Neil Coles | |||||
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Personal information | |||||
Full name | Neil Chapman Coles | ||||
Born | London, England | 26 September 1934||||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||
Weight | 182 lb (83 kg; 13.0 st) | ||||
Sporting nationality | England | ||||
Residence | Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England | ||||
Spouse | Ann | ||||
Children | Keith, Gary | ||||
Career | |||||
Turned professional | 1950 | ||||
Former tour(s) | European Tour European Seniors Tour | ||||
Professional wins | 55 | ||||
Number of wins by tour | |||||
European Tour | 7 | ||||
PGA Tour Champions | 1 | ||||
European Senior Tour | 9 (Tied 5th all time) | ||||
Other | 33 (regular) 5 (senior) | ||||
Best results in major championships | |||||
Masters Tournament | WD: 1966 | ||||
PGA Championship | DNP | ||||
U.S. Open | DNP | ||||
The Open Championship | T2: 1973 | ||||
Achievements and awards | |||||
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Neil Chapman Coles, MBE (born 26 September 1934) is an English professional golfer. Coles had a successful career in European golf, winning 29 important tournaments between 1956 and 1982. After reaching 50, he won a further 14 important Seniors tournaments between 1985 and 2002, winning his final European Seniors Tour event at the age of 67. He also played in eight Ryder Cup matches between 1961 and 1977.
While he never became one of the leading stars of global golf, and did not win a major championship, Coles was remarkable for his consistency, and even more for his durability. He was five times a top-ten finisher in the Open Championship, finishing third in 1961 and second in 1973. In 1982 at the age of 48 he won the Sanyo Open in Spain and held the distinction of being the oldest winner of a European Tour event for nearly 20 years. Even at the peak of his career, he made few appearances in the United States because of his fear of flying.[1]
In his eight Ryder Cup appearances, Coles had 5 wins, 6 defeats and 4 halves in his 15 singles matches; the 7 points he won in these is tied for the most singles points in Ryder Cup history. All his appearances were in a winless period for the Great Britain and Ireland team.