| Carlos Franco | |
| Fullname: | Carlos Daniel Franco |
| Birth Date: | 24 May 1965 |
| Birth Place: | Asunción, Paraguay |
| Yearpro: | 1986 |
| Tour: | PGA Tour Champions |
| Extour: | PGA Tour Japan Golf Tour Asia Golf Circuit Tour de las Américas |
| Prowins: | 25 |
| Pgawins: | 4 |
| Japwins: | 5 |
| Champwins: | 2 |
| Otherwins: | 14 |
| Masters: | T6: 1999 |
| Usopen: | T34: 1999 |
| Open: | T54: 2001 |
| Pga: | T18: 2003 |
| Award1: | Asia Golf Circuit Order of Merit winner |
| Year1: | 1994 |
| Award2: | PGA Tour Rookie of the Year |
| Year2: | 1999 |
Carlos Daniel Franco (born 24 May 1965) is a Paraguayan professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He is the brother of golfer Ángel Franco.
Franco was born in Asunción, the Paraguayan capital. He comes from a poor background and grew up in a one-room, dirt-floor home. His father was a greenkeeper and caddie, and he has five brothers, all of whom became golf professionals. Carlos turned professional in 1986 and has played in many parts of the world. He has won more than twenty tournaments in Latin America, and from 1994 to 1999 he won five times on the Japan Golf Tour. He also won the 1994 Philippine Open title on the Asia Golf Circuit and claimed the Order of Merit title that season.[1] He first played on the U.S.-based PGA Tour in 1999 and was fully exempt until 2006. He was the first rookie to surpass $1 million in earnings in a season and won the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year title. He won four times on the PGA Tour. He has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings, going as high as 16th in 2000. He is also one of the few non-Americans to win a Presidents Cup as a member of the 1998 team.
After struggling to stay on the PGA Tour, Franco also played on the Web.com Tour and PGA Tour Latinoamérica. Franco joined the Champions Tour after turning 50.
At the 2019 Pan American Games, Franco teamed with Fabrizio Zanotti, Julieta Granada, and Sofia García, to win the silver medal in the mixed team event.
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 May 1999 | Compaq Classic of New Orleans | −19 (66-69-68-66=269) | 2 strokes |  Steve Flesch, Harrison Frazar | |
| 2 | 11 Jul 1999 | Greater Milwaukee Open | −16 (65-66-67-66=264) | 2 strokes | Tom Lehman | |
| 3 | 7 May 2000 | Compaq Classic of New Orleans (2) | −18 (67-67-68-68=270) | Playoff | Blaine McCallister | |
| 4 | 25 Jul 2004 | U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee (2) | −13 (68-63-69-67=267) | 2 strokes | Fred Funk, Brett Quigley |
PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 Sep 1994 | Gene Sarazen Jun Classic | −16 (65-67-68-72=272) | 2 strokes |  Tsuneyuki Nakajima | |
| 2 | 11 Jun 1995 | Sapporo Tokyu Open | −10 (68-69-69-72=278) | 1 stroke | Shinji Ikeuchi, Kazuhiro Takami | |
| 3 | 15 Sep 1996 | ANA Open | −6 (67-73-74-68=282) | 1 stroke | Masahiro Kuramoto | |
| 4 | 29 Mar 1998 | Just System KSB Open | −17 (70-65-67-65=267) | 4 strokes | Frankie Miñoza | |
| 5 | 10 May 1998 | Fujisankei Classic | −9 (69-70-67-69=275) | 1 stroke |  Chen Tze-chung |
PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (0–1)
Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1992 | Paraguay Open | ||||
| 2 | 1993 | Uruguay Open | ||||
| 3 | 10 Dec 2000 | Paraguay Open (2) | ||||
| 4 | 2 Dec 2001 | Chevrolet Brazil Open | −11 (69-67-67-70=273) | 4 strokes |  Miguel Guzmán | |
| 5 | 30 Nov 2003 | American Express Trump Brazil Open (2) | −3 (70-71-69-71=281) | Playoff | Eduardo Argiró |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runners-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 Sep 2016 | Shaw Charity Classic | −18 (66-63-63=192) | 2 strokes | Michael Allen,  Bernhard Langer | |
| 2 | Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf (with  Vijay Singh) | −15 (51-42=93) | 1 stroke | Fred Funk and Jeff Sluman, Paul Goydos and Kevin Sutherland, Corey Pavin and Duffy Waldorf |
| Tournament | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T6 | T7 | 46 | CUT | |||||||||
| U.S. Open | T34 | T61 | CUT | WD | CUT | ||||||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | T64 | CUT | CUT | T54 | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | 70 | T40 | T26 | T58 | T29 | T18 | T31 | T59 |
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | ||
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 8 | |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 15 |
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match Play | R32 | R64 | |||||
| Championship | T48 | T45 | NT1 | T28 | |||
| Invitational | T7 | T27 | 20 | T42 | T58 |
Results are not in chronological order before 2022.
| Tournament | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Tradition | T48 | T34 | T34 | 68 | NT | T74 | ||||
| Senior PGA Championship | CUT | T38 | T49 | T28 | NT | CUT | ||||
| U.S. Senior Open | CUT | T28 | NT | CUT | ||||||
| Senior Players Championship | T20 | T54 | T43 | 67 | T56 | T72 | T61 | T70 | ||
| Senior British Open Championship | CUT | T18 | T43 | NT | T29 | CUT |