Company name	HSBC Holdings plc
Company logo
Type	Public limited company
traded as
Foundation	1991(HSBC Holdings plc)1865(The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited)
Founder	Sir Thomas Sutherland
Location	8 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom
Locations	7,500 offices in 87 countries & territories
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Douglas Flint (Group Chairman) Stuart Gulliver (Group Chief Executive)
Industry	BankingFinancial servicesInvestment services
Products	Finance and insuranceConsumer BankingCorporate BankingInvestment BankingInvestment ManagementGlobal Wealth ManagementPrivate EquityMortgagesCredit Cards
Revenue	US$ 98.918 billion (2010)
Operating income	US$ 19.037 billion (2010)
Net income	US$ 13.159 billion (2010)
Assets	US$ 2.454 trillion (2010)
Equity	US$ 147.667 billion (2010)
Num employees	276,300 (2011)
Subsid	HSBC Bank plcThe Hongkong and Shanghai Banking CorporationHSBC GLT IndiaHSBC Bank USAHSBC Bank Middle EastHSBC MexicoHSBC Bank BrazilHSBC Finance
Slogan	"The Worlds Local Bank"
Homepage	HSBC.com
Intl	yes }}

HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine. It has around 7,500 offices in 87 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America and around 100 million customers. As of 30 June 2010, it had total assets of $2.418 trillion, of which roughly half were in Europe, a quarter in the Americas and a quarter in Asia.

HSBC Holdings plc was founded in London in 1991 by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to act as a new group holding company and to enable the acquisition of UK-based Midland Bank. The origins of the bank lie in Hong Kong and Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865. Today, HSBC remains the largest bank in Hong Kong, and recent expansion in mainland China, where it is now the largest international bank, has returned it to that part of its roots.

HSBC is a universal bank and is organised within four business groups: Commercial Banking; Global Banking and Markets (investment banking); Personal Financial Services (retail banking); and Private Banking.

HSBC's primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (where it is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index), the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris and the Bermuda Stock Exchange. As of August 2010, it was the largest company listed on the London Stock Exchange, with a market capitalisation of £115.8 billion.

History

Development of the bank

HSBC (abbreviation origin: the "Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation") was founded in the former British colony of Hong Kong (in March 1865) and Shanghai (one month later) by Scotsman Sir Thomas Sutherland (1834–1922). HSBC Holdings plc established in 1990 became the parent company to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in preparation for its purchase of Midland Bank in the United Kingdom and restructuring of ownership domicile for the impending transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China. HSBC Holdings acquisition of Midland Bank gave HSBC Group a substantial market presence in the United Kingdom which was completed in 1992. As part of the takeover conditions for the purchase of Midland Bank, HSBC Holdings plc was required to relocate its world headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993.

Major acquisitions in South America started with the purchase of the Banco Bamerindus of Brazil for $1bn in March 1997 and the acquisition of Roberts SA de Inversiones of Argentina for $600m in May 1997. In 1980, HSBC acquired a 51% shareholding in Marine Midland Bank, which it extended to full ownership in 1987. In May 1999, HSBC continued its US acquisitions with the purchase of Republic National Bank of New York for $10.3bn.

Expansion into Continental Europe took place in April 2000 with the acquisition of Crédit Commercial de France, a large French bank for £6.6bn.

In July 2001 HSBC bought Demirbank, an insolvent Turkish bank. Then in August 2002 HSBC acquired Grupo Financiero Bital, SA de CV, Mexico's third largest retail bank for $1.1bn.

The new headquarters of HSBC Holdings at 8 Canada Square, London officially opened in April 2003.

Then in September 2003 HSBC bought Polski Kredyt Bank SA of Poland for $7.8m.

In June 2004 HSBC expanded into China buying 19.9% of the Bank of Communications of Shanghai.

In the United Kingdom HSBC acquired Marks & Spencer Retail Financial Services Holdings Ltd for £763m in December 2004.

Acquisitions in 2005 included Metris Inc, a US credit card issuer for $1.6bn in August and 70.1% of Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank of Iraq in October.

In April 2006 HSBC bought the 90 branches in Argentina of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro for $155m.

In December 2007 HSBC acquired The Chinese Bank in Taiwan.

In May 2008 HSBC acquired IL&FS; Investment, an Indian retail broking firm.

Subprime crisis

In November 2002 HSBC expanded further in the United States. Under the chairmanship of Sir John Bond, it spent £9bn (US$15.5bn) to acquire Household Finance Corporation (HFC), a US credit card issuer and subprime lender. In a 2003 cover story, The Banker noted "when banking historians look back, they may conclude that [it] was the deal of the first decade of the 21st century". Under the new name of HSBC Finance, the division was the second largest subprime lender in the US.

In March 2009, HSBC announced that it would shut down the branch network of its HSBC Finance arm in the U.S., leading to nearly 6,000 job losses and leaving only the credit card business to continue operating.

Chairman Stephen Green stated, "HSBC has a reputation for telling it as it is. With the benefit of hindsight, this is an acquisition we wish we had not undertaken."; analyst Colin Morton said, "the takeover was an absolute disaster".

Although it was at the centre of the subprime storm, the wider group has weathered the financial crisis of 2007–2010 better than other global banks. According to Bloomberg, "HSBC is one of world’s strongest banks by some measures." When HM Treasury required all UK banks to increase their capital in October 2007, the group transferred £750 million to London within hours, and announced that it had just lent £4 billion to other UK banks. In March 2009, it announced that it had made US$9.3bn of profit in 2008 and announced a £12.5bn (US$17.7bn; HK$138bn) rights issue to enable it to buy other banks that were struggling to survive. However, uncertainty over the rights' issue's implications for institutional investors caused volatility in the Hong Kong stock market: on 9 March 2009 HSBC's share price fell 24.14%, with 12 million shares sold in the last few seconds of trading.

Recovery

On 11th May 2011 the new chief executive Stewart Gulliver announced that HSBCs would refocus its business strategy and that a large-scale retrenchment of operations, particularly in respect of the retail sector, was planned. HSBC would no longer seek to be 'the world's local bank', as costs associated with this were spiralling and US$3.5bn needed to be saved by 2013, with the aim of bringing overheads down from 55% of revenues to 48%. Gulliver stated that HSBC would focus on the business of wealth management in dynamic and developing markets, principally in the UK and far east. Immediate judgement was passed on this plan, with the share price shrinking 1.5%. Gulliver also added that a decision on whether or not to relocate its head office out of the UK tax domain would be made at the end of the year.

2010 Management Shakeup

In 2010, then-chairman Stephen Green planned to depart HSBC to accept a government appointment in the Trade Ministry. Current chief executive Geoghegan was expected to become the next chairman. However, while many current and former senior employees supported the tradition of promoting the chief executive to chairman, many shareholders instead pushed for an external candidate. Geoghegan's detractors noted that while he was effective at getting things done, they argued that his blunt style was unsuited to leading the board and representing HSBC with heads of government, and his appointment as chairman would also flout UK governance guidance that barred chief executives becoming chairman. Geoghegan had reportedly threatened to quit if he was passed over in favour of former Goldman Sachs President John Thornton. HSBC's board of directors had reportedly been split over the succession planning, and investors were alarmed that this row would damage the company.

On 23 September 2010, Geoghegan announced he would step down as chief executive of HSBC. He was succeeded as chief executive of HSBC by Stuart Gulliver, while Green was succeeded as Chairman by Douglas Flint; Flint was serving as HSBC's finance director (chief financial officer).

Curtailments

August 2011: Inline with the profit growth of just 3 percent and a plan to save money as $3.5 billion over the next 2 years, HSBC will cut 25,000 jobs and exit from 20 countries by 2013 as addition of 5,000 jobs cut already announced by the bank earlier in the year. The consumer banking division HSBC will focus on the UK, Hong Kong, high-growth markets such as Mexico, Singapore, Turkey and Brazil, and smaller countries where it has leading market share.

