Rhys Davies (born 28 May 1985) is a Welsh former professional golfer. He is currently the player development manager in Europe for Excel Sports Management.
Early life Davies was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, but has lived in Wales for the majority of his life. At age 16, Davies had to choose between cricket and golf. At that time he was a Glamorgan CC Academy, and ECB England National Development Squad player. The latter also included Alistair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan and Samit Patel who would play test cricket subsequently.
Amateur career Davies played collegiate golf in the United States at East Tennessee State University where he won ten times and was a first team All-American in 2005, 2006, and 2007. He played on two Walker Cup teams (2005 and 2007), and for Europe in four Palmer Cup teams (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007). Davies twice led NCAA rankings, and was second in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (May 2007).
Professional career In September 2007, he turned pro. Davies successfully came through the Asian Tour's qualifying school in 2007 allowing him to play on that tour for the 2008 and 2009 seasons, twice finishing runner-up (once via a play-off).
Davies won twice on the Challenge Tour in 2009 and finished fourth on that Tour's Rankings to earn his European Tour card for 2010. He won his first European Tour title at the 2010 Trophée Hassan II in Morocco. At the 2010 Celtic Manor Wales Open, he shot a final round 62 to set the course record on his way to finishing runner-up. This performance elevated Davies into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. In 2011 Davies represented Europe against Asia in Thailand, winning 2 points (from 3) to help win The Royal Trophy. After a poor 2012 season, Davies narrowly failed to maintain his full European Tour playing rights for the 2013 season.
Davies earned his first professional win in five years at the 2015 Turkish Airlines Challenge, and followed this three months later with victory at the Challenge de Espana, when he opened with a first round 60. These successes helped Davies secure eighth position on the Challenge Tour order of merit, and regain full European Tour status.
Davies retired from playing professional golf in 2019 and then undertook freelance media work for Sky Sports Golf, the European Tour podcast, and the R&A. In 2021, Davies became the European Player Development Manager for American company Excelsports management.
In total, Davies played 314 professional tournaments with 5 wins, 9 second, 8 third, and 43 top-10 places). These include 170 European Tour tournaments (1 win; 4 second; 2 third and 12 top-10 places), and 6 majors.
Amateur wins 1999-2003 14 junior championships 2000 Welsh Junior Championship U-16 2003 Boys Amateur Championship 2006 European Youth Team Championship, individual medallist 2006 Scratch Players Championship 2003–07 10 collegiate championships in USA
Professional wins (5) European Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up121 Mar 2010Trophée Hassan II−25 (68-64-68-66=266)2 strokes Louis Oosthuizen
European Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12011Trophée Hassan II David Horsey, Jaco van ZylHorsey won with birdie on second extra hole
Challenge Tour wins (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up126 Jul 2009SWALEC Wales Challenge−2 (77-68-70-71=286)Playoff James Morrison26 Sep 2009Fred Olsen Challenge de España−17 (65-70-65-67=267)1 stroke Steven Jeppesen310 May 2015Turkish Airlines Challenge−14 (69-70-65-70=274)4 strokes Lorenzo Gagli419 Jul 2015Fred Olsen Challenge de España (2)−22 (60-67-67-68=262)2 strokes Geoff Drakeford
Challenge Tour playoff record (1–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12009SWALEC Wales Challenge James MorrisonWon with par on third extra hole22009SK Golf Challenge Nicolas Colsaerts, Julien GuerrierColsaerts won with birdie on second extra hole
Playoff record Asian Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12008Hana Bank Vietnam Masters Andrew Dodt, Thongchai JaideeJaidee won with par on third extra holeDodt eliminated by birdie on second hole
Results in major championships Tournament20072008200920102011U.S. OpenCUTT74The Open ChampionshipCUTCUTCUTPGA ChampionshipT62 Note: Davies never played in the Masters Tournament.
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament20102011Match PlayChampionshipT61InvitationalT71ChampionsT53
"T" = Tied
Team appearances Amateur Boys' Home Internationals (representing Wales) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 European Young Masters (representing Wales) 2001 Men's Home internationals (representing Wales) 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006. European Boys' Team Championship (representing Wales): 2001, 2002, 2003 Jacques Léglise Trophy (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 2002 (winners), 2003 (winners) European Youths' Team Championship (representing Wales): 2004, 2006 Eisenhower Trophy (representing Wales): 2004, 2006 Palmer Cup (representing Europe): 2004 (winners), 2005, 2006 (winners), 2007 European Amateur Team Championship (representing Wales): 2005, 2007 Walker Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 2005, 2007 St Andrews Trophy (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 2006 (winners)
Professional Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2011 (winners) World Cup (representing Wales): 2011
See also 2009 Challenge Tour graduates 2015 Challenge Tour graduates List of golfers with most Challenge Tour wins
References
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