Mike Harwood Explained

Mike Harwood
Fullname:Michael Geoffrey Harwood
Birth Date:8 January 1959
Birth Place:Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Weight:200lb
Residence:Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Spouse:Donna
Children:5
Yearpro:1979
Tour:European Senior Tour
Extour:European Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia
Prowins:34
Eurowins:5
Auswins:2
Seneurowins:1
Otherwins:26
Masters:DNP
Usopen:T49: 1991
Open:2nd: 1991
Pga:CUT: 1991, 1992
Award1:European Senior Tour
Rookie of the Year
Year1:2009

Michael Geoffrey Harwood (born 8 January 1959) is an Australian professional golfer.

Early life

Harwood was born in Sydney.

Professional career

In 1979, Harwood turned professional and has extensive experience on the PGA Tour of Australasia and the European Tour. His first Australian title was the 1986 Australian PGA Championship. He won five times on the European Tour; the first was at the 1988 Portuguese Open and the second was the 1989 PLM Open. In 1990, his first of three major Europe wins was the European Tour's flagship tournament at Wentworth, which was then called the Volvo PGA Championship, later that year he won the Volvo Masters at Valderrama, two weeks later in Australia he won the West End South Australian Open by five strokes. He achieved a career best European Tour Order of Merit ranking of sixth that year.

The following year, 1991, he was runner-up to fellow Australian Ian Baker-Finch at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, several weeks later he won the GA European Open at Walton Heath. In his prime, he played occasionally in the United States but never had a top-10 finish in any PGA Tour event.[1] In late 1991, Harwood achieved his highest world ranking of #20. His round of 61 at the Australian PGA Championship at Concord in 1992 was his best professional score recorded. Harwood served as a board member of the Australian PGA in the early 2000s.

Senior career

Harwood won his first title on the European Senior Tour at the season ending OKI Castellón Senior Tour Championship by three strokes. Harwood to finish 9th on the 2009 final money list and earned him the title of Rookie of the Year. Despite over 100 Pro-Am victories, it marked his first professional tournament win in 18 years. He again finished in the top-10 of the European Senior Tour Order of Merit in 2011.

Harwood won the Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year honours on the Australian Senior Tour (PGA Legends Tour) in 2009. He won the Order of Merit a second time in 2015, by a significant margin. He has won over 75 events on the senior tour including the Australian Senior Open, Australian PGA Seniors Championship, and twice winning the Senior TPC Championship.

In 2019, he won the first two event of season, the Victorian Senior Masters and Victorian Senior PGA Championship. He also won 2019 Legend Tour Player of year.

Awards and honors

Harwood won 2009 Australian PGA Legends Tour Rookie of the Year

Professional wins (34)

European Tour wins (5)

Legend
Flagship events (1)
Tour Championships (1)
Other European Tour (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
11 May 1988Portuguese Open−8 (73-70-68-69=280)1 stroke Eamonn Darcy
220 Aug 1989PLM Open−13 (66-70-67-68=271)1 stroke Peter Senior
328 May 1990Volvo PGA Championship−17 (69-68-67-67=271)1 stroke John Bland, Nick Faldo
428 Oct 1990Volvo Masters+2 (70-72-73-71=286)1 stroke Steven Richardson, Sam Torrance
51 Sep 1991GA European Open−11 (70-72-70-65=277)2 strokes Sandy Lyle

PGA Tour of Australia wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
12 Nov 1986Toshiba Australian PGA Championship−13 (69-69-73-64=275)2 strokes Greg Norman
218 Nov 1990West End South Australian Open−14 (66-71-73-68=278)5 strokes Paul Moloney, Simon Owen

Other wins (4)

European Senior Tour wins (1)

Legend
Tour Championships (1)
Other European Senior Tour (0)

Other senior wins (21)

Results in major championships

Tournament198619871988198919901991199219931994
U.S. OpenT49CUT
The Open ChampionshipCUTCUTCUTT39CUT2T45T73CUT
PGA ChampionshipCUTCUT
Note: Harwood never played in the Masters Tournament.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mike Harwood – Career . PGA Tour . 17 June 2016.
  2. Web site: Australian PGA Seniors Championship Winners List. PGA Australia.
  3. News: Harwood claims fourth Open win . 3 August 2015 . The Advocate.