Rich Beem
| Rich Beem | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Richard Michael Beem |
| Born | August 24, 1970 Phoenix, Arizona |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st) |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Residence | Austin, Texas |
| Career | |
| College | New Mexico State University |
| Turned professional | 1994 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour (joined 1999) |
| Professional wins | 5 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 3 |
| Other | 2 |
| Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 1) |
|
| Masters Tournament | T15: 2003 |
| U.S. Open | T78: 2008 |
| The Open Championship | T20: 2007 |
| PGA Championship | Won: 2002 |
Richard Michael Beem (born August 24, 1970) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
Beem was born in Phoenix, Arizona, grew up in El Paso, Texas, and played college golf at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
Beem turned professional in 1994. His early career was largely unassuming, and even broken up by a spell in Seattle selling car stereos and cell phones to make ends meet. He later regained interest after J. P. Hayes won the 1998 Buick Classic [1].
This changed in 1999 when Beem won the Kemper Open as an unheralded rookie. His career took a further leap forward in 2002 with a victory at the The International in Castle Rock, Colorado. Two weeks later he won the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National, one of golf's four major tournaments. Beem fended off Tiger Woods to win, who birdied his last four holes, but finished one shot behind. This victory helped establish him in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
Until this win, Beem was best known for the book Bud, Sweat and Tees: A Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour by Alan Shipnuck, which profiled his rookie year on the PGA Tour and the often wild lifestyle of him and his caddy, Steve Duplantis.
At the 2007 Nissan Open at Riviera, Beem made a hole-in-one at the 14th hole on live television on Saturday to win a new red Altima coupe, which he immediately ascended, embraced, and sat atop of in triumph. The sequence was later made into a Nissan commercial. (video) Beem credited Peter Jacobsen for inspiring his reaction; Jacobsen aced the same hole in 1994 and hopped into the nearby 300ZX convertible and pretended to drive it.[1][2][3]
Beem was sidelined in 2010 after undergoing back surgery to repair damage to his C6 and C7 vertebrae. While Beem was expected to only miss six weeks, rehabilitation issues caused the layoff to encompass the remainder of the 2010 season. Beem played the 2011 season on a medical exemption that will require him to make $658,100 in 17 events. He missed the his first six cuts of the 2011 season before making the cut at the Valero Texas Open. He finished tied for 15th. Beem made just five cuts in 21 events. As a result, he lost his tour card and is playing out of the "past champions" category in 2012.
Beem currently resides in Austin, Texas.
Contents |
[edit] Professional wins (5)
[edit] PGA Tour wins (3)
|
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 30, 1999 | Kemper Open | -10 (66-67-71-70=274) | 1 stroke | Bill Glasson,  Bradley Hughes |
| 2 | Aug 4, 2002 | The International | 44 points (10-0-15-19=44)* | 1 point | Steve Lowery |
| 3 | Aug 18, 2002 | PGA Championship | -10 (72-66-72-68=278) | 1 stroke | Tiger Woods |
*The International used Modified Stableford scoring.
[edit] Other wins (2)
- 2002 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with John Daly and Jim Furyk), Hyundai Team Matches (with Peter Lonard)
[edit] Major championships
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | 54 Holes | Winning Score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | PGA Championship | 3 shot deficit | -10 (72-66-72-68=278) | 1 stroke | Tiger Woods |
[edit] Results timeline
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T15 | CUT | CUT | T42 | 54 | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | CUT | DNP | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | T78 | DNP |
| The Open Championship | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | T43 | T71 | CUT | CUT | T20 | WD | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T70 | DNP | DNP | 1 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T49 | CUT | CUT | T43 |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | CUT |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
WD = Withdrew
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10
[edit] References
- ^ Sports Transcripts.com - 2007-02-17 - accessed 2012-02-18
- ^ PGA Tour.com - profile - Rich Beem - accessed 2012-02-18
- ^ Los Angeles Times - Beem may be `1' to watch again - 2007-02-18 - accessed 2012-02-18
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Rich Beem at the PGA Tour official site
- Rich Beem at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
