Michael Hoey (golfer)

Michael George Wilfred Hoey (born 13 February 1979) is a retired Northern Irish professional golfer who played on the European Tour and the Challenge Tour.

Michael Hoey
Hoey in 2009
Personal information
Full nameMichael George Wilfred Hoey
Born (1979-02-13) 13 February 1979
Ballymoney, Northern Ireland
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight80 kg (176 lb; 12 st 8 lb)
Sporting nationality Northern Ireland
ResidenceBelfast, Northern Ireland
Spouse
Beverley Hoey
​
(m. 2011)​
Children1
Career
CollegeClemson University
Turned professional2002
Former tour(s)European Tour
Challenge Tour
Professional wins8
Highest ranking74 (25 March 2012)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour5
Challenge Tour4
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 2002
PGA ChampionshipDQ: 2012
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 2001, 2012

Amateur career

Hoey was born in Ballymoney but played much of his early golf at Shandon Park Golf Club in East Belfast. He won the British Amateur Championship in 2001 and was a member of the victorious 2001 Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team. As British Amateur Champion, he was invited to play in the Masters Tournament in 2002, where he missed the cut by a single stroke. He turned professional later that year. He played his collegiate golf at Clemson University.

Professional career

Until 2009, Hoey had struggled to secure his place on the main European Tour and had mostly competed in the second tier Challenge Tour where he has three tournament victories, the 2005 BA-CA Golf Open, the 2007 Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata, and the 2008 Banque Populaire Moroccan Classic. He finished 8th on the end of season rankings in 2005, which gave him automatic promotion to the European Tour. Following a largely unsuccessful début season in 2006, he returned to the Challenge Tour the following year. He regained his playing privileges on the European Tour for the 2009 season at final qualifying school.

Early in 2009, Hoey finished runner-up to Retief Goosen in the Africa Open on the Sunshine Tour. Then in April, he claimed his first European Tour title, at the Estoril Open de Portugal where he defeated Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño on the third hole of a sudden death playoff.[2] The win also gave him a one-year exemption on the European Tour. He won twice in 2011, including his most prestigious title to date at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He picked up his fourth victory on the European Tour in 2012 at the Trophée Hassan II.

In July 2013, Hoey won his fifth European Tour title at the M2M Russian Open, prevailing by four strokes from Alexandre Kaleka and Matthew Nixon. His victory was set up by a third round score of 65, which took him into the lead heading into the final round.

Hoey represented Ireland, alongside Gareth Maybin at the 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup where they finished in 24th position.

In February 2022, Hoey announced his retirement from professional golf, becoming a referee on the European Tour.[3]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (8)

European Tour wins (5)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 5 Apr 2009 Estoril Open de Portugal −7 (66-76-69-66=277) Playoff Spain Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño
2 22 May 2011 Madeira Islands Open1 −10 (72-68-67-71=278) 2 strokes England Jamie Elson, England Chris Gane
3 2 Oct 2011 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship −22 (66-66-66-68=266) 2 strokes Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy
4 25 Mar 2012 Trophée Hassan II −17 (74-67-65-65=271) 3 strokes Republic of Ireland Damien McGrane
5 28 Jul 2013 M2M Russian Open −16 (70-67-65-70=272) 4 strokes France Alexandre Kaleka, England Matthew Nixon

1Dual-ranking event with the Challenge Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2009 Estoril Open de Portugal Spain Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño Won with par on third extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (4)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 4 Sep 2005 BA-CA Golf Open −19 (67-64-67-67=265) 1 stroke Sweden Steven Jeppesen
2 22 Apr 2007 Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata −13 (66-67-68-71=272) Playoff Wales Liam Bond
3 4 May 2008 Banque Populaire Moroccan Classic −12 (67-70-71-68=276) 1 stroke Scotland Greig Hutcheon, France Julien Quesne
4 22 May 2011 Madeira Islands Open1 −10 (72-68-67-71=278) 2 strokes England Jamie Elson, England Chris Gane

1Dual-ranking event with the European Tour

Challenge Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2007 Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata Wales Liam Bond Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2021 B-NL Challenge Trophy Spain Alfredo García-Heredia, Denmark Marcus Helligkilde,
Iceland Haraldur Magnús		 García-Heredia won with birdie on seventh extra hole
Magnús eliminated by par on third hole
Hoey eliminated by birdie on first hole

Results in major championships
Michael Hoey
Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT WD
PGA Championship DQ
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = disqualified
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament20112012
Match Play
Championship
Invitational T71
Champions T62
  Did not play

"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References
  1. "Week 12 2012 Ending 25 Mar 2012" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  2. "Hoey clinches maiden Tour triumph". BBC Sport. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  3. "Michael Hoey retires from professional golf to become DP World Tour referee". RTE Sport. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  4. "EGA Events, Results, European Team Championships, European Youths' Team Championship". European Golf Association. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
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