Divestments

August 1, 2011 "to align our U.S. business with our global network and meet the local and international needs of domestic and overseas clients", HSBC Holding Plc, agreed to sell 195 branches in New York and Connecticut for around $1 billion to First Niagara Financial Group Inc. HSBC will also close 13 branches in Connecticut and New Jersey in 2012. The rest of HSBC's U.S. network will only be about half from a total 470 branches before divestments.

Operations

Corporate profile

In February 2008, HSBC was named the world's most valuable banking brand by The Banker magazine. Not known for marked fluctuations in securities exchanges around the world relative to its rivals, HSBC is more well known in banking circles for its conservative and risk-averse approach in its business operations – a company tradition going back to the 19th century. In its technical management, however, HSBC has recently suffered a series of headline-making incidents in which some customer data were allegedly leaked or simply went missing. Although the consequences turned out to be small, the embarrassing effect on the group's image did not go unnoticed.

As of 2 April 2008, according to Forbes magazine, HSBC was the fourth largest bank in the world in terms of assets ($2,348.98 billion), the second largest in terms of sales ($146.50 billion) and the largest in terms of market value ($180.81 billion). It was also the most profitable bank in the world with $19.13 billion in net income in 2007 (compared to Citigroup's $3.62 billion and Bank of America's $14.98 billion in the same period).

HSBC is the largest bank both in the United Kingdom and in Hong Kong and prints most of Hong Kong's local currency in its own name. Since the end of 2005, HSBC has been rated the largest banking group in the world by Tier 1 capital. The HSBC Group has a significant presence in each of the world's major financial markets, with the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe each representing around one third of the business. With around 8,000 offices in 87 countries & territories, 210,000 shareholders, 300,000 staff and 128 million customers worldwide, HSBC arguably has the most international presence among the world's multinational banking giants.

The HSBC Group operates as a number of local banks around the world, which explains its advertising tagline "The World's Local Bank." In response to ongoing discussions about the survival strategies for banks, and the suggestion of "Living Wills" HSBC explains its structure as "separately incorporated and capitalised" the structure is based on a lead bank in each region, which has responsibility for the group's operations in that area, as listed below. For details of other group companies see :Category:HSBC.

Latin America

HSBC Mexico SA HSBC Bank Brazil SA, Banco Multiplo HSBC Bank Argentina SA

Asia Pacific

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd Hang Seng Bank Ltd HSBC Bank (China) Company Ltd HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad

Middle East

HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd HSBC Bank Egypt SAE The Saudi British Bank

North America

HSBC Bank USA Inc HSBC Finance Corporation HSBC Bank Canada

Europe

HSBC Bank plc HSBC France HSBC Trinkaus und Burkhardt AG HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd

Global product lines and programmes

Group Service Centres

As a cost saving measure HSBC is offshoring processing work to lower cost economies in order to reduce the cost of providing services in developed countries. These locations take on work such as data processing and customer service, but also internal software engineering at Pune (India), Hyderabad (India), Vishakhapatnam (India), Kolkata (India), Guangzhou (China), Curitiba (Brazil) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

Chief Operating Officer Alan Jebson said in March 2005 that he would be very surprised if fewer than 25,000 people were working in the centres over the next three years: “I don’t have a precise target but I would be surprised if we had less than 15 (global service centres) in three years’ time.” He went on to say that each centre cost the bank from $20m to $30m to set up, but that for every job moved the bank saves about $20,000 (£10,400).

Trade unions, particularly in the US and UK, blame these centres for job losses in developed countries, and also for the effective imposition of wage caps on their members. Currently, HSBC operates centres out of eight countries, including Brazil (Curitiba), The Czech Republic (Ostrava), India (Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Pune), China (Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Poland (Krakow), Sri Lanka (Rajagiriya) and Philippines (Manila). The Malta trial for a UK high value call centre has resulted in a growing operation that country. An option under consideration is reported to be a processing centre in Vietnam to access the French skills of the population and therefore cut costs in the bank’s French operations.

On 27 June 2006, HSBC reported that a "small number" of customers had suffered from fraud totalling £233,000 after an employee at the Bangalore call centre supplied confidential customer information to fraudsters.

HSBC Private Bank

HSBC Private Bank is the group's private banking operation, providing private banking and trustee services to wealthy individuals and their families worldwide. The Private Bank has in excess of 60 offices worldwide, with the major centres being Miami, New York, London, Geneva and Hong Kong.

HSBC Premier

HSBC Premier is the group's premium financial services product. The exact benefits and qualification criteria vary depending on country, but typically require deposits and investments of at least $100,000, £50,000, or €100,000. Alternatively those who have an individual annual income of at least £100,000 paid into their HSBC Premier Bank Account and are a customer of the bank's Independent Financial Advisory Service. Customers have a dedicated Premier Relationship Manager, global 24 hour access to call centres, free banking services and preferential rates. A HSBC Premier customer receives the HSBC Premier services in all countries that offer HSBC Premier, without having to meet that country's qualifying criteria.

HSBC Advance

HSBC Advance is the group's product aimed at working professionals. The exact benefits and qualifications vary depending on country, but typically require a transfer of Salary of USD 1,500 or more every month or Maintain USD 25,000 of deposits in a Savings/Current Account or investments. Advantages include and may vary depending on country this include day-to-day banking services included but not limited to Platinum Credit Card, Advance ATM Card, Current Account and Savings Account. Protection plans and Financial Planning Services. A HSBC Advance customer enables the customer to open accounts in another country and transfer their credit history.

HSBC Bank International

HSBC Bank International is the offshore banking arm of the HSBC Group, focusing on providing offshore solutions and cross border services to expatriates and migrants. It provides a full range of multi-currency personal banking services to a range of customer segments, including a full internet banking and telephone banking service. Sometimes referred to as "HSBC Offshore", the business also offers independent financial planning, and has representative offices all over the world, often working alongside local HSBC operations in those regions.

HSBC Bank International originated from the business started by Midland Bank and is based in the Channel Islands with further operations on the Isle of Man. Its operations in the Channel Islands are centred around its registered headquarters on the seafront in St Helier, Jersey. Named 'HSBC House', the building comprises departments such as Premier, Global Funds & Investments, e-Business and a 24 hour 'Direct Banking Centre'.

HSBCnet

HSBCnet is a global service that caters to local business needs by offering specialised functionality for different regions worldwide.

The system provides access to transaction banking functionality – ranging from payments and cash management to trade services features – as well as to research and analytical content from HSBC. It also includes foreign exchange and money markets trading functionality.

The system is used widely by HSBC's high-end corporate and institutional clients served variously by the bank's global banking and markets, commercial banking and global transaction banking divisions.

HSBCnet is also the brand under which HSBC markets its global e-commerce proposition to its corporate and institutional clients.

HFC Bank (UK Operation) is a wholly owned subsidiary, with 135 High Street branches in the UK selling loans to the "sub-prime" market. During 2007 and 2008, it has been trying to fend off a union recognition campaign by the Trade Union Unite.

HSBC Direct

HSBC Direct is a telephone/online direct banking operation which attracts customers through mortgages, accounts and savings. It was first launched in the USA in November 2005 and is now available in Britain, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea and France. Poland is launching business direct in September 2009. In the US, HSBC Direct is now part of HSBC Advance

Brand and advertising

The group announced in November 1999 that the HSBC brand and the hexagon symbol would be adopted as the unified brand in all the markets where HSBC operates, with the aim of enhancing recognition of the group and its values by customers, shareholders and staff throughout the world.

Logo

The hexagon symbol was originally adopted by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation as its logo in 1983. It was developed from the bank’s house flag, a white rectangle divided diagonally to produce a red hourglass shape. Like many other Hong Kong company flags that originated in the 19th century, and because of its founder's nationality, the design was based on the cross of Saint Andrew. The logo was designed by graphic artist Henry Steiner.

Sponsorship

Having sponsored the Jaguar Racing Formula One team since the days of Stewart Grand Prix, HSBC ended its relationship with the sport when Red Bull purchased Jaguar Racing from Ford. HSBC has now switched its focus to golf, taking title sponsorship of events such as the HSBC World Match Play Championship, HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship (now defunct), HSBC Champions and HSBC Women's Champions.

