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Vicente Fernandez  |
EXEMPT STATUS: Top 31 on All-Time Money List FULL NAME: Vicente Fernandez HEIGHT: 5-10 WEIGHT: 170 BIRTHDATE: April 5, 1946 BIRTHPLACE: Corrientes, Argentina RESIDENCE: Buenos Aires, Argentina FAMILY: Wife, Esther; Gustavo (7/31/74), Norberto (11/29/75) SPECIAL INTERESTS: Sports, music TURNED PROFESSIONAL: 1964 JOINED TOUR: 1996 |
| Champions Tour Victories |
| (4) 1996 Burnet Senior Classic. 1997 Bank One Classic. 1999 Las Vegas Senior Classic. 2003 ACE Group Classic. |
| International Victories |
| 2000 Chrysler Senior Match Play Challenge |
| Other Victories |
| 1968 Argentine Open. 1969 Argentine Open. 1970 Dutch Open. 1972 Ford Maracaibo Open. 1975 Benson & Hedges Festival. 1977 Brazil Open. 1979 Colgate PGA Championship. 1981 Argentine Open 1983 Brazil Open. 1984 Argentine Open, Brazil Open. 1985 Argentine Open. 1986 Argentine Open. 1987 Argentine Open. 1990 Argentine Open, Tenerife Open. 1992 Murphy's English Open. |
| Current Year Charles Schwab Cup Points and Positions |
| 759 (7) |
| Current Year Champions Tour Money and Positions |
| $691,328 (7) |
| Current Year Best Champions Tour Finishes |
| 1--ACE Group Classic, T2--Emerald Coast Classic, 3--Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am, T7--Senior PGA Championship, T9--Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf |
| Current Year Champions Tour Best Round |
| 65 at Round 1, Emerald Coast Classic |
| Current Year Champions Tour Highlights |
| Played all but the first hole of The ACE Group Classic without a bogey and notched his first Champions Tour win in three years, nine months. Three-stroke win over Des Smyth and Tom Watson in Naples included holing a 61-foot birdie putt on the last hole. Hit 44 of 54 greens in regulation at The Club at TwinEagles, including all 18 greens on Sunday...Made just one bogey at the Emerald Coast Classic to T2 along with Leonard Thompson and Larry Nelson, four strokes back of Bob Gilder...Was also the 36-hole leader at the Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am and eventually placed third in Kansas City despite shooting a final-round 69...Finished T7 at the Senior PGA Championship. |
| Best PGA TOUR Finishes |
| T11--1977 Houston Open. |
| Best Champions Tour Finishes |
| 1--1996 Burnet Senior Classic. 1997 Bank One Classic. 1999 Las Vegas Senior Classic. 2003 ACE Group Classic. |
| Best 2002 Champions Tour Finishes |
| 3--SBC Championship, T7--Siebel Classic in Silicon Valley, T8--Emerald Coast Classic, T9--Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf |
| 2002 Season Champions Tour |
| Tournaments Entered--28; in money--27; Top 10 finishes--4 |
| 2002 Season Highlights |
| Failed to finish in the top 31 for the first time in his career and it ended a string of six consecutive trips to the season-ending TOUR Championship...Made a strong run to earn a spot in the year-end event staying in contention all three days at the SBC Championship in San Antonio, but could only muster a solo third-place finish (two strokes behind winner Dana Quigley) in the year's final full-field event. Finished 35th on the final money list...Played some of his best golf in consecutive events in late March and early April, posting top-10 finishes...Started the string at the Siebel Classic in San Jose with a T7 and followed with consecutive strong outings in Florida at the Emerald Coast Classic (T8) and the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (T9)...Was plagued by off-course distractions during the year, including deaths in his family, and played for much of the last half of the year without his long-time caddie, Brian Deasy, who was battling an illness. |
| Career Highlights |
| 2001: Had pair of runner-up finishes for the fourth straight year...Enjoyed success again at the Las Vegas Senior Classic with a T2. Trailed Jerry McGee by three strokes entering the final round, but shot an even-par 72 and was three strokes back of Bruce Fleisher at the end...Made it to the finals of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Match Play Championship before losing 1-up to Leonard Thompson...Finished second to Bruce Fleisher by two points at the Royal Caribbean Classic, a Modified Stableford-format event. His 15 points on the first day were more than any other player in the field on Friday...Was also among the early leaders at the Nationwide Championship, but was edged out on the final day by Hale Irwin and was T2...Had a run of 20 straight sub-par rounds during the year...Final-round 8-under 64 at the Gold Rush Classic was his lowest since posting a 64 on Sunday at the 1998 Comfort Classic...Capped his season by winning the Chrysler Senior Match Play Challenge at the Hyatt Dorado Beach in Puerto Rico. Went into the event as the lowest of 16 seeded players and upset Larry Nelson, John Jacobs and Ray Floyd en route to the final match against Leonard Thompson. Birdied the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to beat Thompson for the title and $240,000 first-place check...Also won the Argentine Open for the seventh time, becoming the oldest ever to claim the biggest event in the country. 1999: Among the circuit's top-10 money-winners for the first time in his career, eclipsing the seven-figure mark for the first time ever...Ended a 20-month victory drought with a two-stroke win at the Last Vegas Senior Classic. Broke a tie with Dave Eichelberger by making a 30-foot eagle putt at the 16th hole. The $210,000 winner's check in Vegas was his largest as a professional...Also came close to victory earlier in the campaign at the PGA Seniors' Championship. Shared the lead heading into the final round at PGA National, but eventually second to Allen Doyle by two strokes...Was also a runner-up at The ACE Group Classic in Naples, a distant five strokes back of Doyle. 1998: Closed with a 68 at the Las Vegas Senior Classic, but fell one stroke shy of Hale Irwin...Challenged Irwin again at the U.S. Senior Open at Riviera CC, but again came up one short. 1997: Emerged victorious at the final Bank One Classic in Lexington when he seized the lead with three holes to play and went on to record a one-stroke victory over Isao Aoki... 1996: First win was a memorable one...Posted a one-stroke victory at the Burnet Senior Classic in July and in the process, became just the fifth Monday qualifier in Champions Tour history to win a tournament...The breakthrough came in just his eighth start on the Champions Tour...Was in contention with Hale Irwin in his first Champions Tour start before finishing third at the 1996 PGA Seniors' Championship. |
| Personal |
| The second Argentine to take a crack at the Champions Tour. Countryman Roberto De Vicenzo, winner of the 1967 British Open, played throughout the 1980s and early 1990s...Nickname is "Chino"...Competed on the European Tour with current Champions Tour players John Bland, Hugh Baiocchi, Simon Hobday and Jose Maria Canizares...Born with one leg shorter than the other and walks with a slight limp...Caddied for Chi Chi Rodriguez at the 1962 World Cup in Argentina...One of his sons, Gustavo, was his caddie for his first senior win at the Burnet Senior Classic. |