Darren Andrew "D.A." Points (born December 1, 1976) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.

D. A. Points
Points at the 2010 PGA Championship
Personal information
Full nameDarren Andrew Points
Born (1976-12-01) December 1, 1976 (age 47)
Pekin, Illinois
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceWindermere, Florida
SpouseLori Points
Career
CollegeUniversity of Illinois
Turned professional1999
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
(past champion status)
Former tour(s)Web.com Tour
Professional wins7
Highest ranking45 (May 19, 2013)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
Korn Ferry Tour4
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT38: 2013
PGA ChampionshipT10: 2011
U.S. OpenT58: 2015
The Open ChampionshipT32: 2014

Early years and amateur career

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Born and raised in Pekin, Illinois, Points attended Pekin High School,[2] and the University of Illinois, where he was a third team All-American. Points won the Illinois State Amateur Championship in 1995, 1998, and 1999. He lost to Tiger Woods in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur in 1996. Points turned professional in 1999.

Professional career

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Points played on the Buy.com Tour (later Web.com Tour) from 2001 to 2004 and won three events: the 2001 Buy.com Inland Empire Open, the 2004 Northeast Pennsylvania Classic and the 2004 Pete Dye West Virginia Classic. He earned his PGA Tour card by finishing second on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2004. He played on the PGA Tour in 2005 and 2006, but dropped back to the Nationwide Tour for 2007 and 2008. At the Miccosukee Championship in 2008, he holed his second shot from the fairway on the last hole on Sunday with a wedge and ended up winning in a playoff over Matt Bettencourt for his fourth career win. He finished 16th on the money list to earn his PGA Tour card for 2009.

Points had his first successful year on the PGA Tour in 2009. He recorded four top-10 finishes, including a third-place finish at the HP Byron Nelson Championship en route to a 66th-place finish on the money list.

In February 2011, Points won his first PGA Tour title at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He finished two strokes ahead of American Hunter Mahan, aided by an approach shot on the par-five 14th, which he holed for an eagle. He also won the pro-am portion with amateur partner Bill Murray.[3] The victory helped him finish 37th on the money list, his best career finish to date. Points led the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship by one stroke over Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler going into the final hole of the tournament. He bogeyed the hole and they went to a sudden death playoff. Fowler won the playoff on the first extra hole with a birdie.

He won his second title on the PGA Tour in 2013 at the Shell Houston Open, sinking a 13-foot (4 m) putt on the 72nd hole to save par and win by a stroke.[4] Points won again in 2017 at the Puerto Rico Open starting the last round with five straight birdies and shooting a final round 66 to take his third PGA Tour title.

Points has been featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Amateur wins

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  • 1992 Junior PGA Championship
  • 1995 Illinois Amateur
  • 1998 Illinois Amateur, Legends of Indiana Intercollegiate
  • 1999 Illinois Amateur

Professional wins (7)

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PGA Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Feb 13, 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 63-70-71-67=271 −15 2 strokes   Hunter Mahan
2 Mar 31, 2013 Shell Houston Open 64-71-71-66=272 −16 1 stroke   Billy Horschel,   Henrik Stenson
3 Mar 26, 2017 Puerto Rico Open 64-69-69-66=268 −20 2 strokes   Bryson DeChambeau,   Retief Goosen,
  Bill Lunde

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2012 Wells Fargo Championship   Rickie Fowler,   Rory McIlroy Fowler won with birdie on first extra hole

Nationwide Tour wins (4)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Sep 30, 2001 Buy.com Inland Empire Open 65-66-68-68=267 −21 Playoff   Rod Pampling,   Mark Wurtz
2 Jun 20, 2004 Northeast Pennsylvania Classic 67-66-71-66=270 −14 Playoff   James Driscoll
3 Jul 18, 2004 Pete Dye West Virginia Classic 65-62-68-70=265 −23 5 strokes   Nick Cassini
4 Oct 26, 2008 Miccosukee Championship 73-70-62-67=272 −12 Playoff   Matt Bettencourt

Nationwide Tour playoff record (3–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2001 Buy.com Inland Empire Open   Rod Pampling,   Mark Wurtz Won with birdie on third extra hole
Wurtz eliminated by birdie on first hole
2 2004 Northeast Pennsylvania Classic   James Driscoll Won with par on first extra hole
3 2008 Miccosukee Championship   Matt Bettencourt Won with birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Masters Tournament CUT T38 CUT
U.S. Open T69 CUT CUT CUT CUT T58
The Open Championship CUT CUT T32
PGA Championship T16 T10 CUT T40 T54
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 4
Totals 0 0 0 0 1 2 17 8
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2014 Open Championship – 2017 PGA, current)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
The Players Championship CUT CUT T48 CUT CUT CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014
Match Play
Championship T45 T62
Invitational T19 T59
Champions T66 T68
  Did not play

"T" = Tied

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 20 2013 Ending 19 May 2013" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  2. ^ "Points puts up a 65 in Pebble Beach Pro-Am". Journal Star. Peoria, Illinois. Associated Press. February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  3. ^ "D.A. Points wins first PGA Tour title". ESPN. Associated Press. February 14, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  4. ^ "D.A. Points triumphs at Houston". ESPN. Associated Press. April 1, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
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