Stephen Paul Marino Jr. (born March 10, 1980) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour.

Steve Marino
Personal information
Full nameStephen Paul Marino Jr.
Born (1980-03-10) March 10, 1980 (age 44)
Altus, Oklahoma, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceJupiter, Florida, U.S.
Career
CollegeUniversity of Virginia
Turned professional2002
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Korn Ferry Tour
Golden Bear Tour
Gateway Tour
Tarheel Tour
Professional wins11
Highest ranking54 (March 27, 2011)[1]
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT14: 2010
PGA ChampionshipT60: 2008
U.S. OpenT63: 2010
The Open ChampionshipT38: 2009

Early life

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A military brat, Marino was born in Altus, Oklahoma, where his father, Steve Sr., was stationed as a navigator in the U.S. Air Force. The family moved to Alaska when he was an infant, and later to Ohio and Alabama.[2] In 1991, they relocated to Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb southwest of Washington, D.C., where they continue to reside.

Marino's golf game began to blossom at age 14, when he worked and played at the Army Navy Country Club in Fairfax; he graduated from W.T. Woodson High School in 1998. During his senior year he won the Virginia High School championship,

Amateur career

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Marino received a golf scholarship to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.[3] At the end of his freshman year, he won the 1999 Virginia Amateur championship. He was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.[4] Marino graduated from the university in 2002 with a degree in sociology.[5]

Professional career

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Marino embarked on his professional career in 2002 on the Tar Heel Tour, and moved to Florida to practice and play year-round. He qualified for the Canadian Tour for the 2003 season, and went to Canada again in 2004, but then headed back to Florida. There he played on the Golden Bear Tour, a developmental circuit backed by Jack Nicklaus in which all the events were within 60 miles (100 km) of West Palm Beach, near where he lived then (and now).[6]

Before reaching the PGA Tour, Marino won the 2006 Sidney Frank Memorial Gateway Tour Championship, where he carded a 13-under-par 59 during the third round.[7] It was his second Gateway Tour win of 2006.[8] Marino was a Monday qualifier on the Nationwide Tour in 2006, where he earned $134,000 and finished 42nd on the money list, which was insufficient to earn a PGA Tour card. Instead, he qualified through the six-round qualifying school in December, earning his card for the 2007 season.

In his rookie season of 2007, Marino finished 80th on the PGA Tour money list and retained his tour card for 2008, with winnings exceeding $1,100,000. He had four top-10 finishes in 31 events. In 2008, Marino finished 34th on the PGA Tour money list, earning over $2,000,000, and retained his tour card for 2009. He had six top-10 finishes in 32 events, highlighted by a career-best second-place finish in the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun in Mexico.

In May 2009, Marino and Tim Clark lost to Steve Stricker in a two-hole playoff at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. Marino received international attention in 2009 when he was co-leader (with Tom Watson) at the halfway point of the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry in Scotland.[9] However, Marino faltered over the weekend and finished the event tied 38th. He finished the 2009 season 35th on the PGA Tour money list.

Marino finished tied for second at the 2011 Sony Open in Hawaii.[10] He led the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am after the second and third rounds, but on the final day, eventual winner D. A. Points passed him. Marino had to make an eagle on the par-5 18th hole in order to tie Points, who had finished. But Marino hit into the Pacific Ocean and took a triple-bogey eight, which dropped him into a tie for fourth place.[11] Marino led the 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational during the fourth round, as late as the 17th hole. But he suffered two buried lies in bunkers on the 15th and 17th holes, and despite making a birdie on the final hole, ended in second place, one stroke behind winner Martin Laird.[12] Marino advanced his position on the Official World Golf Ranking to a career high of #54.[13] Marino was identified as the best PGA Tour player without a victory by writer Craig Dolch, who noted that he has posted 21 top-10 finishes in his 124 Tour starts to date.[14]

In January 2012, Marino was diagnosed with a bone contusion on the tip of his tibia and femur in his left leg. He did not play again until May.[15] In 2012, he played at total of six PGA Tour events, making the cut in two of them. In 2013, he played in 12 PGA Tour events, making the cut five times.

In March 2016, Marino lost in a sudden-death playoff to Tony Finau at the Puerto Rico Open. In the playoff, both players birdied the 18th hole twice. But playing the 18th for the third time in the playoff, Marino three-putted from just off the green for a par, while Finau birdied the hole again for the win. This was Marino's fifth runner-up finish of his career but he is still winless in 182 events on the PGA Tour.

