Alex Čejka
Alexander Čejka (born 2 December 1970) is a Czech-German professional golfer.
| Alex Čejka | |
|---|---|
 Čejka in 2012 | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Alexander Čejka |
| Born | 2 December 1970 Mariánské Lázně, Czechoslovakia |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) |
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Nationality |  Czechoslovakia Germany |
| Residence | Munich, Germany Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1989 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour (past champion status) |
| Former tour(s) | European Tour Web.com Tour |
| Professional wins | 12 |
| Highest ranking | 33 (7 September 2003)[1] |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 1 |
| European Tour | 4 |
| Korn Ferry Tour | 1 |
| Challenge Tour | 4 |
| Other | 4 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | 26th: 2004 |
| PGA Championship | 4th: 2003 |
| U.S. Open | T8: 2010 |
| The Open Championship | T11: 1996 |
Čejka was born in Mariánské Lázně, Czechoslovakia. He left the country with his parents as a refugee at the age of nine, eventually settling in Munich, where he lived for many years, becoming a West German citizen. Čejka lives in Las Vegas and also has a home in Prague.
Professional career
Čejka turned professional in 1989 and played on the European Tour from 1992 to 2002. His biggest tournament win was the Volvo Masters at Valderrama in 1995. That year he came 6th on the European Tour's Order of Merit. Since 2003 he has played mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour. In 2003 he reached as high as No. 33 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Čejka took a five-shot lead into the final round of the 2009 Players Championship after rounds of 66, 67, and 72. He shot a 42 on the front nine, however, en route to a 79 and an eight-stroke loss to Henrik Stenson.
He has represented Germany in the World Cup 12 times, including in 2011 at Mission Hills Haikou in Hainan Island, teaming with partner Martin Kaymer to tie for second, two strokes behind the winning United States team of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland. Čejka teamed with Kaymer in four World Cup appearances.
In 2012 Čejka finished 177th on the PGA Tour and moved to the Web.com Tour. He finished 64th in 2013, then 6th in 2014 to earn a return to the PGA Tour.
Čejka won his first PGA Tour event in his 287th Tour start, the 2015 Puerto Rico Open. Two players bogeyed the 18th hole ensuring a five-man playoff; Čejka won with a birdie at the first playoff hole.[2] He also is the first golfer born in the Czech Republic to win a PGA Tour event and first non-American to win the Puerto Rico Open.
He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[3]
With most of the sports world on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Čejka played on the Arizona-based Outlaw Tour, one of the few professional golf tours in operation during the pandemic, where he won two events.[4]
Professional wins (14)
PGA Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 Mar 2015 | Puerto Rico Open | 70-67-75-69=281 | −7 | Playoff |  Jon Curran,  Emiliano Grillo, Tim Petrovic, Sam Saunders |
PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2015 | Puerto Rico Open | Jon Curran, Emiliano Grillo, Tim Petrovic, Sam Saunders |
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2017 | Shriners Hospitals for Children Open | Patrick Cantlay,  Kim Meen-whee |
Cantlay won with par on second extra hole |
European Tour wins (4)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 Mar 1995 | Turespaña Masters Open de Andalucía | 71-68-70-69=278 | −6 | 3 strokes |  Costantino Rocca |
| 2 | 13 Aug 1995 | Hohe Brücke Open | 61-68-68-70=267 | −21 | 4 strokes |  Ignacio Garrido,  Rolf Muntz, Ronan Rafferty |
| 3 | 29 Oct 1995 | Volvo Masters | 74-66-72-70=282 | −2 | 2 strokes |  Colin Montgomerie |
| 4 | 13 Oct 2002 | Trophée Lancôme | 64-68-72-68=272 | −21 | 2 strokes | Carlos Rodiles |
Web.com Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 Feb 2014 | Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship | 68-68-63=199* | −14 | 3 strokes | Andrew Putnam |
*Note: The 2014 Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.
Challenge Tour wins (4)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 Jun 1991 | Audi Quattro Trophy |  Glyn Krause, John Oates | |||
| 2 | 25 Jul 1993 | Audi Open | 72-66-71=209 | −7 | Playoff | Simon P. Brown, Peter Harrison, Liam White |
| 3 | 8 Jun 1997 | KB Golf Challenge | 68-70-65-68=271 | −17 | 2 strokes | Michele Reale |
| 4 | 16 Jun 2002 | Galeria Kaufhof Pokal Challenge | 66-69-68-68=271 | −17 | 2 strokes | John E. Morgan, Marcel Siem |
Outlaw Tour wins (2)
- 2020 Arrowhead Classic, Parker Open[4]
Other wins (2)
- 1990 Czech Open
- 1992 Czech Open
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 44 | |||
| U.S. Open | T50 | |||
| The Open Championship | T11 | CUT | ||
| PGA Championship | T52 | T65 |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 26 | |||||||||
| U.S. Open | T61 | T60 | ||||||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | T13 | CUT | CUT | CUT | |||||
| PGA Championship | 4 | CUT | CUT |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T35 | |||||
| U.S. Open | T8 | CUT | T41 | T60 | ||
| The Open Championship | ||||||
| PGA Championship | WD |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 23 | 14 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (twice)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)
Results in The Players Championship
| Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | T33 | T12 | CUT | T9 | T58 | CUT | 74 | T9 | T79 | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match Play | R16 | R32 | R64 | ||||
| Championship | T55 | NT1 | T12 | T28 | |||
| Invitational | T42 | T9 |
1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Team appearances
See also
References
- "Week 36 2003 Ending 7 Sep 2003" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- "Alex Cejka gets 1st PGA Tour victory". ESPN. Associated Press. 8 March 2015.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alex Čejka". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 22 June 2019.
- Myers, Alex (27 April 2020). "Alex Cejka wins second consecutive mini-tour event thanks to wild rally that included a hole-in-one". Golf Digest.
External links
- Official website
- Alex Cejka at the European Tour official site
- Alex Cejka at the PGA Tour official site
- Alex Cejka at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
- Alex Cejka at the International Olympic Committee
- Alex Cejka at the Olympic Channel
- Alex Čejka at Olympedia
- Alexander Cejka at the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (in German)