Ricardo Santos (golfer)

Ricardo Santos (born 7 September 1982) is a Portuguese professional golfer who plays on the Challenge Tour. He won the 2012 Madeira Islands Open.

Ricardo Santos
Personal information
Born (1982-09-07) 7 September 1982
Faro, Portugal
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Nationality Portugal
ResidenceVilamoura, Portugal
SpouseRita
ChildrenVictoria (b. 2009)
Career
Turned professional2006
Current tour(s)Challenge Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
Professional wins5
Number of wins by tour
European Tour1
Challenge Tour3
Other2
Achievements and awards
Sir Henry Cotton
Rookie of the Year		2012

Professional career

Santos turned professional in 2006. From 2007 to 2011 he played regularly on the Challenge Tour.[1] In 2007, he was given an invite to the Madeira Islands Open on the European Tour, and led after the first round.[2] He began the 2011 season well, making nine of his first ten cuts, including seven top-15 finishes. He then recorded his first Challenge Tour victory at The Princess, which took him to the top of the tour rankings.[3] He was the first Portuguese-born golfer to win at this level, as José-Filipe Lima and Daniel Silva, despite representing Portugal, were born in France and South Africa respectively. He eventually finished 2011 in fourth place in the Order of Merit to gain a place on the European Tour in 2012.

In 2012 Santos won on the European Tour for the first time, on home soil at the Madeira Islands Open. He was named the European Tour's 2012 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, finishing 90th in the Order of Merit. He had a good start to 2013 with five top-10 finishes between January and May. Despite a disappointing end to the season he finished 65th in the Order of Merit. 2014 was less successful and Santos finished 116th in the Order of Merit. In 2015 he split his time between the European Tour and the Challenge Tour.

Since 2015 Santos has played on the Challenge Tour. He was joint runner-up in the 2017 Hauts de France Golf Open. In 2019 Santos was runner-up in the D+D Real Czech Challenge and then won the next event, the Swiss Challenge, his first win on the tour since 2012.

Professional wins (5)

European Tour wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 13 May 2012 Madeira Islands Open - Portugal1 −22 (68-67-68-63=266) 4 strokes Magnus A. Carlsson

1Dual-ranking event with the Challenge Tour

Challenge Tour wins (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 3 Jul 2011 The Princess −16 (73-68-65-66=272) 3 strokes Daniel Brooks
2 13 May 2012 Madeira Islands Open - Portugal1 −22 (68-67-68-63=266) 4 strokes Magnus A. Carlsson
3 9 Jun 2019 Swiss Challenge −15 (65-68-71-65=269) 1 stroke Richard Bland, Moritz Lampert

1Dual-ranking event with the European Tour

Other wins (2)
  • 2010 Pestana Sives IGT Challenge
  • 2011 Pestana Alto TGC Championships

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References
  1. Challenge Tour - Players. Ricardo Santos: Career Details
  2. Santos claims early Madeira lead
  3. Maiden title for Santos at The Princess
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