James Driscoll


James Driscoll is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour.

Amateur career

Driscoll was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest of seven children. He grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts, outside Boston. He started golf at a young age and won the club championship at his home club of Charles River at age 15. A year later, he won the Massachusetts Junior Championship. He then went on to win the Massachusetts State Amateur Championship in 1996 at the age of 18, becoming the youngest-ever winner of the tournament, and again in 1998. By the summer of 1996 Driscoll was the second-ranked junior in the country, and made the final of the U.S. Junior, losing to Scott Hailes.
Driscoll attended Brookline High School, Brookline, Massachusetts and then attended The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, for a postgraduate year and went on to the University of Virginia where he was a three-time All-American, won the 1998 Golf Digest Invitational, and tied the school record for career top-10 finishes. He reached the final of the 2000 U.S. Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club by upsetting Luke Donald in the semifinals. In the final against Jeff Quinney, he came back from three down with three to play to force extra holes, but lost on the 39th hole. His runner-up finish gave him an invitation to the 2001 Masters Tournament. At the Masters Driscoll fired a 68 in the first round, marking the best opening round by an amateur since Ken Venturi's 66 in 1956. His playing partner Tom Watson said, "This was the best round I've seen here by an amateur." Driscoll shot 78 in the second round to miss the cut by one stroke. He was a member of the 2001 Walker Cup team.

Professional career

Driscoll turned professional in 2001. He won his first professional title at the 2004 Virginia Beach Open on the Nationwide Tour. This propelled him to a seventh-place finish on the money list, giving him a PGA Tour card for 2005. Aided by a playoff loss to Tim Petrovic at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, in which he missed a birdie putt on the final green of regulation for the win, he finished 100th on the PGA Tour money list in his rookie season, thereby retaining his card for 2006, but he lost his card after his second season. In 2007 he finished 24th on the Nationwide Tour money list to again earn promotion. He had his second runner-up finish at the 2009 Valero Texas Open, where he lost to Zach Johnson in a playoff. He retained status through the end of the 2014 season, after which he returned to the second tier, by then known as the Web.com Tour. After finishing outside the top 100 on the Web.com Tour money list in 2015, he expected to have to go to Q School, but was informed by the PGA Tour that he was eligible for a one-time exemption on the Web.com Tour available to players who had been exempt on the PGA Tour for five consecutive years in either of the first two seasons after losing fully exempt status. Playing on this exemption for the 2016 season, he won his second career Web.com Tour title at the Nashville Golf Open.

Amateur wins (9)

Web.com Tour wins (2)

Nationwide Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12004Northeast Pennsylvania Classic D. A. PointsLost to par on first extra hole

Other wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12005Zurich Classic of New Orleans Tim PetrovicLost to par on first extra hole
22009Valero Texas Open Zach JohnsonLost to birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur