Carl Mason

Carl Mason
Carl Mason
Personal information
Full name	Stuart Carl Mason
Born	25 June 1953 (age 71); Buxton, Derbyshire, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Sporting nationality	England
Residence	Adderbury, Oxfordshire, England
Spouse	Beryl
Career
Turned professional	1973
Current tour(s)	European Senior Tour
Former tour(s)	European Tour
Professional wins	31
Highest ranking	83 (8 January 1995)
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	2
European Senior Tour	25 (1st all-time)
Other	1
Best results in major championships;
Masters Tournament	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP
The Open Championship	T4: 1980
Achievements and awards
Sir Henry Cotton; Rookie of the Year
Sir Henry Cotton; Rookie of the Year	1974
European Seniors Tour; Rookie of the Year	2003
European Seniors Tour; Order of Merit winner	2003, 2004, 2007

Stuart Carl Mason (born 25 June 1953) is an English professional golfer.

Mason was born in Buxton, Derbyshire. He won several amateur tournaments before turning professional and becoming something of a journeyman on the European Tour. After twenty years of trying he finally won on tour for the first time in 1994.^[2] His biggest successes, however, came after turning 50. He picked up 25 tournament victories on the European Senior Tour and headed the Order of Merit three times, becoming the leading career money winner on the tour.^[3]

Career

Regular career

Mason turned professional in 1973, following an outstanding amateur career playing out of Goring & Streatley Golf Club, and was a rookie on the European Tour the following year. He finished in 67th place on the Order of Merit that year and was a recipient of the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award. He made the top 100 on the European Tour Order of Merit twenty three years in a row up to 1996, with a best ranking of 19th in 1994. In 1980, he finished tied for 4th with Jack Nicklaus in The Open Championship held at Muirfield.

Despite those successes, Mason only won twice on the European Tour, both times in 1994. His first victory came at the 455th attempt, in the Turespana Masters Open de Andalucia, and the second in the Scottish Open just a few months later.^[4] He also won three times on the Safari Circuit in Africa.

European Senior Tour

After a spell working for the PGA European Tour as a tournament referee, he joined the European Seniors Tour on turning fifty. He was immediately successful as a senior, winning four of his first eleven events and topping the Order of Merit in 2003 and 2004. He was Order of Merit runner-up in each of the following two seasons before recapturing the top spot in 2007. That year, after winning the European Senior Masters, he surpassed Tommy Horton as the highest career money earner on the European Seniors Tour.^[5] The next week he won the PGA Seniors Championship, and went on to finish the 2007 season with earnings of €412,376, a new record for money won in a season on the tour, breaking his previous record of €354,775 set in 2004. In 2010, he won his 23rd EST event, which placed him in a tie with Tommy Horton for the most EST wins.^[6] In May 2011, Mason who his 24th event, the OKI Open de Espana Senior.^[3] He won his 25th event at the Benahavis Senior Masters in October 2011.

Amateur wins

1973 Berkhamsted Trophy, Hampshire Hog, British Youths Open Amateur Championship, West of England Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship, West of England Amateur Championship

Professional wins (30)

European Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	27 Feb 1994	Turespaña Masters Open de Andalucía	−10 (67-70-71-70=278)	2 strokes	José María Olazábal
2	9 Jul 1994	Bell's Scottish Open	−15 (67-69-61-68=265)	1 stroke	Peter Mitchell

Safari Circuit wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	25 Mar 1984	Zambia Open	−12 (69-70-69-72=280)	2 strokes	Roger Chapman
2	1 Mar 1987	555 Kenya Open	−9 (72-68-67-68=275)	Playoff	Gordon J. Brand, Roger Chapman, Martin Poxon

Other wins (2)

1975 Lusaka Open
1999 Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship

European Senior Tour wins (25)

Legend
Tour Championships (1)
Other European Senior Tour (24)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	13 Jul 2003	Mobile Cup	−10 (69-66-68=203)	1 stroke	Bob Cameron
2	20 Sep 2003	The Daily Telegraph Turismo Andaluz Seniors Match Play Championship	1 up		Denis O'Sullivan
3	28 Sep 2003	Merseyside English Seniors Open	−8 (71-66-71=208)	1 stroke	Bill Longmuir, Denis O'Sullivan
4	12 Oct 2003	Estoril Seniors Tour Championship	−11 (64-73-65=202)	8 strokes	Keith MacDonald, Noel Ratcliffe, Dragon Taki
5	21 Mar 2004	Tobago Plantations Seniors Classic	−9 (71-64-72=207)	3 strokes	David Good
6	6 Jun 2004	AIB Irish Seniors Open	−10 (68-69-69=206)	1 stroke	Nick Job
7	8 Aug 2004	De Vere PGA Seniors Championship	−13 (67-71-69-68=275)	Playoff	Seiji Ebihara, Jim Rhodes
8	11 Sep 2004	The Daily Telegraph Turismo Andaluz European Seniors Match Play Championship (2)	3 and 2		John Chillas
9	26 Sep 2004	ADT English Seniors Open (2)	−3 (71-67-75=213)	3 strokes	Bob Cameron, John Chillas
10	26 Jun 2005	De Vere Northumberland Seniors Classic	−16 (68-63-69=200)	3 strokes	Eamonn Darcy
11	3 Jul 2005	Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open	−5 (68-69-65=202)	5 strokes	Bob Charles, Denis O'Sullivan
12	10 Sep 2006	European Senior Masters	−7 (73-67-69=209)	2 strokes	Horacio Carbonetti
13	17 Sep 2006	Midas Group English Seniors Open (3)	−4 (70-71-71=212)	1 stroke	Stewart Ginn
14	22 Oct 2006	Estoril Seniors Open of Portugal	−9 (64-69-71=204)	4 strokes	Stewart Ginn, Sam Torrance
15	17 Jun 2007	Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open (2)	−6 (73-69-68=210)	2 strokes	Ross Drummond, Juan Quirós
16	12 Aug 2007	Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open	−16 (65-64-65=194)	6 strokes	Horacio Carbonetti, Costantino Rocca, David J. Russell
17	2 Sep 2007	European Senior Masters (2)	−6 (71-66-73=210)	Playoff	Costantino Rocca
18	9 Sep 2007	PGA Seniors Championship (2)	−20 (67-67-67-67=268)	6 strokes	Philippe Dugeny, Costantino Rocca
19	21 Oct 2007	OKI Castellón Open de España Senior	−17 (66-68-65=199)	4 strokes	Luis Carbonetti
20	10 Aug 2008	Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open (2)	−15 (69-61-65=195)	2 strokes	Bill Longmuir
21	28 Jun 2009	De Vere Collection PGA Seniors Championship (3)	−9 (73-70-67-69=279)	3 strokes	Ángel Franco, Chris Williams
22	18 Oct 2009	Benahavis Senior Masters	−7 (66-72-68=206)	Playoff	Gordon Brand Jnr
23	4 Jul 2010	Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open (3)	−11 (64-67-68=199)	2 strokes	Jerry Bruner
24	20 May 2011	OKI Open de España Senior (2)	−13 (67-65-68=200)	4 strokes	George Ryall
25	16 Oct 2011	Benahavis Senior Masters (2)	−9 (70-65-69=204)	3 strokes	Mark James, Gary Wolstenholme

European Senior Tour playoff record (3–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2003	Senior British Open	Tom Watson	Lost to par on second extra hole
2	2004	De Vere PGA Seniors Championship	Seiji Ebihara, Jim Rhodes	Won with birdie on second extra hole Rhodes eliminated by par on first hole
3	2007	Sharp Italian Seniors Open	Tony Allen, John Benda, Simon Owen	Owen won with birdie on first extra hole
4	2007	European Senior Masters	Costantino Rocca	Won with birdie on first extra hole
5	2009	Benahavis Senior Masters	Gordon Brand Jnr	Won with birdie on second extra hole

Playoff record

Champions Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2003	Senior British Open	Tom Watson	Lost to par on second extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
The Open Championship	CUT	62			T24	T50

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Open Championship	T4	CUT	CUT	CUT		CUT	T56	T44	T57

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
The Open Championship				T39	T67	CUT	T22	CUT

Note: Mason only played in The Open Championship.

Top 10

Did not play

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

Team appearances

Professional

World Cup (representing England): 1980
Hennessy Cognac Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1980 (winners)
UBS Cup (representing the Rest of the World): 2003 (tie), 2004

References

^ "Week 1 1995 Ending 8 Jan 1995" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
^ Glover, Tim (28 February 1994). "Mason's memorable end to his 20-year odyssey: A 40-year-old journeyman celebrates long-awaited victory". London: The Independent. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
^ ^a ^b Record-breaker Mason makes history in Spain
^ Glover, Tim (11 July 1994). "Mason chips his way to unqualified success". London: The Independent. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
^ "Mason makes history at Woburn". PGA European Tour. 2 September 2007. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
^ "Ace Mase equals record with victory in Switzerland". Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2010.

External links

Carl Mason at the European Tour official site
Carl Mason at the Official World Golf Ranking official site

[w199501-1] "Week 1 1995 Ending 8 Jan 1995" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.

[win1-2] Glover, Tim (28 February 1994). "Mason's memorable end to his 20-year odyssey: A 40-year-old journeyman celebrates long-awaited victory". London: The Independent. Retrieved 13 July 2007.

[spain-3] Record-breaker Mason makes history in Spain

[win2-4] Glover, Tim (11 July 1994). "Mason chips his way to unqualified success". London: The Independent. Retrieved 13 July 2007.

[5] "Mason makes history at Woburn". PGA European Tour. 2 September 2007. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.

[ragaz-6] "Ace Mase equals record with victory in Switzerland". Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2010.

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