Introduction
Richard George Green (born 19 February 1971) is an Australian professional golfer.
Green was born in Williamstown, Melbourne, Victoria. He turned professional in 1992, and joined the PGA Tour of Australasia the same year.
Green has been a member of the European Tour since 1996, with his first win coming at the 1997 Dubai Desert Classic, where he became the first left-hander to win on the European Tour since Bob Charles at the Swiss Open in 1974. His consistent performances in 2004 took him to a career best European Tour Order of Merit finish of 17th. That same year he won the MasterCard Masters, which is one of Australia's most prestigious tournaments, and also topped the PGA Tour of Australasia's Order of Merit. In 2007 he won his second European Tour event at the BA-CA Golf Open in Austria.
Green holds a share of the course record at Carnoustie with a 64, achieved in the final round of the 2007 Open Championship. The round saw him jump 27 places on the last day of the tournament to finish in a tie for 4th with Ernie Els.
He has featured in the top 30 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
Green is also a keen motor racing fan and owns a Porsche 911 racing car in which he has competed in the Australian GT Championship on occasion as touring schedules allow, including racing on the support card of the 2009 Australian Grand Prix.Among the cars he has owned in the past (and has since sold) included the Bathurst 1000 winning Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore, Perkins Engineering Chassis 027.
Professional wins (7)
European Tour wins (3)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 Mar 1997 | Dubai Desert Classic | −16 (70-68-66-68=272) | Playoff | Greg Norman, Ian Woosnam |
| 2 | 10 Jun 2007 | BA-CA Golf Open | −16 (66-65-67-70=268) | Playoff | Jean-François Remésy |
| 3 | 17 Oct 2010 | Portugal Masters | −18 (70-66-69-65=270) | 2 strokes | Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Robert Karlsson, Joost Luiten, Francesco Molinari |
European Tour playoff record (2–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1997 | Dubai Desert Classic | Greg Norman, Ian Woosnam | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2006 | KLM Open | Simon Dyson | Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
| 3 | 2007 | BA-CA Golf Open | Jean-François Remésy | Won with par on first extra hole |
| 4 | 2014 | Open de España | Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Thomas Pieters | Jiménez won with par on first extra hole |
PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 Dec 2004 | MasterCard Masters | –17 (69-67-68-67=271) | Playoff | Greg Chalmers, David McKenzie |
| 2 | 8 Feb 2015 | Oates Vic Open | –16 (66-72-67-67=272) | Playoff | Nick Cullen |
PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (2–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2004 | MasterCard Masters | Greg Chalmers, David McKenzie | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2015 | Oates Vic Open | Nick Cullen | Won with par on second extra hole |
Other wins (2)
- 1994 New Caledonian Open
- 1996 New Caledonian Open
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | ||||||||||||||
| U.S. Open | T52 | CUT | |||||||||||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | T42 | T59 | CUT | T32 | CUT | T4 | T32 | CUT | T16 | ||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | T37 | T40 | 71 | T60 | CUT |
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 | 1 | 0 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 6 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 11 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2006 PGA – 2007 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1
Team appearances
- World Cup (representing Australia): 1998, 2008, 2011