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Nicolas Colsaerts

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Nicolas Colsaerts
Personal information
Full nameNicolas Colsaerts
NicknameThe Belgian Bomber
Born (1982-11-14) 14 November 1982 (age 42)
Schaerbeek, Belgium
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb; 12.3 st)
Sporting nationality Belgium
ResidenceRixensart, Wallonia
SpouseRachel
Children2
Career
Turned professional2000
Current tour(s)European Tour
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins10
Highest ranking32 (20 May 2012)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour3
Challenge Tour2
Other5
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 2013
PGA ChampionshipCUT: 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017
U.S. OpenT10: 2013
The Open ChampionshipT7: 2012

Nicolas Colsaerts (born 14 November 1982) is a Belgian professional golfer currently playing on the European Tour and previously on the PGA Tour.

Early life

Colsaerts, also known as "The Belgian Bomber",[2] was born in Schaerbeek, Belgium. Coming from a sporting family (his great grandfather represented Belgium at basketball and water polo at the 1920 Olympic Games[3]), he started playing golf at 6 years old in Brussels, Belgium.[4] He had a very successful junior and amateur career; he was selected twice for the Junior Ryder Cup (in 1997 and 1999), and represented Belgium at the 1998 and 2000 Eisenhower Trophy.

He turned professional in 2000, the day of his 18th birthday, with a +5 handicap.[5]

Colsaerts speaks five languages: French, English, Dutch, Spanish and Italian.[6]

Professional career

Three days after turning professional Colsaerts entered 2000 Qualifying School where he gained his European Tour card.[7][8]

Colsaerts first season on the European Tour was unsuccessful and having finished 172nd on the Order of Merit[9] Colsaerts lost his European Tour card. He spent the 2002 season playing on the Challenge Tour and despite a winless season[10] he finished 10th of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit to regain his European Tour card for 2003.[11] Colsaerts continued to play on the European Tour throughout in next four seasons.[10]

Colsaerts led the Nissan Irish Open at the halfway stage in 2006,[12] but fell away over the weekend and finished in a tie for 53rd place.[13] Similarly, he led the EnterCard Scandinavian Masters after the third round but finished tied for 24th.[14] Following a poor season in 2007 when he finished 201st on the Order of Merit, Colsaerts again lost his European Tour card and returned to the Challenge Tour for the 2008 and 2009 seasons.[10][15]

Colsaerts nearly won the 2009 Challenge of Ireland after a final round 68, but lost at the third hole of a sudden-death playoff to English golfer Robert Coles.[16] However, he eventually captured his maiden victory on the Challenge Tour a few weeks later at the SK Golf Challenge[17] and added the Dutch Futures later in October.[18] In 2010, he had a best finish of third at the BMW Italian Open,[19] and retained his tour card for 2011 after finishing 67th on the Race to Dubai rankings.[20]

In 2011 he won his first European Tour title at the Volvo China Open.[21] He then reached the semi-finals of the 2011 Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain, losing to eventual winner Ian Poulter after a playoff hole in the semi-finals.[22] These results placed him high enough on the year's ranking to get him a spot for the 2011 Open Championship,[23] and two days later he won the European qualifying tournament for the 2011 U.S. Open at Walton Heath Golf Club.[24] He finished the season ranked 20th in the Race to Dubai to secure invitations to at least two majors in 2012.[25]

In May 2012, he won his biggest career title at the Volvo World Match Play Championship. He beat Graeme McDowell, 1 up, in the final and was never behind in the match at any point.[26] On his way to the title he also beat Justin Rose 4 and 3,[27] Brandt Snedeker 4 and 3,[28] and Paul Lawrie at the 20th hole in the semi-finals, after beginning four down after four holes.[26] Prior to all of this, he had only just advanced from the group stage after defeating Charl Schwartzel at the first playoff hole.[26] Colsaerts entered the top 50 in the world after his win took him to world number 32.[29]

Colsaerts played in the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club and made the cut for the first time in a major championship, going on to finish tied 27th.[30] For a brief period during the third round Colsaerts was tied for the lead and started the final round just three strokes back of the leaders. However he fell away with a final round of 76. On 27 August 2012, he was selected by European captain José María Olazábal as a wildcard for the 2012 Ryder Cup team, becoming the first Belgian to play in the event.[31] He finished the season ranked 11th on the Race to Dubai.[32] In October, Colsaerts joined the PGA Tour, accepting Special Temporary Member status for the final three events of the season.[33] Colsaerts made $677,011 as a non-member, finishing almost $30,000 ahead of Kevin Chappell, the golfer who earned the 125th and final PGA Tour card for 2013. The amount earned Colsaerts full membership into the PGA Tour for 2013.[34]

In 2013, Colsaerts played on both the European and PGA Tour; in the US, he finished tenth at the U.S. Open, 8th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and reached round of 16 of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. With a final 128th place in the FedEx Cup he missed the end of season playoffs, but was able to retain his membership thanks to his 114th place in the money list.[35] He collected five top-10 finishes in the European Tour, with a fifth place at the Italian Open as best result.

In 2014 he finished second at the Portugal Masters and Malaysian Open, fourth at the Wales Open and sixth at the BMW Masters. His season was less successful in the US, where he was cut 7 times in 12 events and lost his tour membership.

During the 2015 season, Colsaerts finished seventh the Nordea Masters, ninth at the Paul Lawrie Match Play and 13th at the Qatar Masters.

In August 2016, Colsaerts represented Belgium at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the Individual Stroke Play competition, finishing tied for the 30th place.

