Ian Baker-Finch

Professional

Birthday October 24, 1960

Birth Sign Scorpio

Birthplace Nambour, Australia

Age 63 years old

Nationality Australia

Height 193 cm

#52196 Most Popular

1960

Ian Michael Baker-Finch (born 24 October 1960) is an Australian professional golfer and sports commentator, who is best known for winning The Open Championship in 1991.

Baker-Finch was born in Nambour, Queensland, Australia.

He grew up in the same Queensland "neighbourhood" as fellow professional golfers Greg Norman and Wayne Grady.

1979

Baker-Finch turned professional in 1979.

He credits Jack Nicklaus as his greatest influence, saying that he based his game on Nicklaus' book, Golf My Way.

1983

Baker-Finch began his professional career on the PGA Tour of Australasia, winning his first professional tournament, the New Zealand Open, in 1983.

1984

That victory earned him an entry to The Open Championship in 1984.

He would make headlines by taking the 36-hole lead, holding onto the lead after three rounds but then shooting a disastrous last round 79 to finish ninth, much in the manner of Bobby Clampett who had endured a similar collapse two years previously.

1985

Baker-Finch joined the European Tour, winning the 1985 Scandinavian Enterprise Open and finishing in the top-20 on the order of merit in both 1985 and 1986.

At the same time he continued to play in Australasia in the Northern Hemisphere winter, picking up several further tournament titles there and occasionally played on the Japan Golf Tour.

Baker-Finch first played on the PGA Tour as an invitee in 1985 and began to do so regularly in 1989, having qualified for tour membership by finishing third in the 1988 World Series of Golf.

1989

He won his first PGA Tour title at the 1989 Southwestern Bell Colonial, gaining him a two-year exemption on Tour.

1990

In 1990, he finished 16th on the PGA Tour money list, on the strength of three runner-up finishes and two third-places.

Despite his steady career, with wins on four continents, including Asia, Baker-Finch was not generally counted as a member of the elite group of international golfers.

1991

When he won the 1991 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, closing with a 64-66 to beat Mike Harwood by two strokes, he was considered a surprise champion.

1992

He achieved a runner-up finish in The Players Championship in 1992, but otherwise never came close to contending on the PGA Tour again.

He picked up wins in Australia in 1992 and 1993 but his form then went into a steep and accelerating decline.

He began to lose confidence in his game and tinkered with his swing often.

1994

His last top-10 finish on the PGA Tour was a tie for 10th in the 1994 Masters Tournament.

Baker-Finch then famously suffered a complete collapse of his game.

The problems were often psychological: he would hit shots flawlessly on the practice range, and then go to the first tee and hit a weak drive into the wrong fairway.

1995

In the 1995 Open Championship at St Andrews, he notoriously hooked his first round tee-shot at the first out-of-bounds on the left side of the fairway shared with the 18th, with attention focused on him as his playing partner was Arnold Palmer, competing in his final Open.

In 1995 and 1996 he missed the cut, withdrew after one round or was disqualified in all 29 PGA Tour events that he entered.

Baker-Finch later said: "I lost my confidence. I got to the point where I didn't even want to be out on the golf course because I was playing so poorly. I would try my hardest but when I came out to play, I managed to find a way to miss the cut time and time again. It became a habit."

1997

After shooting a 92 in the first round of the 1997 Open at Royal Troon, an extraordinarily bad score by tournament professional standards, Baker-Finch admitted that he cried in the locker room that afternoon.

He withdrew from the championship after one round and retired from tournament golf.

1998

He was hired by ESPN and ABC Sports to commentate on golf tournaments in 1998, and did so until 2006.

During this time, Baker-Finch served as the lead analyst for ESPN and as a hole announcer for ABC, though on many occasions he filled in as ABC's lead analyst.

2000

On 22 June 2000, Baker-Finch was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his golfing achievements.

2001

Baker-Finch had a 10-year exemption from the PGA Tour for his Open Championship win, leaving him exempt until 2001.

2003

In 2003, 2005 and 2007, Baker-Finch served as Gary Player's captain's assistant for the International team in the Presidents Cup.

After his game deserted him, Baker-Finch turned his interests to careers in broadcasting and golf course design and management.

2007

In 2007, he was hired by CBS Sports as a hole announcer, a position he still holds today.

Reporting for CBS at the 2007 Barclays tournament, Baker-Finch was one of the thousands gathered around the 18th green as Rich Beem hit his approach shot.

The errant shot hit straight on Baker-Finch's cheek and knocked him down, causing him to fall on his back behind the green.

Baker-Finch recovered before Beem got to his ball.

Baker-Finch and his wife, Jennie, have two daughters Hayley and Laura; they live in North Palm Beach, Florida.

2009

In 2009, Baker-Finch was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.

2013

He had three other runner-up finishes that year as well and again qualified for the Tour Championship with a 13th-place finish on the money list.

He ranked briefly in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking that year.