Michael Hoey (golfer)

Michael George Wilfred Hoey (born 13 February 1979) is a retired Northern Irish professional golfer who played on the European Tour and the Challenge Tour.

Michael Hoey
Hoey in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Michael George Wilfred Hoey
Born	(1979-02-13) 13 February 1979 (age 46) Ballymoney, Northern Ireland
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb; 12 st 8 lb)
Sporting nationality	Northern Ireland
Residence	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Spouse	Beverley Hoey ​ (m. 2011)​
Children	1
Career
College	Clemson University
Turned professional	2002
Former tour(s)	European Tour Challenge Tour
Professional wins	8
Highest ranking	74 (25 March 2012)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	5
Challenge Tour	4
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	CUT: 2002
PGA Championship	DQ: 2012
U.S. Open	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT: 2001, 2012

Amateur career

Hoey was born in Ballymoney but played much of his early golf at Shandon Park Golf Club in East Belfast. He won the British Amateur Championship in 2001 and was a member of the victorious 2001 Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team. As British Amateur Champion, he was invited to play in the Masters Tournament in 2002, where he missed the cut by a single stroke. He turned professional later that year. He played his collegiate golf at Clemson University.

Professional career

Until 2009, Hoey had struggled to secure his place on the main European Tour and had mostly competed in the second tier Challenge Tour where he has three tournament victories, the 2005 BA-CA Golf Open, the 2007 Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata, and the 2008 Banque Populaire Moroccan Classic. He finished 8th on the end of season rankings in 2005, which gave him automatic promotion to the European Tour. Following a largely unsuccessful début season in 2006, he returned to the Challenge Tour the following year. He regained his playing privileges on the European Tour for the 2009 season at final qualifying school.

Early in 2009, Hoey finished runner-up to Retief Goosen in the Africa Open on the Sunshine Tour. Then in April, he claimed his first European Tour title, at the Estoril Open de Portugal where he defeated Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño on the third hole of a sudden death playoff.^[2] The win also gave him a one-year exemption on the European Tour. He won twice in 2011, including his most prestigious title to date at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He picked up his fourth victory on the European Tour in 2012 at the Trophée Hassan II.

In July 2013, Hoey won his fifth European Tour title at the M2M Russian Open, prevailing by four strokes from Alexandre Kaleka and Matthew Nixon. His victory was set up by a third round score of 65, which took him into the lead heading into the final round.

Hoey represented Ireland, alongside Gareth Maybin at the 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup where they finished in 24th position.

In February 2022, Hoey announced his retirement from professional golf, becoming a referee on the European Tour.^[3]

Amateur wins

• 1998 Irish Amateur Open Championship
• 2001 Amateur Championship

Professional wins (8)

European Tour wins (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	5 Apr 2009	Estoril Open de Portugal	−7 (66-76-69-66=277)	Playoff	Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño
2	22 May 2011	Madeira Islands Open1	−10 (72-68-67-71=278)	2 strokes	Jamie Elson, Chris Gane
3	2 Oct 2011	Alfred Dunhill Links Championship	−22 (66-66-66-68=266)	2 strokes	Rory McIlroy
4	25 Mar 2012	Trophée Hassan II	−17 (74-67-65-65=271)	3 strokes	Damien McGrane
5	28 Jul 2013	M2M Russian Open	−16 (70-67-65-70=272)	4 strokes	Alexandre Kaleka, Matthew Nixon

¹Dual-ranking event with the Challenge Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2009	Estoril Open de Portugal	Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño	Won with par on third extra hole

Challenge Tour wins (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	4 Sep 2005	BA-CA Golf Open	−19 (67-64-67-67=265)	1 stroke	Steven Jeppesen
2	22 Apr 2007	Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata	−13 (66-67-68-71=272)	Playoff	Liam Bond
3	4 May 2008	Banque Populaire Moroccan Classic	−12 (67-70-71-68=276)	1 stroke	Greig Hutcheon, Julien Quesne
4	22 May 2011	Madeira Islands Open1	−10 (72-68-67-71=278)	2 strokes	Jamie Elson, Chris Gane

¹Dual-ranking event with the European Tour

Challenge Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2007	Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata	Liam Bond	Won with birdie on first extra hole
2	2021	B-NL Challenge Trophy	Alfredo García-Heredia, Marcus Helligkilde, Haraldur Magnús	García-Heredia won with birdie on seventh extra hole Magnús eliminated by par on third hole Hoey eliminated by birdie on first hole

Results in major championships

Michael Hoey

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament		CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship	CUT
PGA Championship

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship			CUT		WD
PGA Championship			DQ

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = disqualified
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament	2011	2012
Match Play
Championship
Invitational		T71
Champions	T62

  Did not play

"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur

• European Youths' Team Championship (representing Ireland): 1998, 2000^[4]
• European Amateur Team Championship (representing Ireland): 1999, 2001
• Palmer Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1999
• Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2001 (winners)

Professional

• World Cup (representing Ireland): 2007
• European Championships (representing Ireland): 2018

See also

• 2005 Challenge Tour graduates
• 2008 European Tour Qualifying School graduates
• List of golfers with most Challenge Tour wins