| D. A. Points | |
| Fullname: | Darren Andrew Points |
| Birth Date: | 1 December 1976 |
| Birth Place: | Pekin, Illinois |
| Weight: | 195lb |
| Residence: | Windermere, Florida |
| Spouse: | Lori Points |
| College: | University of Illinois |
| Yearpro: | 1999 |
| Tour: | PGA Tour (past champion status) |
| Extour: | Web.com Tour |
| Prowins: | 7 |
| Pgawins: | 3 |
| Nwidewins: | 4 |
| Masters: | T38: 2013 |
| Usopen: | T58: 2015 |
| Open: | T32: 2014 |
| Pga: | T10: 2011 |
Darren Andrew "D.A." Points (born December 1, 1976) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.
Born and raised in Pekin, Illinois, Points attended Pekin High School,[1] and the University of Illinois, where he was a third team All-American. Points won the Illinois State Amateur Championship in 1995, 1998, and 1999. He lost to Tiger Woods in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur in 1996. Points turned professional in 1999.
Points played on the Buy.com Tour (later Web.com Tour) from 2001 to 2004 and won three events: the 2001 Buy.com Inland Empire Open, the 2004 Northeast Pennsylvania Classic and the 2004 Pete Dye West Virginia Classic. He earned his PGA Tour card by finishing second on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2004. He played on the PGA Tour in 2005 and 2006, but dropped back to the Nationwide Tour for 2007 and 2008. At the Miccosukee Championship in 2008, he holed his second shot from the fairway on the last hole on Sunday with a wedge and ended up winning in a playoff over Matt Bettencourt for his fourth career win. He finished 16th on the money list to earn his PGA Tour card for 2009.
Points had his first successful year on the PGA Tour in 2009. He recorded four top-10 finishes, including a third-place finish at the HP Byron Nelson Championship en route to a 66th-place finish on the money list.
In February 2011, Points won his first PGA Tour title at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He finished two strokes ahead of American Hunter Mahan, aided by an approach shot on the par-five 14th, which he holed for an eagle. He also won the pro-am portion with amateur partner Bill Murray.[2] The victory helped him finish 37th on the money list, his best career finish to date. Points led the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship by one stroke over Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler going into the final hole of the tournament. He bogeyed the hole and they went to a sudden death playoff. Fowler won the playoff on the first extra hole with a birdie.
He won his second title on the PGA Tour in 2013 at the Shell Houston Open, sinking a 13feet putt on the 72nd hole to save par and win by a stroke.[3] Points won again in 2017 at the Puerto Rico Open starting the last round with five straight birdies and shooting a final round 66 to take his third PGA Tour title.
Points has been featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 13, 2011 | AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am | 63-70-71-67=271 | −15 | 2 strokes |  Hunter Mahan | |
| 2 | Mar 31, 2013 | Shell Houston Open | 64-71-71-66=272 | −16 | 1 stroke | Billy Horschel,  Henrik Stenson | |
| 3 | Mar 26, 2017 | Puerto Rico Open | 64-69-69-66=268 | −20 | 2 strokes | Bryson DeChambeau,  Retief Goosen, Bill Lunde |
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 30, 2001 | Buy.com Inland Empire Open | 65-66-68-68=267 | −21 | Playoff |  Rod Pampling, Mark Wurtz | |
| 2 | Jun 20, 2004 | Northeast Pennsylvania Classic | 67-66-71-66=270 | −14 | Playoff | James Driscoll | |
| 3 | Jul 18, 2004 | Pete Dye West Virginia Classic | 65-62-68-70=265 | −23 | 5 strokes | Nick Cassini | |
| 4 | Oct 26, 2008 | Miccosukee Championship | 73-70-62-67=272 | −12 | Playoff | Matt Bettencourt |
Nationwide Tour playoff record (3–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2001 | Buy.com Inland Empire Open | Rod Pampling, Mark Wurtz | Won with birdie on third extra hole Wurtz eliminated by birdie on first hole | |
| 2 | 2004 | Northeast Pennsylvania Classic | James Driscoll | Won with par on first extra hole | |
| 3 | 2008 | Miccosukee Championship | Matt Bettencourt | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| Tournament | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | T38 | CUT | ||||||||
| U.S. Open | T69 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | T58 | |||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | T32 | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | T16 | T10 | CUT | T40 | T54 |
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 8 |
| Tournament | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match Play | |||||
| Championship | T45 | T62 | |||
| Invitational | T19 | T59 | |||
| Champions | T66 | T68 |