Stuart Manley

Stuart Manley
Personal information
Born (1979-01-15) 15 January 1979 (age 45)
Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight83 kg (183 lb; 13.1 st)
Sporting nationality Wales
ResidenceAberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
Spouse
Nichola
​
(m. 2005)​
Career
CollegeUniversity of West Florida
Turned professional2003
Current tour(s)European Tour
Challenge Tour
Professional wins7
Number of wins by tour
Challenge Tour4
Other3
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 2017

Stuart Manley (born 15 January 1979) is a Welsh professional golfer.

Early life

Manley was born in Mountain Ash in the historic county of Glamorgan. He showed sporting promise at an early age, and at age 16 had trials with the football clubs Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Luton Town. However, he chose to concentrate on golf, taking a four-year scholarship to the University of West Florida. The highlight of his amateur career was playing in the 2003 Walker Cup.

Professional career

Manley turned professional in later 2003, and immediately joined the Challenge Tour, finishing 90th in his first season. At the end of that year he came through the qualifying school to earn a place on the European Tour for the first time. However, Manley has consistently failed to establish himself at the highest level; he is yet to retain his card by finishing in the top 115 at season's end, and has only regained it via the Challenge Tour in 2007 and qualifying school in 2008, 2010 and 2013.

Manley graduated from the PGA EuroPro Tour in 2012,[1] returning to the Challenge Tour in 2013 where he won the Finnish Challenge. He narrowly missed out on winning a European Tour card, finishing 19th on the Challenge Tour rankings.[2] However, he came 10th in European Tour Qualifying School to earn a 2014 European Tour category.[3]

Manley hit the headlines in 2013 when, during the third round of the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne, he hit a hole-in-one followed by an 11 at the next hole. Manley had originally believed the hole-in-one had won him a Mercedes-Benz car, only to find out afterwards that the prize only applied to the final round of the tournament. He attributed the following score of 11 to his shock and disappointment at not winning the car, but still eventually ended with an even-par round of 72.[4]

In February 2017 Manley finished runner-up in the Joburg Open, one of the Open Qualifying Series events. This finish gave him an entry to the 2017 Open Championship, his first major championship. The runner-up finish matched his previous best in a European Tour event, the 2013 Hong Kong Open, where he lost in a playoff. Despite his early season success, Manley had a poor season and failed to retain his card, returning to the Challenge Tour for 2018.

Manley showed some good form in 2018. In May he was third in the Andalucía Costa del Sol Match Play 9 after losing 3&2 to Grant Forrest in the semi-final. In June he was involved in two playoffs in two weeks, losing in the KPMG Trophy to Pedro Figueiredo after Figueiredo made a birdie at the first extra hole and then winning the Hauts de France Golf Open at the third extra hole when Grant Forrest made a bogey. He was also runner-up in the Northern Ireland Open and finished the season 9th in the Order of Merit to earn a place on the 2019 European Tour.

Professional wins (7)

Challenge Tour wins (4)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 4 Aug 2013 Finnish Challenge −21 (65-69-64-69=267) 2 strokes Portugal José-Filipe Lima
2 17 Jun 2018 Hauts de France Golf Open −6 (68-69-73-68=278) Playoff Scotland Grant Forrest
3 18 Jul 2021 Euram Bank Open −18 (67-65-65-65=262) 1 stroke Scotland Ewen Ferguson
4 25 Jun 2023 Blot Open de Bretagne −9 (68-62-71-70=271) 2 strokes Spain Manuel Elvira, England Lee Slattery

Challenge Tour playoff record (1–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2018 KPMG Trophy Portugal Pedro Figueiredo, Sweden Anton Karlsson Figueiredo won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2018 Hauts de France Golf Open Scotland Grant Forrest Won with par on third extra hole

PGA EuroPro Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runners-up
1 3 Aug 2012 Eagle Orchid Scottish Masters −7 (72-66-68=206) 1 stroke Wales Oliver Farr, Republic of Ireland Michael McGeady

Jamega Pro Golf Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 26 Mar 2013 Burnham & Berrow −3 (69-70=139) 3 strokes England Simon Lilly

Other wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runners-up
1 26 Sep 2012 Welsh National PGA Championship −5 (64-71=135) 3 strokes Wales Andrew Barnett, Wales Richard Dinsdale

Playoff record

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2013 Hong Kong Open Spain Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Thailand Prom Meesawat Jiménez won with birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament 2017
The Open Championship CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut
Note: Manley only played in The Open Championship.

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ "Congratulations Stuart Manley". PGA EuroPro Tour. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Challenge Tour Rankings". European Tour. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Final Qualifying Stage". European Tour. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  4. ^ "World Cup of Golf: Stuart Manley hits hole-in-one - then takes 11". BBC Sport. 23 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  5. ^ "EGA Events, Results, European Team Championships, European Youths' Team Championship". European Golf Association. Retrieved 12 January 2023.