In football HSBC sponsors French club AS Monaco and Mexican club C.F. Pachuca, and in rugby league, HSBC sponsors Telford Raiders in the Rugby League Conference. In Australia, HSBC sponsors the New South Wales Waratahs rugby team in the Super 15 rugby union competition, as well as the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League.

HSBC’s other sponsorships are mainly in the area of education, health and the environment. In November 2006, HSBC announced a $5 million partnership with SOS Children as part of Future First.

HSBC sponsors the Great Canadian Geography Challenge, which has had around 2 million participants in the past 12 years. Since 2001, HSBC has sponsored the Celebration of Light, an annual musical fireworks competition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 2007 HSBC announced it would be a sponsor of the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames. HSBC has also sponsored a professional gaming team that was disbanded late 2007.

HSBC sponsored the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

HSBC is the official banking partner of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, providing banking facilities on site and renaming the Road to Wimbledon junior event, as The HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge.

HSBC was named the 'Official Banking Partner' of The Open Championship, in a five year deal announced in 2010.

Customer groups

HSBC splits its business into four distinct groups:

Retail Banking and Wealth Management

HSBC provides more than 100 million customers worldwide with a full range of personal financial services, including current and savings accounts, mortgage loans, car financing, insurance, credit cards, loans, pensions and investments.

Retail Banking and Wealth Management was previously referred to as Personal Financial Services. This rename was announced during HSBC's 2011 Investor Day.

Commercial banking

HSBC provides financial services to small, medium-sized and middle-market enterprises. The group has more than 3 million of such customers, including sole proprietors, partnerships, clubs and associations, incorporated businesses and publicly quoted companies.

Global banking and markets

Global Banking and Markets is the investment banking arm of HSBC. It provides investment banking and financing solutions for corporate and institutional clients, including corporate banking, investment banking, trade services, payments and cash management, and leveraged acquisition finance. It provides services in credit and rates, foreign exchange, money markets and securities services, in addition to asset management services.

Global Banking and Markets has offices in more than 60 countries and territories worldwide, and describes itself as "emerging markets-led and financing-focused".

Global Banking and Markets is currently being led by former fixed-income trader Samir Assaf, who was promoted from global head of markets on 10 December 2010.

Private banking

HSBC Private Bank is the marketing name for the private banking business conducted by the principal private banking subsidiaries of the HSBC Group worldwide. HSBC Private Bank, together with the private banking activities of HSBC Trinkaus, known collectively as Group Private Banking, provides services to high net worth individuals and their families through 93 locations in some 42 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. As of December 2007, profits before tax were US$1,511 million and combined client assets under management were US$494 billion.

In September 2008, HSBC announced that it would combine its two Swiss private banks under one brand name in 2009, with HSBC Guyerzeller and HSBC Private Bank to be merged into one legal entity, under the newly appointed CEO of HSBC Private Bank, Alexandre Zeller.

See also

HSBC Buildings

List of banks in the United Kingdom

List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong

Primary dealers

Notes

External links

HSBC Group site

HSBC Private Bank

HSBC To Cut 30,000 Jobs Worldwide

Category:Banks established in 1865 Category:Callable Bull/Bear Contracts issued in Hong Kong Stock Exchange Category:Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Category:Companies of Hong Kong Category:Credit cards Category:Financial services companies based in London Category:Hang Seng Index Constituent Stocks Category:Investment banks Category:Primary dealers Category:Registered Banks of New Zealand Category:Warrants issued in Hong Kong Stock Exchange

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name	Stuart Gulliver
birth date	July 20, 2009
birth place	Scotland
death date
other names	�?智華 (Chinese name)
occupation	Group Chief Executive of HSBC }}

Stuart Gulliver (Chinese name: �?智華, born July 20, 2009) is a British banking business executive. He is the Group Chief Executive of HSBC Holdings.

Biography

Executive career

He joined HSBC in 1980. He was appointed a Group General Manager in 2000, and a Group Managing Director in 2004. He has been an executive Director since May 2008. He was Chairman of HSBC Private Banking Holdings (Suisse) SA since 25 February 2010, of HSBC Bank Middle East Limited since 15 February 2010, and of HSBC France since 1 January 2009.

Career

He is a director of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and HSBC Bank plc.; he was deputy chairman and member of the Supervisory Board of HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG. He was a director of HSBC North America Holdings Inc. until 7 May 2009; of HSBC Latin America Holdings (UK) Limited until 4 December 2009. He was Co-Head of Global Banking and Markets from 2003 to 2006, was Head of Global Markets from 2002 to 2003; was Head of Treasury and Capital Markets in Asia-Pacific from 1996 to 2002.

Pay controversy

In 2010, he received a bonus of £9 million in stock, with base pay of £826,000.

References

External links

"Stuart T Gulliver, Chairman, Europe, Middle East and Global Businesses, HSBC Holdings plc"

Category:Living people Category:English bankers Category:English chief executives Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:HSBC people Category:British expatriates in Hong Kong

zh:�?智華

name	Colin Montgomerie
fullname	Colin Stuart Montgomerie OBE
nickname	Monty
birth date	June 23, 1963
birth place	Glasgow, Scotland
death date
height
nationality
residence	Dunning, Perthshire
spouse	Eimear Wilson (1990–2006, divorced) Gaynor Knowles (2008–)
children	Olivia, Venetia, Cameron
college	Houston Baptist University
yearpro	1987
retired
tour	European Tour (joined 1988)
extour
prowins	40
pgawins
eurowins	31 (4th all time)
japwins
asiawins
sunwins
auswins
nwidewins
chalwins
champwins
seneurowins
otherwins
majorwins
masters	T8: 1998
usopen	2nd/T2: 1994, 1997, 2006
open	2nd: 2005
pga	2nd: 1995
wghofid
wghofyear
award1	Order of the British Empire(Officer)
year1	2005
award2	European Tour Order of Merit winner
year2	1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005
award3	Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year
year3	1988
award4	European Tour Player of the Year
year4	1995, 1996, 1997, 1999
awardssection	}}

Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31 European tour victories, placing him fourth on the all time list. He is renowned also for his superb Ryder Cup performances. Montgomerie also has the dubious distinction of being one of the most accomplished players never to have won a major championship, after finishing runner-up on five occasions. Nor has he won an official tournament on the U.S. PGA Tour, unlike several of his main European rivals. His career high world ranking is second.

Early life

Although Scottish by birth and ethnicity, he was raised in Yorkshire, England, where his father James was Managing Director of Fox's Biscuits. Montgomerie spent a number of years at the Ilkley Golf Club, where he was tutored by the past professional Bill Ferguson. He was educated at both Leeds Grammar School and Strathallan School, Perthshire. During his time in Leeds, he became a supporter of , but still remains a loyal supporter of Glasgow Rangers. His father later became the secretary of Royal Troon Golf Club, one of Scotland's most famous clubs. Montgomerie became one of the first British golfers to go to a United States college, attending Houston Baptist University, where he played on the golf team and became its top player. In later years, many top young British golfers (including Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald) would follow Monty's path to United States universities.

He won three important Scottish amateur tournaments – the 1983 Scottish Youths Championship, the 1985 Scottish Stroke Play Championship, and the 1987 Scottish Amateur Championship. He also played for Scotland twice in the Eisenhower Trophy (1984 and 1986) and for Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup twice (1985 and 1987).

Between the years 1988–1991 Montgomerie completed a degree in Accountancy at the University of Stirling.

Career outline

Montgomerie turned professional in 1988, and was named the Rookie of the Year on the European Tour that season. He quickly developed into one of Europe's top pros, winning his first event at the 1989 Portuguese Open by eight shots, and making his Ryder Cup debut in 1991. He finished first on the European Tour Order of Merit every year from 1993 to 1999 (a record for most consecutive Orders of Merit), and has 31 victories on the tour, including the 1998, 1999, and 2000 European PGA Championships. He first reached the top-10 in the Official World Golf Rankings in 1994, and spent almost 400 weeks in the top-10. His highest ranking was number two. In his prime Montgomerie was considered one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the world and became a very precise iron player, often able to judge the distance he hit the ball exactly from long range.

His form fell away gradually in the new millennium, partly due to marriage problems, and his ranking slumped to 82nd in the world, but he came back strongly in 2005, winning a record eighth European Tour Order of Merit and returning to the top ten in the World Rankings. Late in 2005 he became the first man to win 20 million Euros on the European Tour—topping the European Tour's all-time highest earners list. He remained the leader in career earnings on the European Tour until 2010, when he was surpassed by Ernie Els.

At the end of 2004, Montgomerie was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year's Honours. He represents the Turnberry resort in Scotland, where there is a Colin Montgomerie Golf Academy.

Current form

After re-forming his partnership with caddie Alastair McLean in 2004, the pair split again on 10 June, a week before the start of the U.S. Open. With his new caddie, Craig Connoly, Montgomerie managed to win for the first time in nearly 2 years at the European Open in July 2007, silencing the critics who have asserted he would not win again.

However his form has once again deserted him, and in mid-2008 Montgomerie slipped out of the top 100 players in the world ranking system. A second place at the French Open in June boosted him back up the rankings, but his good play has been short-lived, and as a result Montgomerie failed to qualify for Nick Faldo's 2008 Ryder Cup team.

In March 2009, Montgomerie played in his milestone 500th European Tour event at the Open de Andalucia where he played well and made the cut, but was not a factor on the weekend.

After nearly two years without a top-10 finish, Montgomerie produced something like his form of old to post a final round of 68 for a share of 7th place in the 2011 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. Montgomerie attributed his resurgence to improved driving accuracy and commented that he could contend more often if this were to continue.

Major championships

Montgomerie is generally considered to be one of the best golfers never to have won a major championship, after finishing in second place on five separate occasions. During what most consider to be his best years in the 1990s Montgomerie had several close shaves. A third place at the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links was the first of these. He was prematurely congratulated by Jack Nicklaus who said "Congratulations on your first U.S. Open victory" to Monty after he finished the 18th hole on Sunday. Tom Kite, who was still on the golf course when Montgomerie finished, wound up winning the championship.

At the 1994 U.S. Open, played at Oakmont Country Club, Montgomerie lost in a three-man playoff to Ernie Els (a playoff which also included Loren Roberts). Famously, Montgomerie was left with only one shirt to play in during the Monday playoff, a dark tartan design, which did not help his cause in the very hot playing conditions. He shot 78 to trail the 74s shot by Els and Roberts, with Els eventually winning at the 20th extra hole.

At the 1995 PGA Championship, Montgomerie birdied the final three holes of the Riviera Country Club course in the final round, to tie Steve Elkington at 17 under par, which was a record low score in a major championship. On the first sudden-death playoff hole, after being in better position after two shots, Montgomerie missed his putt, while Elkington holed from 35 feet to claim the title.

Ernie Els once again got the better of Montgomerie at the 1997 U.S. Open, played at Congressional Country Club. Montgomerie's 65 in the opening round is considered to be one of the finest rounds in U.S. Open history, but a 76 in the second round brought him back to the field. A bogey on the 71st hole dropped Montgomerie one shot behind Els, who parred the last to win.

However, it was at the 2006 U.S. Open, played on the West course of the Winged Foot Golf Club, where Montgomerie had his best chance to win his elusive first major. He stood in the middle of the 18th fairway in the final round having sunk a 50-foot birdie putt on the 17th green, which put him in the lead. While waiting in a perfect position on the 18th fairway for the group in front to finish, Montgomerie switched his club from a 6-iron to a 7-iron, assuming adrenaline would kick in. Once the wait was over, he hit the approach shot poorly, ending up short and right of the green, in thick rough. He pitched onto the green, and then three-putted from 30 feet to lose the tournament by one stroke. After the loss, Montgomerie said, "At my age I've got to think positively. I'm 43 next week, and it's nice I can come back to this tournament and do well again, and I look forward to coming back here again next year and trying another U.S. Open disaster." Geoff Ogilvy won the championship.

Montgomerie has never performed really well at the Masters tournament, his best finish being tied 8th in 1998. Some would say this is not surprising, as great putting is not a strong feature of his game (this generally considered to be imperative in performing well at Augusta).

At The Open Championship, it is only in recent years that Montgomerie has shown signs of challenging to win. He started brightly in 2001 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, with an opening 65, and still remained ahead after 36 holes, but fell away over the weekend. He was also in contention with two rounds to play at Muirfield in 2002 and Royal Troon Golf Club in 2004, but failed to capitalise and finished midway down the field. His best finish in the Championship came in 2005 at St Andrews, where he finished second to Tiger Woods, who beat him by five shots.

Ryder Cup and other team golf

Despite his disappointments in the majors, Montgomerie is heralded as one of the greatest Ryder Cup players of all time. To date he has been a member of the European team on eight occasions, and has never lost in a singles match. He holds a win-lose-draw record of 20–9–7, thus giving him a total points scored tally of 23.5, only 1.5 points behind the all time record held by Nick Faldo. He has played pivotal roles in several of the matches. He halved the last hole with Scott Hoch to obtain the half point that won Europe the cup in 1997, and sank the winning putt, in what is considered to be his finest hour in the 2004 staging of the event.

Montgomerie was not part of Nick Faldo's 2008 Ryder Cup team, with the wildcards going to Paul Casey and Ian Poulter.

Montgomerie captained the Great Britain & Ireland team in the first four stagings of the Seve Trophy, losing in 2000 but winning in 2002, 2003, and 2005.

On 28 January 2009, it was announced that Montgomerie would be the captain the European team at the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. On 4 October 2010, Montgomerie led the European team to victory, 14½ to 13½. On the same day he also announced that he would be stepping down as captain of the European Team. In December 2010, he accepted the BBC Sports Personality Coach of the Year award as captain of the victorious Ryder Cup team.

Montgomerie has also been the playing captain of the European team in the Royal Trophy, played against a team from Asia. Europe was successful on both those occasions.

Montgomerie has the distinction of being the only person to have been a victorious player and captain in the Ryder Cup, Seve Trophy and Royal Trophy – the three main team golf competitions open to players from Europe.

Relationship with the golfing public

Montgomerie has often come under fire for his attitude on the golf course. He is noted for his lack of focus, and quite often becomes distracted by seemingly very minor incidents. As a result, it is quite commonplace for Montgomerie to ask scorers, marshalls, television crew and members of the crowd to move or be silent during a round of golf. Compared to many of the other best players of his generation, this is quite unusual behaviour, as most other professionals tend to ignore these occurrences.

Due partly to his slumped shoulders, and droopy walking style, and wearing baggy trousers, Montgomerie has also developed a reputation for being miserable on the golf course. When he is not playing his best golf, Montgomerie has down the years been quick to throw temper tantrums, often blaming those around him for his poor play. Despite this, Montgomerie has become one of golfing public's most popular figures, and remains the fan favourite at the Open Championship, especially when it is held in Scotland.

Montgomerie's struggle to get on with the American galleries is often cited as perhaps the reason he has failed to match his success in Europe with success in the United States.

Personal life

Montgomerie met his Scottish ex-wife Eimear Wilson, also from Troon, when he was a good amateur and she was a promotions assistant. Eimear was a 17-year-old law student at Edinburgh University and a spectator at an amateur championship in Nairn, at which Montgomerie destroyed the field. The couple had three children (Olivia, Venetia, and Cameron), and lived in Oxshott in Surrey.

In 2002, Eimear gave Montgomerie an ultimatum to choose between golf and marriage, resulting in Montgomerie spending 10 weeks alone before they agreed to try again. In 2006, the couple finally broke up, with Eimear suing for divorce on grounds of unreasonable behavior due to his obsession with golf, claiming it left her suffering from anxiety and depression. In February 2006, following strong but denied rumours that she had grown close to actor Hugh Grant, the couple agreed to a clean break divorce settlement of £8 million, in return for Eimear giving up any claim on Montgomerie's future earnings.

Since the divorce, he has had various relationships, including Spanish model Ines Sastre, and a divorced neighbour Jo Baldwin whom he met on the school run. Their split, he suggested, caused his worst run in his professional career.

In 2007 Montgomerie announced his engagement to Scottish millionaire Gaynor Knowles. They married on 19 April 2008 at Loch Lomond Golf Club.

On 8 July 2010, Montgomerie was granted a super injunction by Mr Justice Eady, which came to light when he attended a press conference at the 2010 PGA Championship in Wisconsin.

Montgomerie has been defended twice by celebrity driving solicitor Nick Freeman. The first time Montgomerie was acquitted when the policeman who was said to have caught him travelling at 96 mph on the A3 near Esher, Surrey (a 70 mph road) at 12:50 am failed to attend court, making it impossible to prove that Montgomerie was driving. Freeman got him off a second time from a 56 day ban in November 2008, after Montgomerie was caught driving his Bentley Continental Flying Spur and failing to pay the fine. Freeman revealed that Montgomerie hated flying, and drove 55,000 miles per annum in part to see his Surrey based children from his Scottish base.

Golfing record

Amateur wins (3)

1985 Scottish Stroke Play Championship

1987 Scottish Amateur Championship

European Tour wins (31)

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning Score!!Margin ofVictory!!Runner(s)-up
1		Portuguese Open - TPC	-24 (67–65–69–63=264)	11 strokes	Rodger Davis, Manuel Moreno (golfer)
2		[[Scandinavian Masters	-18 (68–65–70–67=270)	1 stroke	Seve Ballesteros
3		Heineken Dutch Open	-7 (68–73–71–69=281)	1 stroke	José Cóceres, Jean Van de Velde
4	7 Nov 1993	Volvo Masters	-10 (69–70–67–68=274)	1 stroke	Darren Clarke
5		Peugeot Open de Espana	-11 (70–71–66–70=277)	1 stroke	Richard Boxall, Mark McNulty, Mark Roe
6	21 Aug 1994	Murphy's English Open	-14 (70–67–68–69=274)	1 stroke	Barry Lane
7	28 Aug 1994	Volvo German Open	-19 (65–68–66–70=269)	1 stroke	Bernhard Langer
8		Volvo German Open	-16 (69–64–68–67=268)	1 stroke	Niclas Fasth, Sam Torrance
9	10 Sep 1995	Trophée Lancôme	-11 (64–69–65–71=269)	1 stroke	Sam Torrance
10		Dubai Desert Classic	-18 (67–68–67–68=270)	1 stroke	Miguel �?ngel Jiménez
11	7 Jul 1996	Murphy's Irish Open	-5 (69–69–73–68=279)	1 stroke	Andrew Oldcorn, Wayne Riley
12	8 Sep 1996	Canon European Masters	-24 (64–71–61–63=260)	4 strokes	Sam Torrance
13		Compaq European Grand Prix	-18 (69–68–68–65=270)	5 strokes	Retief Goosen
14	6 Jul 1997	Murphy's Irish Open	-15 (68–70–69–62=269)	7 strokes	Lee Westwood
15		Volvo PGA Championship	-14 (70–70–65–69=274)	1 stroke	Ernie Els, Gary Orr, Patrik Sjöland
16	13 Sep 1998	One 2 One British Masters	-7 (70–72–70–69=281)	1 stroke	Pierre Fulke, Eduardo Romero
17	27 Sep 1998	Linde German Masters	-22 (65–68–66–67=266)	1 stroke	Robert Karlsson, Vijay Singh
18		Benson & Hedges International Open	-15 (68–66–71–68=273)	3 strokes	�?ngel Cabrera, Per-Ulrik Johansson
19	31 May 1999	Volvo PGA Championship	-18 (69–70–67–64=270)	5 strokes
20	10 Jul 1999	Standard Life Loch Lomond	-16 (69–65–70–64=268)	3 strokes	Sergio García, Michael Jonzon, Mats Lanner
21	8 Aug 1999	Volvo Scandinavian Masters	-20 (67–67–65–69=268)	9 strokes	Jesper Parnevik
22	22 Aug 1999	BMW International Open	-20 (69–65–64–70=268)	3 strokes	Pádraig Harrington
23		Novotel Perrier Open de France	-16 (71–68–65–68=272)	2 strokes	Jonathan Lomas
24	29 May 2000	Volvo PGA Championship	-17 (67–65–70–69=271)	3 strokes	Darren Clarke, Andrew Coltart, Lee Westwood
25		Murphy's Irish Open	-18 (63–69–68–66=266)	5 strokes	Darren Clarke, Niclas Fasth, Pádraig Harrington
26	5 Aug 2001	Volvo Scandinavian Masters	-14 (66–69–69–70=274)	1 stroke	Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood
27		Volvo Masters Andalucia	-3 (70–69–72–70=281)	Shared*	Bernhard Langer
28		Caltex Masters	-16 (71–69–67–65=272)	3 strokes	Gregory Hanrahan
29		Dunhill Links Championship	-9 (70–65–73–71=279)	1 stroke	Kenneth Ferrie
30		UBS Hong Kong Open	-9 (69–66–66–70=271)	1 stroke
31		Smurfit Kappa European Open	-11 (69–71–64–65=269)	1 stroke	Niclas Fasth

*Montgomerie and Langer agreed to share the 2002 Volvo Masters Andalucia, after failing light caused play to halt after two holes of a playoff.

Montgomerie also came first in the Volvo Bonus Pool every year from 1993 to 1998. The Volvo Bonus Pool was an extra tranche of prize money awarded at the end of each European Tour season from 1988 to 1998 to the regular members of the tour who had had the best performances over the season.

Other wins (9)

1996 Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa – unofficial event)

1997 Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf, King Hassan II Trophy (Morocco)

1999 Cisco World Match Play Championship (United Kingdom – not an official money event at that time.)

2000 Skins Game (United States)

2001 Ericsson Masters (Australia)

2002 TCL Classic (China)

2003 Macau Open (China)

2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup (with Marc Warren)

Results in major championships

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !! 1990 !! 1991 !! 1992 !! 1993 !! 1994 !! 1995 !! 1996 !! 1997 !! 1998 !! 1999 |- |The Masters |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T37 |align="center"|T52 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T17 |align="center"|T39 |align="center"|T30 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|T11 |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |align="center"|T33 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|T28 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|T18 |align="center"|T15 |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|T48 |align="center"|T26 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T24 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T15 |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T33 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T36 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T13 |align="center"|T44 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !! 2000 !! 2001 !! 2002 !! 2003 !! 2004 !! 2005 !! 2006 !! 2007 !! 2008 !! 2009 |- |The Masters |align="center"|T19 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T14 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|T46 |align="center"|T52 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T42 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T42 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|T26 |align="center"|T13 |align="center"|82 |align="center"|WD |align="center"|T25 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T58 |align="center"|CUT |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|T39 |align="center"|DQ |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|70 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T42 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |} {| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !2010 |- |The Masters |align="center"|DNP |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|T68 |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|CUT |} DNP = did not play CUT = missed the half-way cut WD = withdrew DQ = disqualified "T" = tied Yellow background for top-10.

Summary of performances

Starts – 72

Wins – 0

2nd place finishes – 5

Top 3 finishes – 6

Top 5 finishes – 6

Top 10 finishes – 10

Longest streak of top-10s in majors – 2

Results in World Golf Championship events

!Tournament!!1999!!2000!!2001!!2002!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008
align="left"	R64	R32	DNP	R64	R64		DNP	R32	R32
align="left"	T20	T25	NT1	T31	T51	DNP		T41	T55	T65
align="left"	T30			WD	T23	T58		DNP	T41	77

¹Cancelled due to 9/11 DNP = Did not play WD = Withdrew QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied NT = No Tournament Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

Amateur

Walker Cup: (representing Great Britain & Ireland) 1985, 1987

Eisenhower Trophy: (representing Scotland) 1984, 1986

St Andrews Trophy: 1986 (winners)

Professional

Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1991, 1993, 1995 (winners), 1997 (winners), 1999, 2002 (winners), 2004 (winners), 2006 (winners), 2010 (non-playing captain, winners)

Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Scotland): 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 (winners), 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000

World Cup (representing Scotland): 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997 (individual winner), 1998, 1999, 2006, 2007 (winners), 2008

Four Tours World Championship: 1991 (winners)

Seve Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland team): 2000 (playing captain), 2002 (playing captain, winners), 2003 (playing captain, winners), 2005 (playing captain, winners), 2007 (winners)

UBS Cup (representing the rest of the world): 2003, 2004

Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2010 (playing captain, winners), 2011 (playing captain, winners)

See also

Golfers with most European Tour wins

Notes and references

External links

{{navboxes|title=Colin Montgomerie in the Ryder Cup |list1= }}

Category:Scottish golfers Category:European Tour golfers Category:Old Leodiensians Category:People educated at Strathallan School Category:Alumni of the University of Stirling Category:Houston Baptist University alumni Category:Sportspeople from Glasgow Category:1963 births Category:Living people

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Name	Pádraig Harrington
Fullname	Pádraig Harrington
Nickname	Páidí, Paddy
Birth date	August 31, 1971
Birth place	Dublin, Ireland
Death date
Height
Weight
Nationality
Residence	Dublin, Ireland
Yearpro	1995
Retired
Tour	European Tour (joined 1996) PGA Tour (joined 2005)
Extour
Prowins	26
Pgawins	5
Eurowins	14 (tied 15th all time)
Japwins	1
Asiawins	3
Sunwins
Auswins
Nwidewins
Chalwins
Champwins
Seneurowins
Otherwins
Majorwins	3
Masters	T5: 2002, 2008
Usopen	5th/T5: 2000, 2006
Open	Won: 2007, 2008
Pga	Won: 2008
Wghofid
Wghofyear
Award1	European Tour Order of Merit winner
Year1	2006
Award2	European Tour Player of the Year
Year2	2007, 2008
Award3	PGA Player of the Year
Year3	2008
Award4	PGA Tour Player of the Year
Year4	2008
Awardssection	#Awards/Honours }}

Pádraig Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.

Background

Harrington was born in Ballyroan, Dublin, Ireland, the youngest of five sons of Patrick and Breda Harrington. His father, "Paddy" (1933–2005), a Garda (Irish police officer) who played Gaelic football for Cork in the 1950s, was also a boxer and hurler, and played to a five handicap in golf.

The Ballyroan Parish is located in Rathfarnham, a middle class area in Dublin's Southside and the birth place of two other touring professional golfers – Paul McGinley and Peter Lawrie. Harrington attended local secondary school Coláiste Éanna at the same time, but not in the same year/class, as McGinley, giving it the unique distinction of having produced two Ryder Cup golfers. Coached by Joseph McGinley, a golf enthusiast in the school, and Mark Hynes, local professional and first caddie, Harrington's interest and passion for the game grew, as the pair recorded their first victory together, in Stackstown G.C.

Career

European Tour

After a successful amateur career, including winning the Walker Cup with the Great Britain & Ireland team in 1995, Harrington turned professional later that year, joining the European Tour in 1996. Harrington came to professional golf at a relatively late age, having studied accountancy at university; he worked in that profession for a number of years while playing high-standard amateur golf. He was unsure whether to turn professional, initially doubting his skills.

His first victory came quickly, in the 1996 Peugeot Spanish Open. But for the next few years, the most remarkable thing about his career was the number of times he finished second in European Tour events without ever bettering that position, including four second places in five events in late 1999. However, in 2000 he discovered a winning touch, and he had at least one win on the European Tour each year from then up to 2004. He has finished in the top ten on the European Tour's Order of Merit seven times, including second places in 2001 and 2002 and third places in 2003 and 2004 and eventually won the Order of Merit in 2006. Harrington won the European Tour Golfer of the Year award in 2007 and 2008.

Harrington's 2006 European Order of Merit win came after a titanic battle with Paul Casey and David Howell, which was won on the last hole of the last event. Sergio García bogeyed the 72nd hole in the season ending Volvo Masters to give Harrington a share of second place which earned him enough money to leapfrog Paul Casey to 1st place on the Order of Merit.

From around 2000, Harrington appeared with increasing frequency in the U.S. at the majors and World Golf Championships events, and as a sponsor's invitee. He won his first professional event in the U.S. at the Target World Challenge, a non-PGA Tour event hosted by Tiger Woods in 2002. In both 2003 and 2004 he was the runner up in the Players Championship, and in the latter year he won enough money on the PGA Tour as a non-member to earn an invitation to the end of season Tour Championship.

PGA Tour

He took membership of the PGA Tour in 2005 and in March he won his first PGA Tour official money event at the Honda Classic, where he beat Vijay Singh and Joe Ogilvie in a sudden-death playoff. In late June, Harrington snatched the Barclays Classic from Jim Furyk with a spectacular eagle putt on the final hole for his second PGA Tour win. Two weeks later his father died from esophageal cancer on 11 July, the Monday night preceding the 2005 Open Championship, forcing Harrington's withdrawal.

Harrington has spent a considerable amount of time both in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings (over 300 weeks between 2001 and 2010) and achieved his best ranking of third following his second Open Championship victory. He has also played for Europe in six Ryder Cups; losing in 1999 and 2008, but winning in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010. He has also won the par-3 contest at Augusta National, held the day before The Masters, in 2003 (tie) and 2004.

Major championship breakthrough

At the 2007 Open Championship, Harrington defeated Sergio García in a four-hole playoff at Carnoustie Golf Links, becoming the first Irishman to win The Open Championship in 60 years, and the first ever from the Republic of Ireland. Both players went into the playoff having shot a 7-under 277 for the championship. Harrington subsequently won by one stroke in the playoff.

A year later at the 2008 Open Championship, it was unclear if he would get a chance to defend his Open title at Royal Birkdale as eight days prior to the event he injured his wrist. But Harrington successfully defended his title, overcoming a 2-shot deficit to Greg Norman with a final round 69. He shot a four-under-par 32 on the back nine, which enabled him to pull away from Norman and Ian Poulter. His eagle on the par-5 17th all but sealed the tournament. He is the first European golfer since James Braid in 1906 to retain the Claret Jug. The win moved him from fourteenth to third in the world rankings, behind only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

Just three weeks after winning the Open Championship, Harrington won the PGA Championship over the South Course of the Oakland Hills Country Club, for his third major. Although at five over par after two rounds, he shot eight under par for the weekend, carding successive scores of 66 in the third and fourth rounds. His three under par 277 was two shots ahead of Sergio García and Ben Curtis. Harrington became the first European to win the PGA Championship in 78 years (Tommy Armour in 1930), and is the first winner from Ireland.

Aside from Tiger Woods, who has won consecutive majors three times (2000, 2002, and 2006), Harrington is the first golfer to win two majors in the same year since Mark O'Meara in 1998 and the first to win consecutive majors in the same year since Nick Price in 1994. Furthermore, aside from Woods, he is the first golfer to win three of six consecutive majors in 25 years, since Tom Watson accomplished the feat in 1983, something that only four other players – Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Lee Trevino had previously achieved since the modern "Grand Slam" of four majors began to be recognized in the 1950s.

Harrington's victory in the PGA Championship secured his position as the number one player in Europe, earning him the number one spot in the 2008 European Ryder Cup team under captain Nick Faldo.

2009 to present

Harrington started his 2009 season with a tied-fifth finish in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship on the European Tour. He then went through one of the toughest periods of his career, missing the cut at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, as well as the Northern Trust Open on the PGA Tour. He finished tied-11th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in what would be one of his better results in the early part of 2009. He arrived at the 2009 Masters Tournament looking for three majors in a row and the so-called "Paddy-Slam". He started with a 3-under-par first round, but eventually faded over the weekend, finishing tied for 35th place. His struggles would continue in the proceeding months, as he would miss the cut at five of his next six events, including The 3 Irish Open and the U.S. Open. It was during this period that he announced that he was working on swing changes with coach Bob Torrance. He arrived at The Open Championship at Turnberry looking to complete a hat-trick of Open wins, a feat that has only been achieved by Peter Thomson. He ended up finishing tied for 65th place. This sparked a great run of form for Harrington. He lead for first three rounds of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, which led to a final day head-to-head between himself and World number one Tiger Woods. Harrington led by one shot playing the 16th hole, but he racked up a triple-bogey to Wood's birdie and he finished in joint 2nd place. The following week Harrington, the defending champion, played the first two rounds with Woods at the PGA Championship. He shot a first round 68, ending one shot behind the leader Woods. Rounds of 73 and 69 left him two shots behind Woods. He was in contention in the final round, until he made an 8 at the par-3 8th hole. He ended in a tie for 10th. He finished in the top-10 in all four FedEx Cup playoff events, before further top-10s in Europe and the States before the end of the season. He ended the year ranked number 6 in the world rankings. He ended winless on the European and PGA Tours for the first time since 1999.

Harrington missed the cut in three out of the four majors in 2010. In an inconsistent season, he had five top-10s on the PGA Tour, but also missed six cuts. He was a controversial wild-card pick by European captain Colin Montgomerie for the 2010 Ryder Cup. He won two matches and lost two matches as Europe regained the Ryder Cup. It was his sixth Ryder Cup and fourth time being on the winning team. He won his first tournament in two years at the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia on the Asian Tour. He finished the year ranked 25th in the world.

Harrington started his 2011 season with an opening round 65, for a first round lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the European Tour. He was later disqualified before his second round commenced, after a spectator telephoned in and pointed out an incident of his ball moving an exceptionally small distance closer to the hole on the green, while he was replacing his ball marker, during the first round; it had been shown on television. (The incident led to a rules review, and if it were to occur again, would not be a penalty.) It was the second time he had been disqualified in a tournament. So far in 2011 he has had three top-10s and three missed cuts on the PGA Tour. He missed the cut at the Masters Tournament and finished tied for 45th at the U.S. Open. In June 2011, he dropped outside the top 50 in the World Rankings for the first time since 1999.

Coaches

Harrington was coached by Bob Torrance, the father of former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance but since mid July 2011 the pairing have separated.

Personal life

Harrington has known his wife Caroline since childhood. They were married in 1997 and have two sons: Patrick, born in 2003, and Ciarán, born in November 2007. After Harrington's Open win in 2007, Patrick was caught on microphone asking his father if they could 'put ladybirds in it' (referring to the trophy). Following his win in 2008, there were some light-hearted references to this in a subsequent interview, whereupon Harrington suggested that it was more likely that Patrick would now want snails in the trophy.

Harrington is a distant cousin of 1995 World Series of Poker champion and author Dan Harrington and NFL quarterback Joey Harrington.

Harrington's given name "Pádraig" is the Irish Language version of the name Patrick, which is in common usage in Ireland. His four older brothers have Irish names as well (Tadhg, Columb, Fintan, and Fergal).

Harrington's caddy since 2004 is Ronan Flood, who is also his brother-in-law. Flood married Susie Gregan, the sister of Pádraig's wife, in 2007. Flood is also the younger brother of one of Harrington's childhood friends.

After leaving school, Harrington mixed amateur golf with studying Accounting. He passed his final exams in 1994 to gain admittance to ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

Harrington has undergone laser eye surgery, as did his compatriot Paul McGinley, in a bid to improve his game.

Amateur wins (4)

1991 Sherry Cup

1994 West of Ireland Amateur Championship

1995 Irish Amateur Open Championship, Irish Amateur Close Championship

Professional wins (26)

European Tour wins (14)

{| width=53% | valign=top width=33% align=left |

Legend

Major championships (3)

Other European Tour (11)

|}

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning Score!!Margin ofVictory!!Runner(s)-up
1	12 May 1996	Peugeot Spanish Open	-16 (70–64–67–71=272)	4 strokes	Gordon Brand Jnr.
2	2 Apr 2000	Brazil São Paulo 500 Years Open	-14 (69–68–65–68=270)	2 strokes	Gerry Norquist
3	22 Oct 2000		-21 (67–64–66–70=267)	2 strokes	Gary Orr
4	11 Nov 2001	Volvo Masters Andalucia	-12 (67–71–66=204)	1 stroke	Paul McGinley
5	6 Oct 2002	Dunhill Links Championship	-19 (66–66–68–69=269)	Playoff1	Eduardo Romero
6	24 Nov 2002	BMW Asian Open	-15 (66–70–68–69=273)	1 stroke	Jyoti Randhawa
7	18 May 2003	Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe	-19 (65–66–70–68=269)	Playoff2	Thomas Bjørn
8	7 Dec 2003	Omega Hong Kong Open	-13 (66–75–64–70=275)	1 stroke	Hennie Otto
9	12 Sep 2004	Linde German Masters	-11 (67–69–67–66=269)	3 strokes	Nick O'Hern
10	8 Oct 2006	Alfred Dunhill Links Championship	-17 (66–69–68–68=271)	5 strokes	Bradley Dredge, Edward Loar, Anthony Wall
11			-5 (73–68–71–71=283)	Playoff3	Bradley Dredge
12		The Open Championship	-7 (69–73–68–67=277)	Playoff4	Sergio García
13		The Open Championship	+3 (74–68–72–69=283)	4 strokes	Ian Poulter
14		PGA Championship	-3 (71–74–66–66=277)	2 strokes

¹Beat Eduardo Romero with birdie on second extra hole ²Beat Thomas Bjorn with a par on first extra hole ³Beat Bradley Dredge with par on first extra hole ⁴Shot 15 (3–3–4–5) in a four hole playoff to defeat Sergio García (5–3–4–4=16)

PGA Tour wins (5)

{| width=53% | valign=top width=33% align=left |

Legend

Major championships (3)

Other PGA Tour (2)

|}

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning Score!!Margin of Victory!!Runner(s)-up
1		Honda Classic	-14 (73–69–69–63=274)	Playoff	Vijay Singh, Joe Ogilvie
2		Barclays Classic	-10 (71–65–68–70=274)	1 stroke	Jim Furyk
3		The Open Championship	-7 (69–73–68–67=277)	Playoff	Sergio García
4		The Open Championship	+3 (74–68–72–69=283)	4 strokes	Ian Poulter
5		PGA Championship	-3 (71–74–66–66=277)	2 strokes

PGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent(s)!!Result
1	2004	Buick Classic	Sergio García, Rory Sabbatini	Eliminated with bogey on second extra hole;Garcia won with birdie on third extra hole
2	2005	Honda Classic	Joe Ogilvie, Vijay Singh	Won with par on second extra hole
3	2007	The Open Championship	Sergio García	Won in four-hole playoff (3–3–4–5=15, 5–3–4–4=16)

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

2006 Dunlop Phoenix

Asian Tour wins (3)

2002 BMW Asian Open (co-sanctioned with the European Tour)

2003 Omega Hong Kong Open (co-sanctioned with the European Tour)

2010 Iskandar Johor Open

Other wins (8)

1998 Irish PGA Championship

2002 Target World Challenge (unofficial money, PGA Tour-sanctioned event)

2004 Irish PGA Championship

2005 Irish PGA Championship

2007 Irish PGA Championship, Hassan II Trophy

2008 Irish PGA Championship

2009 Irish PGA Championship

Major championships

Wins (3)

{|class="wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!54 Holes!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 2007 ||The Open Championship ||6 shot deficit ||�?�7 (69–73–68–67=277) || Playoff¹ || Sergio García |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 2008 ||The Open Championship (2) ||2 shot deficit ||+3 (74–68–72–69=283) || 4 strokes || Ian Poulter |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 2008 ||PGA Championship ||3 shot deficit ||�?�3 (71–74–66–66=277) || 2 strokes || Sergio García, Ben Curtis |} ¹ Defeated Sergio García in four-hole playoff by 1 stroke: Harrington (3–3–4–5=15), García (5–3–4–4=16)

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !! 1996 !! 1997 !! 1998 !! 1999 |- |The Masters |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T32 |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|T18 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|29 |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |} {| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !! 2000 !! 2001 !! 2002 !! 2003 !! 2004 !! 2005 !! 2006 !! 2007 !! 2008 !! 2009 |- |The Masters |align="center"|T19 |align="center"|T27 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T13 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T27 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|T35 |- |U.S. Open |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|T30 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center"|T31 |align="center"|CUT |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|5 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T36 |align="center"|CUT |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|T20 |align="center"|T37 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|T22 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T65 |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|T58 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T17 |align="center"|T29 |align="center"|T45 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T42 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |} {| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !! 2010 !! 2011 |- |The Masters |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|T22 |align="center"|T45 |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T64 |}

DNP = did not play CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied for place Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Starts – 53

Wins – 3

2nd place finishes – 0

Top 3 finishes – 3

Top 5 finishes – 9

Top 10 finishes – 13

Longest streak of top-10s in majors – 3

Results in World Golf Championship events

!Tournament!!1999!!2000!!2001!!2002!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008
align="left"	DNP	R64	R64	R64	R32		R32		R32	R32
align="left"	T30		NT1	21			67	T17	T19	DNP
align="left"	T12	T27	T17	T47	T39	74	T24	T27	T14	T20

!Tournament!!2009!!2010!!2011
align="left"	R64	R64	R64
align="left"	T20
align="left"			T59
align="left"	T25	T16

¹Cancelled due to terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 DNP = Did not play QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied NT = No Tournament Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10. Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Amateur

Walker Cup: 1991, 1993, 1995 (winners)

Professional

Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1999, 2002 (winners), 2004 (winners), 2006 (winners), 2008, 2010 (winners)

*Record: 25 matches, 10.5 points (x% Point Percentage)

*All Formats(W-L-H): 9–13–3 = 10.5pts

**Singles: 3–3–0 = 3pts

***2004: beat Jay Haas 1h

***2002: beat Mark Calcavecchia 5&4

***1999: beat Mark O'Meara 1h

**Foursomes: 4–4–3 = 5.5pts

***2010: Harrington/Fisher bt Furyk/D.Johnson 2&1

***2010: Harrington/Fisher bt Mickelson/D.Johnson 3&2

***2004: Harrington/Montgomerie bt Love III/Funk 4&2

***2004: Harrington/McGinley bt Love III/Woods 4&3

**Fourballs: 2–6–0 = 2pts

***2004: Harrington/Montgomerie bt Woods/Mickelson 2&1

***2002: Harrington/Montgomerie bt Mickelson/Toms 2&1

Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Ireland): 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000

World Cup (representing Ireland): 1996, 1997 (winner with Paul McGinley), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

Seve Trophy (representing GB & Ireland): 2000, 2002 (winners), 2003 (winners), 2005 (winners)

Awards/Honours

International:

*2006:

**European Tour Order of Merit

*2007:

**European Tour Player of the Year

**Association of Golf Writers Player of the Year

*2008:

**PGA Player of the Year

**PGA Tour Player of the Year Award

**European Tour Player of the Year

**Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA) Player of the Year

**Association of Golf Writers Player of the Year

**European Tour Shot of the Year – 5w on 71st Hole in Open Championship

National:

*1996 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award

*1999 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award

*2001 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award

*2002 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award, RTÉ Sports Person of the Year

*2004 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award (shared with Darren Clarke & Paul McGinley)

*2005 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award

*2006 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award

*2007 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award, RTÉ Sports Person of the Year

*2008 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award, Irish Golf Writers Professional of the Year Award, RTÉ Sports Person of the Year

Equipment

Driver: Taylor Made R9 Driver

Woods: Wilson Staff Fw6 Fairway 5-wood

Hybrids: Wilson Staff Fh6 Hybrid (19°)

Irons: Wilson Staff FG Tour Irons 3-PW

Wedges: Wilson Staff Tw9(54° and 60°)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Blade

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Clothing: Kartel Clothing throughout

Shoes: Footjoy

Facts

Harrington is the only player in the world to have been partnered with Tiger Woods in a tournament five or more times and to outscore him. Harrington has a 68.83 average in six rounds, compared with Woods' average score of 69.50. The rest of the world's top players averaged over 70.

In May 2009 he verified that the "Happy Gilmore swing", a swing with a running start, is successful and increased his usual drive of 296 yards by an extra 30 yards.

Harrington is the official golfer for FTI Consulting

See also

Golfers with most major championship wins

Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

Golfers with most European Tour wins

List of European Ryder Cup golfers

List of people on stamps of Ireland

References

External links

Irish Examiner.com – "The making of a Major champion" – 28 July 2007

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Category:Irish golfers Category:European Tour golfers Category:PGA Tour golfers Category:Winners of men's major golf championships Category:People of the Year Awards winners Category:People from County Dublin Category:1971 births Category:Living people

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David Gordon Eldon (, born 1945) is former Chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. He retired in May 2005, after spending 37 years with HSBC Group. He is now the Senior Adviser of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Personal history

Born in Inverness, Scotland, Eldon was educated at the Duke of York's Royal Military School. He commenced a career in banking with an Australian banking group in London in 1964, and joined The British Bank of the Middle East (now HSBC Bank Middle East Limited) in 1968. In January that year he took up his first position in Dubai, remaining in the Middle East undertaking a variety of roles in different countries. He was appointed Manager of Sharjah branch in 1973 and Manager of Ras Al Khaimah branch in 1977.

He took up his first position in Hong Kong in 1979 as Manager Special Projects in the head office of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. He later became a District Manager, with responsibility for the Bank's branches in Mongkok.

Eldon was appointed Deputy Managing Director of The Saudi British Bank (SABB) in 1984 and returned to Hong Kong in 1987, when he took up the position of Senior Manager (International Corporate Accounts). At the end of 1988, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer in Malaysia, and was promoted to General Manager in 1990. He returned to Hong Kong again in 1992 and later became General Manager in The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation's International department.

He became an Executive Director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1994 and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank in January 1996. In January 1999, he was appointed Chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and the Executive Director of HSBC Holdings.

He retired on 27 May 2005, and was succeeded as Chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation by Vincent Cheng, the first Chinese Chairman of the Bank. In 1 September 2005, he was appointed the Senior Adviser of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong.

He was also non-executive Chairman of Hang Seng Bank Limited, a director of HSBC Bank Australia Limited (formerly Hongkong Bank of Australia Limited), a director of the MTR Corporation, a director of Swire Pacific Limited, Deputy Chairman of The Hong Kong Jockey Club and Chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Now, he is Senior Independent Director of the Noble Group, Chairman of the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority and a number of other Boards and Government appointments, including the Presidential Committee for National Competitiveness of President of South Korea Lee Myung-bak.

Personal life

Eldon married in 1975 and has three children. One of his two sons is working in Hong Kong, while the other lives in Canberra, Australia. His daughter is also living and working in Hong Kong. Eldon continues to live in Hong Kong, where he has spent about a third of his life, and he intends to remain in Hong Kong.

Honors

Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers

Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers

Justice of the Peace (2000)

Honorary Doctor of Business Administration of the City University of Hong Kong (November 2003)

DHL/SCMP Hong Kong Business Person of the Year for 2003

Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS) (2004)

Commander of the British Empire (CBE) (2005)

Asian Banker Lifetime Achievement Award (2005)

Honorary Citizenship of Seoul

References

External links

Eldon-Online Blog

Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:Hong Kong people of British descent Category:Hong Kong businesspeople Category:Bankers Category:HSBC people Category:MTR Corporation Category:Swire Group Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:People in Hong Kong Finance

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