Jay Townsend is an American professional golfer and broadcaster.
Touring professional career
Townsend was born in Michigan but grew up in Ohio. His father was a club professional. Townsend attended the University of Florida and was on the golf team. He was an All-American and graduated in 1984. He attempted to join the PGA Tour but failed at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. However he succeeded at European Tour Qualifying School. He joined the European Tour before the 1985 season. In his first season, Townsend played in 14 events and made the majority of cuts. However he did not record any high finishes and finished 138th on the Order of Merit. The following season was far worse as he made only 2 of 15 cuts. Townsend would not have full-time status for the remainder of the decade. Despite these difficulties, Townsend enjoyed the experience in Europe immensely. He stated later in life, "I picked up more in my first five years in Europe than I did in 17 years of school at home. I saw the world and it made me a more rounded person." During this interim period he played on the South African Tour. In 1988 he finished joint runner-up at the Bloemfontein Classic with John Bland behind Jeff Hawkes. At the very end of the 1988–89 season, he won the Trustbank Tournament of Champions over fellow American Bruce Vaughan. The following season, he finished runner-up at the 1990 Dewars W Lab Tournament, this time behind John Bland. Townsend successfully earned his European Tour card once again at the 1990 qualifying school. During 1991, his play did not substantially improve on his 1980s performances as he missed the majority of cuts and finished outside the top 100 on the Order of Merit again. He did, however, record his first top-10, a T-9 at the Murphy's Cup. His following year was his best season on the European Tour. In 1992 he made 16 of 24 cuts and finished in the top-100 of the Order of Merit for the first time. He also recorded his best finishes, placing T-5 at the Liebig Ligurian Open and T-3 at the Lyon Open V33 that summer. The following season, in 1993, he recorded his best finish of his European Tour career, a solo runner-up finish at the Heineken Open, three behind Scotland's Sam Torrance. In 1995, he recorded his best overall season in his career with 5 top-10s and finishing 43rd on the Order of Merit, both career bests. This success would continue through the early 1996 season as he would open with a 64 against an "elite field" at the Dubai Desert Classic, placing him in second place, one behind Miguel Ángel Jiménez. He followed that with three consecutive rounds of 71 to finish at –11 and a tie for 7th. His Official World Golf Ranking reached #173, the best so far of his career. This high placing, however, would represent Townsend's career peak as he did not improve on his global ranking. For the remainder of the year he missed the cut or withdrew from 13 of the 19 events he entered and did not record any more top-10s. The 1997 and 1998 seasons were similarly mediocre. Though he finished in a tie for third at the 1997 Alamo English Open this was his only top-10 either season. Townsend missed the cut in the majority of events and did not finish better than 89th on the Order of Merit in the late 1990s. He ceased playing as a touring professional after the 1998 season.
Broadcasting career
Since retiring as a touring professional Townsend has worked as a golf broadcaster. He has worked for the BBC. Most recently he has worked for European Tour Productions' "World Feed," a radio program. He says he prefers radio to television broadcasting. In 2011, Townsend got into a Twitter war with Rory McIlroy. Townsend criticized McIlroy's "shocking course management" at the Irish Open. McIlroy responded on Twitter, saying "Shut up. You're a commentator and a failed golfer, your opinion means nothing." The media speculated that McIlroy might be fined by the European Tour. Townsend also received media attention for speaking during Shane Lowry's backswing at the 2019 Open Championship.
Personal life
Despite working mainly in Europe, Townsend's permanent residence is in Florida. He is married to Laurie and has two children, Zachary and Alexandra. A big passion of his is hunting.
