Wikipedia

Bill Longmuir

William George Longmuir (born 10 June 1953) is a Scottish professional golfer.

Bill Longmuir
Personal information
Full nameWilliam George Longmuir
Born (1953-06-10) 10 June 1953 (age 71)
Thundersley, Essex, England
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight81 kg (179 lb; 12.8 st)
Sporting nationality Scotland
ResidenceRedhill, Surrey, England
Children4
Career
Turned professional1968
Former tour(s)European Tour
Champions Tour
European Senior Tour
Professional wins14
Number of wins by tour
European Senior Tour8 (Tied-7th all-time)
Other6
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT30: 1979

Early life

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Longmuir was born in Thundersley, Essex, England to Scottish parents. Despite having lived in England all his life, he regards himself as Scottish and is classified as such for international competition.

Professional career

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In 1968, he turned professional. He played full-time on the European Tour from 1979 to 1993. He never won on tour but finished runner-up three times. He made the top 100 on the Order of Merit every year from 1976 to 1990.[1]

Although Longmuir started playing some events on the European Tour in 1976, he originally found more success on its offshoot tour, the Safari Circuit, in Africa. Longmuir won the 1976 Nigerian Open for his first professional victory. He achieved this despite political violence emanating from the fringe of the course.[2] He would win three more times on the Safari Circuit.

Longmuir may be best known to international audiences for his performance in the 1979 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club. He shot an opening round 65 (−6) to take a three-stroke lead over defending U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin. He shot a second round 74 but, in the difficult conditions, was still in solo third place only one behind Seve Ballesteros and three behind Irwin. A third round 77 drew him back but he was still in the top 10, 5 behind, with an outside chance. He then exploded with an 82 during the final round, the second worst round of the day, to finish at 298 (+14) in a tie for 30th.[3] Although the tournament did not end well, he won the Tooting Bec Cup. The award goes to the British golfer who shot the lowest single round in the Open Championship.

Longmuir best year on the European Tour was in 1982. He finished tied in regulation at the German Open and Swiss Open. However, he would lose both events in playoffs to Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam, respectively. He would record a career-best 24th on the European Tour Order of Merit.

Longmuir kept his card for the remainder of the '80s but could not repeat this success. After his playoff loss to Woosnam he would only record one more top ten over the next five years.[1] Like his 1979 early round success, his top achievement during this era may be sticking close to the lead at the early rounds of the Open Championship. At the 1984 Open Championship at St Andrews he shot 67 (-5) to hold the lead with Peter Jacobsen and Greg Norman. He shot one under the next day to stay in the top 5. Like 1979, he fell back mightily over the last two days and finished T55.[4] He would win the Tooting Bec Cup again, however.

1990 was Longmuir's final good season on the European Tour. He recorded 3 top tens including his third and final runner-up finish. It was his final year inside the Top 100 on the Order of Merit.[1]

Longmuir joined the European Senior Tour in 2003 and has had great success. In his rookie season he won two events and finished runner-up on the Order of Merit. By 2012 he finished in the top 30 of the Order of Merit every year and won eight events.[1] In 2006 he played on the United States-based Champions Tour after coming through its Qualifying School. His son, Callum, often caddies for him on the European Senior Tour.

Personal life

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Longmuir now lives in Thundersley, England. He has four children.

Professional wins (14)

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New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 14 Nov 1976 Southland Charity Golf Classic −8 (69-68-70-73=280) 3 strokes   Pat McLeary

Safari Circuit wins (4)

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Other wins (1)

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European Senior Tour wins (8)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 6 Jul 2003 Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open −8 (68-66-65=199) 3 strokes   David Oakley
2 23 Aug 2003 De Vere PGA Seniors Championship −17 (68-67-69-67=271) 2 strokes   Carl Mason,   Denis O'Sullivan
3 20 Jun 2004 Mobile Cup −9 (72-68-67=207) 1 stroke   Seiji Ebihara
4 29 Aug 2004 Charles Church Scottish Seniors Open −6 (69-73-68=210) 1 stroke   John Chillas,   Carl Mason
5 11 Sep 2005 Scandinavian Senior Open −17 (66-66-64=196) 4 strokes   Giuseppe Calì
6 19 Aug 2007 Midas English Seniors Open −8 (70-69-69=208) 2 strokes   Carl Mason
7 9 Mar 2008 DGM Barbados Open −10 (74-67-65=206) 3 strokes   Bob Cameron
8 14 May 2010 Handa Senior Masters −20 (64-69-66=199) 7 strokes   Roger Chapman,   Boonchu Ruangkit

Playoff record

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European Tour playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1982 Lufthansa German Open   Bernhard Langer Lost to par on first extra hole
2 1982 Ebel Swiss Open   Ian Woosnam Lost to par on third extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
The Open Championship T52 T30 CUT CUT T47 T55 CUT CUT CUT T94

Note: Longmuir only played in The Open Championship.

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

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  • Europcar Cup (representing Scotland): 1988
  • PGA Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1996 (tie), 2003
  • UBS Cup (representing the Rest of the World): 2003 (tie)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Bill Longmuir". European Tour. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  2. ^ Jenkins, Dan (30 July 1984). "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  3. ^ "108th Open Championship – 1979 – Leaderboard". European Tour. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  4. ^ "113th Open Championship – 1984 – Leaderboard". European Tour. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
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