Marcus Fraser (golfer)

Marcus Fraser (born 26 July 1978) is an Australian professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour of Australasia and Asian Tour.

Marcus Fraser
Fraser at the 2008 KLM Open
Personal information
Full nameMarcus Fraser
Born (1978-07-26) 26 July 1978 (age 46)
Corowa, NSW, Australia
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight89 kg (196 lb; 14.0 st)
Sporting nationality Australia
ResidenceMelbourne, Australia
Spouse
Carlie
(m. 2008)
Career
Turned professional2002
Current tour(s)Asian Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia
Former tour(s)European Tour
Challenge Tour
Von Nida Tour
Professional wins7
Highest ranking51 (3 February 2013)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour3
Asian Tour2
PGA Tour of Australasia1
Challenge Tour3
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipT47: 2013
U.S. OpenT45: 2007
The Open ChampionshipT20: 2015

Career

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Born in Corowa, New South Wales, Fraser spent his early years working at a supermarket. He completed a distinguished amateur career in 2002, finishing as the top individual in the Eisenhower Trophy world teams event.

He turned professional in 2002 and completed his first seasons playing on Europe's second tier Challenge Tour. In 2003, he won three tournaments in one month, the Danish Open, the Talma Finnish Challenge and the Russian Open, which was also a European Tour event. The last of those wins secured his card on the European Tour for 2004. He has maintained his playing status since by consistently finishing inside the top 120 on the Order of Merit, with a best of 25th place in 2012. Fraser has played in over 200 events on the European Tour and his best world ranking position was 51st. He is one of the shortest driving guys on Tour, averaging 271 yards off the tee in 2016.

On 25 April 2010, Fraser won the 2010 Ballantine's Championship with a closing 69 to finish four shots clear. Fraser claimed his first victory in seven years, completing a wire-to-wire win during a weather reduced 54 hole event.[2]

In June 2012, Fraser lost out in a playoff to Danny Willett at the BMW International Open in Cologne. He led after a 64 during round one, but finished with a bogey on the 72nd hole to fall into a playoff. Fraser three-putted the fourth extra hole to lose the tournament when Willett made his chip and putt for par.

Fraser won his third European Tour title at the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia in February 2016. He capitalised on a late collapse by leader Lee Soo-min, who had led by two with three holes to play. He won by two strokes, as Lee dropped four strokes in his final three holes, to end a winless drought of almost six years, during which he played in 119 events.[3]

He played in the first Olympic Golf Tournament since 1904 representing Australia with Scott Hend, due to the retirements of compatriots Jason Day, Adam Scott and Marc Leishman. After one round, he led the tournament, posting an 8-under-par 63, setting an Olympic record (tied by Matt Kuchar in the last day). Fraser shot a two-under 69 in the second round, holding the 36-hole lead. He had a bad weekend (72-72) but was still able to finish T5.

Amateur wins

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Professional wins (7)

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European Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 17 Aug 2003 BMW Russian Open1 −19 (68-65-68-68=269) Playoff   Martin Wiegele
2 25 Apr 2010 Ballantine's Championship2,3 −12 (65-70-69=204)* 4 strokes   Gareth Maybin,   Brett Rumford
3 21 Feb 2016 Maybank Championship Malaysia2 −15 (66-69-66-68=269) 2 strokes   Lee Soo-min,   Miguel Tabuena

*Note: The 2010 Ballantine's Championship was shortened to 54 holes due to bad weather.
1Dual-ranking event with the Challenge Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
3Co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–3)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2003 BMW Russian Open   Martin Wiegele Won with par on second extra hole
2 2008 Sportsbet Australian Masters   Rod Pampling Lost to par on third extra hole
3 2012 BMW International Open   Danny Willett Lost to par on fourth extra hole
4 2013 Ballantine's Championship   Brett Rumford,   Peter Whiteford Rumford won with eagle on first extra hole

Asian Tour wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 25 Apr 2010 Ballantine's Championship1,2 −12 (65-70-69=204)* 4 strokes   Gareth Maybin,   Brett Rumford
2 21 Feb 2016 Maybank Championship Malaysia1 −15 (66-69-66-68=269) 2 strokes   Lee Soo-min,   Miguel Tabuena

*Note: The 2010 Ballantine's Championship was shortened to 54 holes due to bad weather.
1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour

Asian Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2013 Ballantine's Championship   Brett Rumford,   Peter Whiteford Rumford won with eagle on first extra hole

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 24 Jan 2021 Gippsland Super 6 −2 (22) 1 stroke   Alessandro Noseda

PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2008 Sportsbet Australian Masters   Rod Pampling Lost to par on third extra hole
2 2011 Australian PGA Championship   Robert Allenby,   Greg Chalmers Chalmers won with par on first extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 8 Jun 2003 Nykredit Danish Open −12 (70-71-69-66=276) 3 strokes   Grégory Bourdy,   Joakim Rask
2 3 Aug 2003 Talma Finnish Challenge −13 (67-66-71-71=275) Playoff   Tony Edlund
3 17 Aug 2003 BMW Russian Open1 −19 (68-65-68-68=269) Playoff   Martin Wiegele

1Dual-ranking event with the European Tour

Challenge Tour playoff record (2–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2003 Talma Finnish Challenge   Tony Edlund Won with eagle on third extra hole
2 2003 BMW Russian Open   Martin Wiegele Won with par on second extra hole

Von Nida Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 30 Mar 2003 Volvo Trucks Klassic −23 (68-66-69-66=269) 8 strokes   Gavin Hills

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T45
The Open Championship CUT T35
PGA Championship
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT T64
The Open Championship CUT T54 T20 CUT
PGA Championship T66 T47 T73
Tournament 2019
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
  Did not play

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

Results in World Golf Championships

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Results not in chronological order before 2015.

Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Championship T45 T24 T60 60 T58
Match Play R32 T51
Invitational T58 T38
Champions T63 T42 T70
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

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Amateur

References

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  1. ^ "Week 5 2013 Ending 3 Feb 2013" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Aussie Marcus Fraser eases to victory in South Korea". BBC Sport. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  3. ^ "Maybank Championship Malaysia: Lee collapse helps Fraser win". BBC Sport. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
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