1990	Coca-Cola Classic	−10 (72-69-68-69=278)	2 strokes	Brian Watts
5	19 Jan 1992	Daikyo Palm Meadows Cup	−10 (68-72-73-65=278)	2 strokes	Bradley Hughes, Brett Ogle

PGA Tour of Australasia Playoff Record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1987	Nissan-Mobil New Zealand Open	Larry Nelson	Won with par on seventh extra hole

South American Golf Circuit Wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	28 Nov 1982	Venezuela Open	−8 (66-66-70-70=272)	1 stroke	Lee Carter

Other Wins (1)

• 1988 Equity & Law Challenge

Major Championship Results

     Top 10      Did not play CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary of Major Results

• Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (1988 Open Championship – 1990 Open Championship)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Team Appearances

As an Amateur

• European Youths' Team Championship (representing Ireland): 1979 (winners), 1980
• Jacques Léglise Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1979 (winners)
• European Boys' Team Championship (representing Ireland): 1980
• Eisenhower Trophy (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1980
• St Andrews Trophy (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1980 (winners)
• Walker Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1981
• European Amateur Team Championship (representing Ireland): 1981

As a Professional

• World Cup (representing Ireland): 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993
• Hennessy Cognac Cup (representing Ireland): 1984
• Dunhill Cup (representing Ireland): 1986, 1987, 1988 (winners), 1989, 1990 (winners), 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995
• Four Tours World Championship (representing Europe): 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 (winners)
• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1989 (tie, cup retained)
  • Record: 3 matches, 1 point (33% point percentage)
  • All formats (W–L–H): 1–2–0 = 1 pt
    • Singles: 1–0–0 = 1pt
    • Foursomes: 0–2–0 = 0pts
    • Fourballs: 0–0–0 = 0pts

See Also

• List of people on the postage stamps of Ireland