Personal

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Marino currently resides in Tequesta, Florida.

Amateur wins

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  • 1999 Virginia State Amateur

Professional wins (11)

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Golden Bear Tour wins (6)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Jan 25, 2004 St Andrews Classic −5 (71-68=139) 2 strokes   Jeff Barlow
2 Feb 11, 2004 Nicklaus Golf Equipment Classic 1 −12 (69-65-70=204) 2 strokes   Jeff Barlow,   Bryant MacKellar
3 Jul 30, 2004 Nicklaus Golf Equipment Classic 2 −20 (70-63-67-68=268) 1 stroke   Dave Clodfelter
4 Feb 24, 2005 Estates 2 −13 (70-67-66=203) Playoff   Steve Wheatcroft
5 Mar 3, 2005 Fox Club −3 (72-73-68=213) 2 strokes   Sean Quinlivan
6 Apr 1, 2005 Hammock Creek 2 −18 (69-63-66=198) 1 stroke   Steve Burns

Gateway Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Jan 13, 2006 Beach Spring A2 −20 (66-63-67=196) 1 stroke   Patrick Hawkins
2 Apr 12, 2006 Beach Spring B4 −5 (71-68-72=211) 3 strokes   Jamie Neher,   Paul Wackerly III
3 Oct 1, 2006 Sidney Frank Memorial Tour Championship −27 (67-68-59-67=261) 10 strokes   David Lutterus

Tarheel Tour wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 10, 2002 Springfield Open −6 (71-73-66=210) 1 stroke   Derek Watson
2 Oct 24, 2002 Tarheel Tour Championship −2 (71-70-73=214) 2 strokes   Chris Greenwood,   Derek Watson

Playoff record

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PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial   Tim Clark,   Steve Stricker Stricker won with birdie on second extra hole
2 2016 Puerto Rico Open   Tony Finau Lost to birdie on third extra hole

Web.com Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2015 Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship   Patrick Rodgers Lost to birdie on second extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Masters Tournament T14 T42
U.S. Open CUT CUT T63 CUT CUT
The Open Championship T38 T55 CUT
PGA Championship T60 CUT CUT CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
Totals 0 0 0 0 0 1 14 6
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2010 Masters – 2010 Open)

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
The Players Championship CUT CUT T79 T32 T19

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 2009 2010
Match Play
Championship T65
Invitational
Champions T57
  Did not play

"T" = Tied

PGA Tour career summary

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Season Wins Earnings ($) Rank
2005 0 14,542 n/a
2006 0 0 n/a
2007 0 1,179,165 80
2008 0 2,094,267 34
2009 0 2,161,539 35
2010 0 1,479,239 61
2011 0 1,975,076 38
2012 0 85,040 212
2013 0 148,874 192
2014 0 294,565 170
2015 0 0 n/a
2016 0 768,200 120
2017 0 98,573 214
2018 0 76,616 220
Career* 0 10,375,697 175

*Complete through the 2018 season.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 13 2011 Ending 27 Mar 2011" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  2. ^ PGA Tour.com Archived 2012-10-15 at the Wayback Machine - interview transcript - November 8, 2008
  3. ^ Local PGA golfer returns to his roots[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ nicindy.org - Greeks in sports Archived 2007-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ PGA Tour profile Archived 2007-09-17 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Washington Post.com - Steve Marino returns to the British Open – July 11, 2010
  7. ^ NBC Sports broadcast of 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational, March 27, 2011
  8. ^ PGA Tour Media Guide Archived 2011-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Woods misses cut as Watson shines - accessed July 18, 2009
  10. ^ pgatour.com, 2011 Sony Open tournament data
  11. ^ CBS Sports broadcast of 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, 4th round, February 13, 2011; pgatour.com, 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am tournament data
  12. ^ NBC Sports broadcast of 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational, 4th round, March 27, 2011; pgatour.com, 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational tournament data
  13. ^ pgatour.com, Official World Golf Ranking for March 28, 2011
  14. ^ Dolch, Craig (March 28, 2011). "More heartbreak for arguably the Tour's best winless player".
  15. ^ "Player profile: Steve Marino". Golf Channel. May 29, 2012.
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