Ricardo González (golfer)

Ricardo González
González at the 2009 KLM Open
Personal information
Born 24 October 1969
Corrientes, Argentina
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 93 kg (205 lb; 14.6 st)
Sporting nationality Argentina
Residence Rosario, Argentina
Career
Turned professional 1986
Current tour(s) European Senior Tour
TPG Tour
Former tour(s) European Tour
Challenge Tour
Professional wins 28
Highest ranking 61 (20 October 2002)
Number of wins by tour
European Tour 4
Challenge Tour 2
European Senior Tour 1
Other 21
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament DNP
PGA Championship T10: 2002
U.S. Open DNP
The Open Championship CUT: 1990, 2002
Achievements and awards
TPG Tour
Order of Merit winner		 2018

Ricardo González (born 24 October 1969) is an Argentine professional golfer.

Career

González turned professional in 1986, and has spent much of his career in Europe. He won a place on the European Tour in 1992 through qualifying school after playing on the second tier Challenge Tour in 1991. Having failed to win sufficient money to retain his tour card, he returned to the Challenge Tour in 1993.

Having moved to Africa, González returned to Europe in 1998 after winning the Challenge Tour sanctioned Tusker Kenya Open, and secured a second shot on the European Tour by finishing 5th on the Challenge Tour Rankings that season. He has successfully retained his playing privileges since then by consistently finishing inside the top 115 of the Order of Merit each year.

González has accumulated four European Tour wins, with a best year-end ranking on the European Tour Order of Merit of 25th place in 2001. He has also won many tournaments in South America, and has represented Argentina at the World Cup on four occasions, in 1996, 1998, 2005 and 2007.

He won his fourth career European Tour event in 2009 at the SAS Masters in Sweden by two strokes over Welshman Jamie Donaldson. It was his first win on the European Tour in five years.

After several down years, González qualified for the European Tour through qualifying school in 2016. At age 47, he was the oldest Q school graduate in Tour history.

Professional wins (28)

European Tour wins (4)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 9 Sep 2001 Omega European Masters −16 (65-67-68-68=268) 3 strokes Søren Hansen
2 26 Oct 2003 Telefónica Open de Madrid −14 (69-70-66-65=270) 1 stroke Paul Casey, Pádraig Harrington,
Nick O'Hern, Mårten Olander
3 18 Apr 2004 Open de Sevilla −14 (70-66-69-69=274) 2 strokes Stephen Gallacher, Jonathan Lomas
4 26 Jul 2009 SAS Masters −10 (68-68-77-69=282) 2 strokes Jamie Donaldson

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2013 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles Tommy Fleetwood, Stephen Gallacher Fleetwood won with birdie on first extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 23 Sep 1990 Esab Open −9 (67-68=135)* Playoff Ole Eskildsen
2 15 Mar 1998 Tusker Kenya Open −12 (69-65-69-69=272) Playoff Jacob Okello

*Note: The 1990 Esab Open was shortened to 36 holes due to rain.

Challenge Tour playoff record (2–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1990 Esab Open Ole Eskildsen Won with par on second extra hole
2 1998 Tusker Kenya Open Jacob Okello Won with par on third extra hole

TPG Tour wins (9)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 9 Jun 2007 Abierto del Norte −19 (65-67-66-67=265) Shared title with Andrés Romero
2 29 Nov 2009 Abierto del Litoral −3 (70-69-71-67=277) Playoff Andrés Romero
3 3 Oct 2010 Abierto del Litoral (2) −7 (71-70-68-64=273) 3 strokes Rafael Gómez, Mauricio Molina
4 30 Sep 2012 Argentine PGA Championship −9 (73-72-66-68=279) 4 strokes Francisco Bidé, Clodomiro Carranza,
Roberto Cóceres, Emilio Domínguez
5 24 Nov 2013 Abierto del Litoral (3) −12 (66-69-64-69=268) 4 strokes Sergio Acevedo
6 28 Jan 2018 Abierto del Sur −20 (68-67-60-65=260) 1 stroke Maximiliano Godoy
7 30 Sep 2018 Abierto de Salta −15 (69-64-69-67=269) 1 stroke Maximiliano Godoy
8 15 Mar 2020 Abierto Norpatagónico −6 (69-67=136)* Shared title with Andrés Gallegos
9 22 Jan 2023 Abierto del Sur (2) −11 (64-71-65-69=269) 7 strokes Exequiel López, Jaime López Rivarola

*Note: The 2020 Abierto Norpatagónico was shortened to 36 holes due to COVID-19 concerns.

Other wins (12)

European Senior Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 23 Oct 2022 Italian Senior Open −2 (69-72-70=211) 3 strokes James Kingston

Results in major championships

Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship T10 CUT CUT

Note: González never played in the Masters Tournament or the U.S. Open.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Match Play
Championship
Invitational T28 T50
Champions T45
  Did not play

"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Equipment

  • Irons - Mizuno MP-62 Black Nickel, Project X 7.0
  • Wedges - Mizuno MPT-10 White Satin 52, 60/08

See also