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Stephen Gallacher
MBE
Personal information
Full name Stephen James Gallacher
Born (1974-11-01) 1 November 1974 (age 50)
Dechmont, Scotland
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 87 kg (192 lb; 13.7 st)
Nationality  Scotland
Residence Bathgate, Scotland
Spouse
Helen
(m. 1999)
Children 2
Career
Turned professional 1995
Former tour(s) European Tour
Professional wins 5
Number of wins by tour
European Tour 4
Asian Tour 1
Challenge Tour 1
Best results in Major Championships
The Masters Tournament T34: 2014
U.S. Open CUT: 2005, 2011, 2014, 2015
The Open Championship T15: 2014
PGA Championship T18: 2010

Stephen James Gallacher MBE (born 1 November 1974) is a Scottish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour.

Early life and amateur career

Gallacher was born in Dechmont, West Lothian and is the nephew of former European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher and cousin of Sky Sports news presenter Kirsty Gallacher. He won the 1994 European Amateur and a couple of important amateur tournaments in Britain. He played in a victorious Walker Cup side in 1995 and turned professional later that year.

Professional career

Gallacher first played on the European Tour in 1996, but struggled to begin with. In 2000, however, he reached the top hundred on the Order of Merit for the first time, placing 56th. In 2004 he recorded his first win on the tour at the Dunhill Links Championship, which is one of the richest golf tournaments in Europe, and finished the year ranked 15th on the Order of Merit.

In February 2013, Gallacher ended a 201-tournament wait for his second victory on the European Tour, when he won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic by three strokes. He held the lead going into the final round after he shot his best career round of 62 on the European Tour in the third round. Despite two bogeys in his first two holes, Gallacher clinched victory with an eagle on the 16th hole. The win moved Gallacher back into the world's top 100.

The following year, Gallacher defended his title with a one stroke victory at the 2014 Omega Dubai Desert Classic for his third European Tour victory. He is the first golfer to ever successfully defend the title. Five years after his title defense in Dubai, he won again on the European Tour by claiming the 2019 Hero Indian Open, India's premier event, with a birdie on the 18th at the Gary Player course at the DLF Golf and Country Club near Delhi, India, despite a quadruple-bogey on the 7th. His son Jack caddied for him during his win in India.

Gallacher was one of the three captain's picks by Paul McGinley for the 2014 Ryder Cup.

In December 2022 Gallacher was announced by Ryder Cup Europe as captain of the 2023 European Junior Ryder Cup team, for the match against United States in Rome, Italy ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup match.

Amateur wins

  • 1991 Scottish Boys Strokeplay Championship
  • 1992 Scottish Boys Strokeplay Championship, Scottish Amateur Championship
  • 1994 European Amateur, Scottish Youths Amateur Championship
  • 1995 Scottish Amateur Open Stroke Play Championship, Lytham Trophy

Professional wins (5)

European Tour wins (4)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 10 Oct 2004 Dunhill Links Championship −19 (70-66-66-67=269) Playoff Northern Ireland Graeme McDowell
2 3 Feb 2013 Omega Dubai Desert Classic −22 (63-70-62-71=266) 3 strokes South Africa Richard Sterne
3 2 Feb 2014 Omega Dubai Desert Classic (2) −16 (66-71-63-72=272) 1 stroke Argentina Emiliano Grillo
4 31 Mar 2019 Hero Indian Open1 −9 (67-74-67-71=279) 1 stroke Japan Masahiro Kawamura

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2004 Dunhill Links Championship Northern Ireland Graeme McDowell Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2013 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles England Tommy Fleetwood, Argentina Ricardo González Fleetwood won with birdie on first extra hole
3 2014 Nordea Masters France Victor Dubuisson, Thailand Thongchai Jaidee Jaidee won with birdie on first extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 7 Jun 1998 KB Golf Challenge −14 (63-71-69-67=270) 2 strokes Germany Erol Şimşek

Challenge Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1998 Audi Quattro Trophy Italy Marcello Santi Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole

Results in major championships

Stephen Gallacher (swing)
Stephen Gallacher
Tournament 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT CUT
PGA Championship
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Masters Tournament T34 CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT CUT
The Open Championship T23 T57 T21 T15 CUT
PGA Championship T18 CUT T61 CUT CUT

     Did not play CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 4
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 2
Totals 0 0 0 0 0 4 20 7
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2013 Open Championship – 2014 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 0

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 2014 2015
The Players Championship CUT T38

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order before 2015.

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Championship T53 T6 T66
Match Play R64 R64 T52
Invitational T58 T44 T47 56
Champions T63 T24

     Top 10      Did not play QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Amateur

  • European Boys' Team Championship (representing Scotland): 1992 (winners)
  • Jacques Léglise Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1992 (winners)
  • European Amateur Team Championship (representing Scotland): 1993 (winners), 1995 (winners)
  • Eisenhower Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1994
  • Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1995 (winners)

Professional

  • World Cup (representing Scotland): 2005, 2011, 2013
  • Seve Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2013
  • Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2013 (winners)
  • EurAsia Cup (representing Europe): 2014
  • Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 2014 (winners)

See also

  • 2009 European Tour Qualifying School graduates
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