Rich Beem

Rich Beem
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Richard Michael Beem
Born	(1970-08-24) August 24, 1970 Phoenix, Arizona
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Austin, Texas
Career
College	New Mexico State University
Turned professional	1994
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour (1999–2012) European Tour (2012)
Professional wins	5
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	3
Other	2
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	T15: 2003
U.S. Open	T78: 2008
The Open Championship	T20: 2007
PGA Championship	Won: 2002

Richard Michael Beem (born August 24, 1970) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Beem was born in Phoenix, Arizona, grew up in El Paso, Texas, and played college golf at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.

Beem turned professional in 1994. His early career was broken up by a spell in Seattle selling car stereos and cell phones. He later regained interest after J. P. Hayes won the 1998 Buick Classic [1].

This changed in 1999 when Beem won the Kemper Open as a rookie. His career took a further leap forward in 2002 with a victory at the The International in Castle Rock, Colorado.

Two weeks later, Beem won the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National, one of golf's four major tournaments. He shot a par 72 in the first round, but followed that with a six-under 66 in the second round to pull into a five-way tie for first place. In the third round, he again shot 72 and found himself alone in second place, three strokes behind leader Justin Leonard. In the fourth round, Beem fended off Tiger Woods, who birdied his last four holes but finished one shot behind Beem, who shot a final round 68 to Woods' 69. This victory helped establish Beem in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Until this win, Beem was best known for the book Bud, Sweat and Tees: A Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour by Alan Shipnuck, which profiled his rookie year on the PGA Tour and the often wild lifestyle of him and his caddy, Steve Duplantis.

At the 2007 Nissan Open at Riviera, Beem made a hole-in-one at the 14th hole on live television on Saturday to win a new red Altima coupe, which he immediately ascended, embraced, and sat atop of in triumph. The sequence was later made into a Nissan commercial. (video) Beem credited Peter Jacobsen for inspiring his reaction; Jacobsen aced the same hole in 1994 and hopped into the nearby 300ZX convertible and pretended to drive it.

Beem was sidelined in 2010 after undergoing back surgery to repair damage to his C6 and C7 vertebrae. While Beem was expected to only miss six weeks, rehabilitation issues caused the layoff to encompass the remainder of the 2010 season. Beem played the 2011 season on a medical exemption that required him to make $658,100 in 17 events. He missed the his first six cuts of the 2011 season before making the cut at the Valero Texas Open. He finished tied for 15th. Beem made just five cuts in 21 events. As a result, he lost his tour card and played the remainder of the season out of the "past champions" category in 2012. He played on the European Tour in 2012, the last year of his ten-year exemption on that tour for winning the 2002 PGA Championship.

In 2015, Beem joined Sky Sports as a television commentator and golf analyst. He also planned to play at the UBS Hong Kong Open, but gave up his sponsor exemption to allow Ian Poulter to keep his European Tour card.

Beem resides in Austin, Texas.

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (3)

Legend

Major championships (1)

Other PGA Tour (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	May 30, 1999	Kemper Open	−10 (66-67-71-70=274)	1 stroke	Bill Glasson, Bradley Hughes
2	Aug 4, 2002	The International	44 points (10-0-15-19=44)*	1 point	Steve Lowery
3	Aug 18, 2002	PGA Championship	−10 (72-66-72-68=278)	1 stroke	Tiger Woods

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	2005	BellSouth Classic	Arjun Atwal, Brandt Jobe, Phil Mickelson, José María Olazábal	Mickelson won with birdie on fourth extra hole Olazábal eliminated with par on third hole Atwal and Jobe eliminated with par on first hole

*The International used Modified Stableford scoring.

Other wins (2)

• 2002 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with John Daly and Jim Furyk), Hyundai Team Matches (with Peter Lonard)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
2002	PGA Championship	3 shot deficit	−10 (72-66-72-68=278)	1 stroke	Tiger Woods

Results timeline

Tournament	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T15	CUT	CUT	T42	54	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	T78	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	T43	T71	CUT	CUT	T20	WD	DNP
PGA Championship	T70	DNP	DNP	1	CUT	CUT	CUT	T49	CUT	CUT	T43

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	CUT	T36	CUT	CUT	CUT

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
WD = Withdrew
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	3
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	3
PGA Championship	1	0	0	1	1	1	14	5
Totals	1	0	0	1	1	3	33	12

• Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (2002 PGA – 2003 Masters)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1

See also

• List of men's major championships winning golfers

External links

• Official website
• Rich Beem at the PGA Tour official site
• Rich Beem at the European Tour official site
• Rich Beem at the Official World Golf Ranking official site