D. A. Points Explained

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.

Early years and amateur career

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.

Professional career

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.

Amateur wins

Professional wins (7)

PGA Tour wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1Feb 13, 2011AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am63-70-71-67=271−152 strokes Hunter Mahan
2Mar 31, 2013Shell Houston Open64-71-71-66=272−161 stroke Billy Horschel, Henrik Stenson
3Mar 26, 2017Puerto Rico Open64-69-69-66=268−202 strokes Bryson DeChambeau, Retief Goosen,
Bill Lunde

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Nationwide Tour wins (4)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1Sep 30, 2001Buy.com Inland Empire Open65-66-68-68=267−21Playoff Rod Pampling, Mark Wurtz
2Jun 20, 2004Northeast Pennsylvania Classic67-66-71-66=270−14Playoff James Driscoll
3Jul 18, 2004Pete Dye West Virginia Classic65-62-68-70=265−235 strokes Nick Cassini
4Oct 26, 2008Miccosukee Championship73-70-62-67=272−12Playoff Matt Bettencourt

Nationwide Tour playoff record (3–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
12001Buy.com Inland Empire Open Rod Pampling, Mark WurtzWon with birdie on third extra hole
Wurtz eliminated by birdie on first hole
22004Northeast Pennsylvania Classic James DriscollWon with par on first extra hole
32008Miccosukee Championship Matt BettencourtWon with birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament2008200920102011201220132014201520162017
Masters TournamentCUTT38CUT
U.S. OpenT69CUTCUTCUTCUTT58
The Open ChampionshipCUTCUTT32
PGA ChampionshipT16T10CUTT40T54
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

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

Results in The Players Championship

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

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament2011201220132014
Match Play
ChampionshipT45T62
InvitationalT19T59
ChampionsT66T68
"T" = Tied

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Points puts up a 65 in Pebble Beach Pro-Am . February 10, 2012 . Associated Press . . . February 19, 2012.
  2. News: D.A. Points wins first PGA Tour title . ESPN . Associated Press . February 14, 2011 . February 15, 2011.
  3. News: D.A. Points triumphs at Houston . ESPN . Associated Press . April 1, 2013 . April 2, 2013.