José Alejandro Cañizares Gómez (born 9 January 1983) is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour.
Career Cañizares was born in Madrid, and is the son of five-time European Tour winner and four-time European Ryder Cup team member, José María Cañizares. He attended college in the United States, where he won the 2003 individual NCAA men's golf championship while at Arizona State University. He turned professional in 2006.
In August 2006, Cañizares won on his third start as an affiliate member of the European Tour, at the Imperial Collection Russian Open. The win gave him full membership of the tour for two years. It also put him into the record books as the fastest affiliate member to win on the tour, surpassing Sergio García and Graeme McDowell who had both won in their fourth tournaments.
Cañizares earned his PGA Tour card for 2008 through the 2007 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. He divided his time between both the PGA and European tours during the season, but was only able to retain his playing status in Europe.
In March 2014, Cañizares won his second European Tour title at the Trophée Hassan II tournament in Morocco. He shot a 62 in the first round and led wire-to-wire, culminating in a five-stroke victory to end an eight-year drought on the tour.
Amateur wins 2001 Copa Nacional Puerta de Hierro 2002 Spanish Amateur Under 21 Championship 2003 National Invitational, NCAA Championship 2004 ASU Thunderbird Invitational 2005 Big-10/Pac-10 Challenge, PING-Arizona Intercollegiate, Puerto Rico Classic
Professional wins (2) European Tour wins (2) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up120 Aug 2006Imperial Collection Russian Open−22 (66-67-67-66=266)4 strokes David Drysdale216 Mar 2014Trophée Hassan II−19 (62-68-69-70=269)5 strokes Andy Sullivan
European Tour playoff record (0–2) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12010Iberdrola Open Cala Millor Mallorca Peter HansonLost to par on first extra hole22010Alstom Open de France Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Francesco MolinariJiménez won with par on first extra hole
Results in major championships
Tournament201020112012201320142015201620172018Masters TournamentU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipT27CUTCUTPGA Championship Tournament20192020202120222023Masters TournamentPGA ChampionshipU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipNTCUT
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Team appearances Amateur European Boys' Team Championship (representing Spain): 2001 Jacques Léglise Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2001 (winners) European Youths' Team Championship (representing Spain): 2002, 2004 European Amateur Team Championship (representing Spain): 2003 (winners), 2005 Palmer Cup (representing Europe): 2003 (winners), 2004 (winners), 2005, 2006 (winners)
See also 2007 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates 2009 European Tour Qualifying School graduates 2018 European Tour Qualifying School graduates 2019 European Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
External links