In May 2017, he tied for third place in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

In October 2019, Colsaerts won the Open de France at Le Golf National outside of Paris, France.[36]

Amateur wins

  • 2000 Belgian Stroke Play Championship, Belgian Match Play Championship, French Boys Championship

Professional wins (10)

European Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 24 Apr 2011 Volvo China Open1 −24 (65-67-66-66=264) 4 strokes Denmark Søren Kjeldsen, Republic of Ireland Peter Lawrie,
New Zealand Danny Lee, Spain Pablo Martín
2 20 May 2012 Volvo World Match Play Championship 1 up Northern Ireland Graeme McDowell
3 20 Oct 2019 Amundi Open de France −12 (67-66-67-72=272) 1 stroke Denmark Joachim B. Hansen

1Co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour

Challenge Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runners-up
1 9 Aug 2009 SK Golf Challenge −11 (70-71-70-66=277) Playoff Wales Rhys Davies, France Julien Guerrier
2 13 Sep 2009 Dutch Futures −17 (69-66-67-69=271) 4 strokes Scotland Andrew McArthur, France Julien Quesne

Challenge Tour playoff record (1–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2000 DEXIA-BIL Luxembourg Open
(as an amateur) 		Denmark Nils Roerbaek-Petersen, Sweden Henrik Stenson Stenson won with birdie on second extra hole
2 2009 Challenge of Ireland England Robert Coles Lost to birdie on third extra hole
3 2009 SK Golf Challenge Wales Rhys Davies, France Julien Guerrier Won with birdie on second extra hole

Alps Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 15 May 2005 Open de Bordeaux −23 (65-66-65-69=265) 6 strokes France Pierre Sallat

French Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runners-up
1 4 Dec 2010 Mauritius Golf Masters −9 (67-73-67=207) 4 strokes South Africa Darren Fichardt, South Africa Hennie Otto

Other wins (3)

  • 2000 World Travel Open (PGA of Belgium) (as an amateur)
  • 2002 Belgian Match Play Championship
  • 2003 Omnium of Belgium

Results in major championships

Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open CUT T27 T10 CUT
The Open Championship T7 CUT T46 CUT
PGA Championship CUT CUT CUT CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 2
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 2
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Totals 0 0 0 0 2 2 14 4
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (2012 U.S. Open – 2012 Open Championship)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament 2011 2012 2013
Match Play R64 R16
Championship T35 T18
Invitational T45 T57
Champions T20 T54
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ "Week 20 2012 Ending 20 May 2012" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Golf-Belgian Bomber aims to overpower Pinehurst". Yahoo Sports. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Nicolas Colsaerts Biography". European Tour. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Nicolas Colsaerts". NBC Olympics. NBC. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Nicolas Colsaerts - Amateur". Nicolas Colsaerts official website. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  6. ^ "THE EUROPEAN: Colsaerts in his second home". Golf Australia. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Nicolas Colsaerts - Bio". European Tour. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  8. ^ Tait, Alistair (23 November 2000). "European Tour Qualifying School : Walker Cup trio earn Tour cards". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  9. ^ "2000 Volvo Order of Merit". European Tour. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  10. ^ a b c "Nicolas Colsaerts - Career Record". European Tour. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  11. ^ "Challenge Tour rankings 2002". European Tour. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  12. ^ "Colsaerts takes Irish Open lead". BBC Sport. 19 May 2006.
  13. ^ "Nissan Irish Open - 2006 results". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  14. ^ "Karlsson breaks course record to share Scandinavian Masters lead". USA Today. Associated Press. 6 August 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  15. ^ "2007 Order of Merit". European Tour. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  16. ^ "Robert Coles on song for Europe after glory". Daily Mirror. London. 15 June 2009.
  17. ^ "Colsaerts Wins SK Golf Challenge after play-off". European Tour. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  18. ^ "Dutch delight for confident Colsaerts". European Tour. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  19. ^ "Individual - Men live - 6 May 2010". 6 May 2010.
  20. ^ "2010 Race to Dubai". European Tour. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  21. ^ "Colsaerts claims maiden title in China". ESPN. 24 April 2011.
  22. ^ "Poulter denies Donald No. 1". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. 23 May 2011.
  23. ^ "Aiken punches his fifth ticket to the British". MSNBC. 29 May 2011. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  24. ^ "Richie Ramsay arrives too late for US Open play-off". BBC Sport. 31 May 2011.
  25. ^ "2011 Race to Dubai". European Tour. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  26. ^ a b c "Colsaerts wins Volvo Match Play crown". Belfast Telegraph. 20 May 2012.
  27. ^ "World Match Play: Ian Poulter and Justin Rose knocked out". BBC Sport. 19 May 2012.
  28. ^ "World Match Play: Paul Lawrie & Graeme McDowell reach semi-final". BBC Sport. 19 May 2012.
  29. ^ "Week 20 - Jason Dufner win the HP Byron Nelson Championship and moves to world number 14". Official World Golf Ranking. 21 May 2012.
  30. ^ "2012 US Open - Final Scores". United States Golf Association. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  31. ^ "Harrington misses out on wild card". 27 August 2012.
  32. ^ "2012 Race to Dubai". European Tour. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  33. ^ "Notes: Colsaerts takes up membership on PGA Tour". PGA Tour. 3 October 2012.
  34. ^ "Five internationals join Tour for 2013". PGA Tour. 20 November 2012.
  35. ^ "2013 PGA Tour money list". PGA Tour. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  36. ^ "Colsaerts ends 7-year drought by winning French Open". Associated Press. 20 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
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