Steve Flesch
American professional golfer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stephen J. Flesch (born May 23, 1967) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, and worked briefly as a TV golf analyst for Fox Sports and Golf Channel before joining the PGA Tour Champions.
| Steve Flesch | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Stephen J. Flesch | ||
| Born | May 23, 1967 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st) | ||
| Sporting nationality |  United States | ||
| Spouse | Rachel Flesch | ||
| Children | 2 | ||
| Career | |||
| College | University of Kentucky | ||
| Turned professional | 1990 | ||
| Current tour | PGA Tour Champions | ||
| Former tours | PGA Tour Asia Golf Circuit Hooters Jordan Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 13 | ||
| Highest ranking | 22 (June 27, 2004)[1] | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| PGA Tour | 4 | ||
| Korn Ferry Tour | 1 | ||
| PGA Tour Champions | 4 | ||
| Other | 4 | ||
| Best results in major championships | |||
| Masters Tournament | T5: 2008 | ||
| PGA Championship | 6th: 2008 | ||
| U.S. Open | T7: 2004 | ||
| The Open Championship | T20: 2000 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Early life
Flesch was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and attended Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky. After graduation, he played golf at the University of Kentucky and turned professional in 1990.[2]
Professional career
Flesch finished in the top ten on the Asia Golf Circuit Order of Merit in 1993, 1994 and 1996. He won the 1997 NIKE Tour Championship to earn a PGA Tour card for the following season, only the second left-hander to win on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour. His first win on the PGA Tour was the 2003 HP Classic of New Orleans, but is probably best known for his come-from-behind victory at the 2004 Bank of America Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. He has been featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings, reaching a career high of 22nd in 2004.[3]
Entering the 2008 Masters Tournament, Flesch was ranked number 107 in the world rankings.[4] After three rounds, he was in third place at eight-under, three strokes behind leader and eventual champion Trevor Immelman. Playing in the penultimate pairing on breezy Sunday, Flesch posted a 78 to finish six strokes back, tied for fifth. This strong showing in a major tournament strengthened his world ranking by 28 slots, improving it to number 79.[5]
Flesch last played a full season in 2011, then missed the cut in the 12 events he played during the 2012 season. In 2015, he finished T7 at the Barracuda Championship, his first top ten in four years.[2]
In 2015, Flesch became an analyst for Fox Sports.[6] He also worked as an analyst for Golf Channel before returning to competition on the PGA Tour Champions in 2017.[2]
Professional wins (13)
PGA Tour wins (4)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 4, 2003 | HP Classic of New Orleans | −21 (67-70-65-65=267) | Playoff |  Bob Estes |
| 2 | May 23, 2004 | Bank of America Colonial | −11 (66-69-67-67=269) | 1 stroke | Chad Campbell |
| 3 | Aug 5, 2007 | Reno–Tahoe Open | −15 (63-69-69-72=273) | 5 strokes | Kevin Stadler, Charles Warren |
| 4 | Sep 23, 2007 | Turning Stone Resort Championship | −18 (66-65-66-73=270) | 2 strokes | Michael Allen |
PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2003 | HP Classic of New Orleans | Bob Estes |
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 21, 1996 | Benson & Hedges Malaysian Open | −6 (66-75-71-70=282) | Playoff |  Craig Jones |
Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (1–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1993 | Thai International Thailand Open |  Hsieh Chin-sheng, Craig Mann |
Mann won with birdie on second extra hole Flesch eliminated by par on first hole |
| 2 | 1996 | Benson & Hedges Malaysian Open | Craig Jones |
Won with par on second extra hole |
Nike Tour wins (1)
| Legend |
|---|
| Tour Championships (1) |
| Other Nike Tour (0) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oct 19, 1997 | Nike Tour Championship | −10 (69-68-68-73=278) | 4 strokes | Chris Smith |
Hooters Jordan Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun 26, 1994 | Collins Pro Classic | −12 (67-72-69-68=276) | 1 stroke | Eric Johnson |
Other wins (2)
- 1991 Kentucky Open
- 1993 Kentucky Open
PGA Tour Champions wins (4)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apr 14, 2018 | Mitsubishi Electric Classic | −11 (66-71-68=205) | Playoff |  Bernhard Langer, Scott Parel |
| 2 | May 8, 2022 | Mitsubishi Electric Classic (2) | −11 (67-73-65=205) | 1 stroke | Fred Couples,  Pádraig Harrington, David Toms |
| 3 | Sep 25, 2022 | PURE Insurance Championship | −11 (66-71-68=205) | 1 stroke |  Steven Alker,  Ernie Els, Paul Stankowski |
| 4 | Sep 10, 2023 | Ascension Charity Classic | −19 (66-66-62=194) | 3 strokes | Kevin Sutherland |
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2018 | Mitsubishi Electric Classic | Bernhard Langer, Scott Parel |
Won with birdie on second extra hole Langer eliminated by birdie on first hole |
| 2 | 2021 | Sanford International |  K. J. Choi,  Darren Clarke |
Clarke won with birdie on second extra hole Flesch eliminated by par on first hole |
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | |||||||
| U.S. Open | 84 | CUT | CUT | CUT | |||
| The Open Championship | |||||||
| PGA Championship | T13 | T34 |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | T17 | T29 | T5 | T6 | T38 | |||||
| U.S. Open | CUT | T18 | CUT | T7 | T67 | CUT | |||||
| The Open Championship | T20 | CUT | CUT | T54 | 77 | ||||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | T13 | T17 | CUT | T37 | T10 | T24 | T23 | 6 | T32 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 4 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 10 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 33 | 22 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (2004 Masters – 2008 Masters)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2008 PGA – 2009 Masters)
Results in The Players Championship
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | T38 | T40 | CUT | T39 | CUT | T79 | T63 | CUT | CUT | T64 | T32 |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match Play | R64 | R16 | R32 | R64 | |||||
| Championship | T11 | NT1 | T21 | T23 | |||||
| Invitational | T11 | T48 | T48 |
1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament