Sam Torrance, who just turned 58, is one of the most popular and charismatic players in the world of golf. His professional golf career spans more than 35 years, during which he has won some thirty tournaments around the world and has covered nearly 25,000 kilometers on the course.
In 2005 Torrance achieved one of the few honors he had not achieved in his career, winning the European Tour Order of Merit, in this case the Senior. He scored three wins and nine top-5 finishes during the season, which was more than enough to secure the top ranking. Torrance has found new life on the Seniors Tour, where he faces competition as fierce as ever and, above all, relives the great thrill of winning.
Torrance was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, a period in which he amassed 21 victories. Only his compatriot Colin Montgomerie has accumulated more European Tour titles without winning one of the four majors.
Torrance’s best finish on the European Tour Order of Merit was second, which he achieved in the 1984 and 1995 seasons. In total, he finished ten times in the top ten on the annual earnings list.
Sam holds the record for most tournaments played on the European Tour, with over 700 as of the close of the 2008 season. Torrance was known for his powerful drive and accuracy with the short irons, often playing with a bold style.
Torrance was also one of the pioneers of the broom putter. After a disappointing 1988 season on the greens, Torrance experimented with the long putter that was already being used successfully in the United States. The Scottish player debuted his own version of that type of putter, which he anchored on the chin instead of the belly, at the 1989 Jersey Open and finished among the top finishers in the tournament. Torrance has continued to use it with relative success ever since.
In 2003, on his 50th birthday, Torrance joined the Senior European Tour, and the following year he had his first victory in this new stage of his life. Things got better and better for him and he finished first on the European Senior Tour Order of Merit in 2005, 2006 and 2009. The Ryder Cup has played a very important role in the life of this Scotsman born in Largs on August 24, 1953. Torrance played the great intercontinental tournament eight times, from 1981 to 1995 consecutively, and was proclaimed winner with his team in the 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1995 editions … .
One of the highlights of his career in that U.S.-European competition was when he holed the winning putt for his team in 1985 at The Belfry, thus achieving the first European victory in 28 years.
That same British course was the scene of another of the highlights of his career, when he captained the European Ryder Cup team to a memorable victory over the Americans in September 2002. His teammates, the media and golf fans around the world recognized his exemplary leadership. The famous victory put him in the spotlight of the international press and made him an even more popular name.
His contribution to the game was recognized in 1996 when he was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his outstanding display of leadership in the 2002 Ryder Cup matches. In 2002 he was declared a “National Treasure” by The Times newspaper. In 2010 Torrance published his second book, “An Enduring Passion: My Ryder Cup Years”. Sam’s father, Bob Torrance, was a well-respected golf instructor who coached his later famous son from childhood. Sam married English actress Suzanne Danielle in 1988. The couple have three sons, with one of whom, Danielle, Sam won the 2003 Dunhill Links Championship team competition.
Leave a Reply