Stephen John Elkington (born 8 December 1962) is an Australian professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions. Formerly on the PGA Tour, he spent more than fifty weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 1995 to 1998.69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking Elkington won a major title at the PGA Championship in 1995, and is a two-time winner of The Players Championship.

Early life and amateur career In 1962, Elkington was born in Inverell, New South Wales. He grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.

Elkington moved to the United States to attend college in Texas at the University of Houston, where he played on the Cougar golf team that won national titles in 1982, 1984, and 1985. Elkington was the first prominent Australian to play college golf in the U.S.

Professional career

In 1985, Elkington turned professional. Elkington was the runner-up at 1986 PGA Tour Qualifying School to earn his tour card. He had ten victories on the PGA Tour, all in the 1990s, and won four events twice. Elkington had ten top-10 finishes in major championships, with the best results at the PGA Championship; he won in 1995 at Riviera, and a tied for second in 2005 at Baltusrol, behind winner Phil Mickelson, which moved him back into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a two-time winner of The Players Championship, the PGA Tour's marquee event, with victories in 1991 and 1997. Of the five to win twice at TPC Sawgrass, his span of six years between wins is the shortest.

In addition to his PGA Tour success, Elkington won the 1992 Australian Open and 1996 Honda Invitational on the Asian Tour.

Elkington was a participant in the first four editions of the Presidents Cup, on the International Team in 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000. In 1995, he was awarded the Vardon Trophy; this award is given annually by the PGA of America to the tour player with the lowest scoring average.

In June 2006, playing in a sectional to qualify for the U.S. Open, Elkington tried to wear shoes with metal spikes. When his attempt was rebuffed, he left rather than change to soft-spiked shoes, and argued that since spiked shoes were allowed in the U.S. Open, the following week, that they should be allowed at sectional events.

Elkington's career has been hampered by constant battles with allergies, notably to grass, which caused several absences from tournament play. He has had sinus surgeries, constant infections, and bouts with viral meningitis, as well as searing headaches.

As of 2013, Elkington had sponsorship/endorsement deals with apparel brand Oxford Golf, Insperity, World Golf Tour, Grieve Family Winery, and Par West Custom Golf Shoes.

He turned fifty in late 2012 and made his debut on the Champions Tour in June 2013.

In 2014, RFD-TV began airing The Rural Golfer, starring Elkington. The production followed Elkington as he toured the United States, digging up golf stories. In 2015, CBS Sports Network began airing the second season of the show, retitled Secret Golf with Steve Elkington.

Personal life Elkington met his wife, Lisa, while at the University of Houston, and they have two children. The family has residences in both Australia and the U.S., at Sydney and Houston. His son Sam played golf on his high school team in Houston, and played on the golf team at the University of Houston from 2015 to 2020. His daughter works as a ceramics teacher.

Professional wins (17) PGA Tour wins (10) Legend Major championships (1) Players Championships (2) Other PGA Tour (7) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up122 Apr 1990KMart Greater Greensboro Open74-71-71-66=282−62 strokes Mike Reid, Jeff Sluman231 Mar 1991The Players Championship66-70-72-68=276−121 stroke Fuzzy Zoeller312 Jan 1992Infiniti Tournament of Champions69-71-67-72=279−9Playoff Brad Faxon42 Oct 1994Buick Southern Open66-66-68=200−165 strokes Steve Rintoul58 Jan 1995Mercedes Championships (2)69-71-71-67=278−10Playoff Bruce Lietzke613 Aug 1995PGA Championship68-67-68-64=267−17Playoff Colin Montgomerie79 Mar 1997Doral-Ryder Open70-66-70-69=275−132 strokes Larry Nelson, Nick Price830 Mar 1997The Players Championship (2)66-69-68-69=272−167 strokes Scott Hoch94 Oct 1998Buick Challenge (2)66-70-66-65=267−21Playoff Fred Funk107 Mar 1999Doral-Ryder Open (2)72-70-69-64=275−131 stroke Greg Kraft

