Howard Clark (golfer)

Clark was born in Leeds, England. He learned the game from his father, who was a scratch amateur. He won the 1971 Boys Amateur Championship and played for Great Britain & Ireland in the 1973 Walker Cup.

Clark turned professional in 1973 and joined the European Tour in 1974. His first professional tournament win came in the 1975 Greater Manchester Open.^[1] In 1976 he won the T.P.D. Under-25 Championship and his first win on the European Tour was two years later at the 1978 Portuguese Open. Clark's final tally of European Tour wins was eleven, including pairs of wins in four consecutive seasons from 1984 to 1987. He also won the individual title at the World Cup of Golf in 1985. His best placing on the Order of Merit was third, which he achieved in both 1984 and 1986. His form fell away in the early 1990s but revived for a time in the middle of that decade, and he made the top twenty on the Order of Merit in 1994 and 1995. His last season on the tour was 1999 and he subsequently worked as an on-course commentator for BBC Sport before moving to Sky Sports.

Clark played in the Ryder Cup six times and was on three winning European teams and also the 1989 team which tied the match and retained the Cup.

• 1971 Boys Amateur Championship

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	15 Apr 1978	Portuguese Open	−1 (71-75-71-74=291)	1 stroke	Brian Barnes, Simon Hobday
2	29 Apr 1978	Madrid Open	−6 (70-70-72-70=282)	2 strokes	José María Cañizares
3	29 Apr 1984	Cepsa Madrid Open (2)	−14 (66-68-69-71=274)	3 strokes	José María Cañizares
4	28 May 1984	Whyte & Mackay PGA Championship	−12 (64-69-71=204)*	2 strokes	Gordon J. Brand, Bernhard Langer
5	16 Jun 1985	Jersey Open	−1 (71-69-71-68=279)	1 stroke	Warren Humphreys, Philip Parkin, Ian Woosnam
6	11 Aug 1985	Glasgow Open	−6 (71-65-70-68=274)	Playoff	Sandy Lyle
7	27 Apr 1986	Cepsa Madrid Open (3)	−14 (70-68-67-69=274)	1 stroke	Seve Ballesteros
8	18 May 1986	Peugeot Spanish Open	−16 (68-71-66-67=272)	1 stroke	Ian Baker-Finch
9	22 Mar 1987	Moroccan Open	−8 (73-73-66-72=284)	3 strokes	Mark James
10	9 Aug 1987	PLM Open	−17 (68-73-67-63=271)	2 strokes	Ossie Moore
11	2 Oct 1988	English Open	−9 (72-71-67-69=279)	3 strokes	Peter Baker

*Note: The 1984 Whyte & Mackay PGA Championship was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1985	Glasgow Open	Sandy Lyle	Won with birdie on second extra hole
2	1995	Murphy's Irish Open	Stuart Cage, Sam Torrance	Torrance won with eagle on second extra hole Cage eliminated by par on first hole

• 1975 Greater Manchester Open
• 1976 T.P.D. Under-25 Championship
• 1985 World Cup (individual title)

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

• Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (1987 Masters – 1989 Open Championship)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Amateur

• Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1973

Professional

• Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland/Europe): 1977, 1981, 1985 (winners), 1987 (winners), 1989 (tied, cup retained), 1995 (winners)
• Hennessy Cognac Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1978 (winners), (representing England) 1984 (winners)
• World Cup (representing England): 1978, 1984, 1985 (individual winner), 1987
• Dunhill Cup (representing England): 1985, 1986, 1987 (winners), 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995
• Nissan Cup (representing Europe): 1985, 1986

• List of golfers with most European Tour wins

• Howard Clark at the European Tour official site
• Howard Clark at the Official World Golf Ranking official site