PGA Tour playoff record (4–4) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11992Infiniti Tournament of Champions Brad FaxonWon with birdie on first extra hole21992Buick Open Brad Faxon, Dan ForsmanForsman won with par on second extra holeFaxon eliminated by par on first hole31992H.E.B. Texas Open Nick PriceLost to par on second extra hole41993KMart Greater Greensboro Open Rocco MediateLost to birdie on fourth extra hole51995Mercedes Championships Bruce LietzkeWon with birdie on second extra hole61995PGA Championship Colin MontgomerieWon with birdie on first extra hole71998Buick Challenge Fred FunkWon with par on first extra hole82002The Open Championship Stuart Appleby, Ernie Els, Thomas LevetEls won with par on first extra hole after four-hole aggregate playoff;Els: E (4-3-5-4=16),Levet: E (4-2-5-5=16),Appleby: +1 (4-3-5-5=17),Elkington: +1 (5-3-4-5=17)

Asian PGA Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up15 May 1996Honda Invitational71-73-68-69=281−71 stroke Felix Casas

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1) Legend Flagship events (1) Other PGA Tour of Australasia (0) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunners-up129 Nov 1992Australian Open69-68-69-74=280−82 strokes Peter McWhinney, Duffy Waldorf

Other wins (5) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunners-up124 Aug 1993Fred Meyer Challenge(with Tom Purtzer)63-63=128−161 stroke Fred Couples and Davis Love III, Brad Faxon and Rick Fehr, Jim Gallagher Jr. and Bruce Lietzke221 Nov 1993Franklin Funds Shark Shootout(with Raymond Floyd)62-64-62=188−281 stroke Mark Calcavecchia and Brad Faxon, Hale Irwin and Bruce Lietzke, Tom Kite and Davis Love III, Mark O'Meara and Curtis Strange319 Nov 1995Franklin Templeton Shootout (2)(with Mark Calcavecchia)64-61-59=184−321 stroke Chip Beck and Lee Janzen414 Dec 1997Diners Club Matches(with Jeff Maggert)2 and 1 Tom Lehman and Duffy Waldorf515 Nov 1998Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (3)(with Greg Norman)67-64-58=189−27Playoff John Cook and Peter Jacobsen

Other playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult11998Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout(with Greg Norman) John Cook and Peter JacobsenWon with birdie on third extra hole

Major championships

Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 1995 PGA Championship 6 shot deficit −17 (68-67-68-64=267) Playoff1 Colin Montgomerie 1Defeated Montgomerie with birdie on first extra hole.

Results timeline Tournament198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999Masters TournamentT22T37T3CUTT5CUTT1230T11U.S. OpenT21T21T55CUTT33T36T40T24CUTT51The Open ChampionshipCUTT44T34T48T67T6CUTCUTWDCUTPGA ChampionshipT31T41CUTT32T18T14T71T3T453

Tournament200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011Masters TournamentT52CUTU.S. OpenT33CUTThe Open ChampionshipT60CUTT2WDCUTPGA ChampionshipWDT48T2CUTT39CUTT5CUT

CUT = missed the half way cut WD = Withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 1 2 2 5 11 8U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 3 12 9The Open Championship 0 1 0 1 2 2 15 7PGA Championship 1 1 2 5 6 8 19 13Totals 1 2 3 8 10 18 57 37 Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (twice) Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

The Players Championship Wins (2) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 1991 The Players Championship 4 shot deficit −12 (66-70-72-68=276) 1 stroke Fuzzy Zoeller 1997 The Players Championship (2) 2 shot lead −16 (66-69-68-69=272) 7 strokes Scott Hoch

Results timeline Tournament1987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999The Players ChampionshipCUTT54CUTT161CUTT16T51WDT191T38 Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009The Players ChampionshipT63CUTT26T6T12T32CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place.

Results in World Golf Championships Tournament19992000200120022003200420052006Match PlayR64R64R64ChampionshipT34NT1WDInvitational39T23T49 1Cancelled due to 9/11

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = Tied WD = Withdrew NT = No tournament

Results in senior major championships Tournament20132014The TraditionT19T9Senior PGA ChampionshipWDSenior Players ChampionshipT24U.S. Senior OpenT6T49Senior British Open ChampionshipT11

CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place WD = withdrew

Team appearances Presidents Cup (International team): 1994, 1996, 1998 (winners), 2000 World Cup (representing Australia): 1994 Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Australia): 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998

See also 1986 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates List of men's major championships winning golfers

Notes

References

External links