His best finish on the PGA TOUR in 2013 is 1st at the Northern Trust Open.
He ranks 19th in Money Leaders on the PGA TOUR.
height6-1
weight170
birthDateMarch 20, 1982
age31
birthPlaceLong Beach, California
residenceLong Beach, California
familyWife, Jody; Chase Sampson (7/11/11), Gemma Marie (1/3/13)
educationUCLA (2004, Sociology)
splInterestMovies, watching sports, Los Angeles Lakers
nwTourAlumnusWeb.com Tour Graduate (2006)
trndProYear2004
qSchoolYear2006, 2007
clubAfflVirginia CC (Long Beach, California)
cityPlaysFrmLong Beach; CA; United States
combTourMoney5,052,355
carHighMade the cut in four of six starts on the 2005 Nationwide Tour, with a T31 at the Scholarship America Showdown his best effort. In his first career start on the Nationwide Tour, posted a career-best T12 at the 2004 Envirocare Utah Classic. Only career start on the PGA TOUR was a missed cut at the 2005 U.S. Open. Has also played on the Spanos Tour.
otherCarHighEarned All-Pac-10 honors after capturing individual medalist honors at the 2003 Pac-10 Championship. Switched to a cross-handed putting grip and in the same week won the 2001 Long Beach City Amateur. The next week he won Southern California Golf Association Amateur Championship, becoming, at the age of 19, the youngest person since Tiger Woods in 1994 to capture the nation's second-oldest, continuously contested amateur golf championship.
personalLists his parents as his heroes. Got his start in golf from friends and his dad. Cites making it to the final stage of the 2005 PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament as his biggest thrill in golf.
jndTourYear2007
exmtStatus93rd on 2012 money list
curYearHighThe UCLA graduate and Long Beach, Calif., native won the Northern Trust Open in his sixth start at Riviera CC to become the first player from Los Angeles County to win the event. Made a par-4 on the second playoff hole (No. 10) to defeat Charlie Beljan. It was his first playoff on the PGA TOUR. Victory was the 18th playoff in tournament history and the second consecutive at the event. Earned his first career TOUR victory, at of 30 years, 10 months, 25 days in his 169th career start. Previous-best finish at the Northern Trust Open was T54 in 2010. In 14 rounds prior his win at Riviera CC, only had three under-par rounds. He had three of four rounds in the 60s on his way to winning. Came from three shots behind Bill Haas entering the final round to force the playoff with Beljan. In interviews after his second round mentioned that he was aware that it was “USC Day” at the Northern Trust Open, when he shot a 66. He followed up with a 70 in the third round on “UCLA Day.” Is the ninth player to record his first PGA TOUR win at the Northern Trust Open.
carHigh2012: Qualified for the PGA TOUR Playoffs all six years of the FedExCup. Finished No. 72 in the FedExCup standings, just missing his first trip to the BMW Championship since 2008...Equaled his career-best finish on the PGA TOUR with a runner-up performance at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, finishing one shot off Dustin Johnson's winning pace of 9-under. Held a share of the 54-hole lead at 6-under for just the second time in his career. One of only two players to card four rounds in the 60s at TPC Southwind during the week (66-69-69-68). The top-10 came in his 16th start, and he has posted sub-70 scores in seven of his last eight rounds at TPC Southwind. Shared the first-round lead at 4-under with Jeff Maggert...Finished T10 at the Wyndham Championship on the strength of opening and closing rounds of 66...Advanced to the second Playoffs event, but finished T20 at the Deutsche Bank Championship and failed to advance.
2011: Made 15 of 21 cuts on TOUR to go with one top 10 and five top-25 finishes. Bounced back after a rough 2010 in which he failed to finish inside the top 125 on the money list...Recorded his only top-10 of the season, a T9 at the Travelers Championship. Also finished T11 outside Hartford in 2009.
2010: Made a career-best 23 cuts but finished outside the top-125 for the first time since 2007...Earned only top-10 of the PGA TOUR season with a T3 at the Reno-Tahoe Open, his third consecutive top-10 at Montreux G&CC. Fired a final-round, 3-under-par 69 to finish two shots behind Matt Bettencourt.
2009: Ranked 75th on the FedExCup standings and a career-best No. 58 on the money list...Posted a career-best 63 in the third round of the 50th Bob Hope Classic on his way to a career-best runner-up finish, three shots behind champion Pat Perez...Shot a 66, the best final-round score, to finish T6 at the Masters Tournament. Round included four consecutive birdies on the back nine...Finished T10 at the PGA Championship, his third career top-10 in a major....Partnered with Nick Watney at the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup in China in November.
2008: Doubled his earnings in his second season on TOUR, making more than $1.3 million with four top-10 finishes...Finished T3 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, four strokes behind champion Brian Gay after rounds of 69-67 on the weekend...Finished his third round Sunday morning and claimed the 54-hole lead at the Zurich Classic before a final-round 73 left him T7...Finished T6 at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines for his first top-10 in a major in just his second start. He missed the cut at the 2005 U.S. Open...Opened with consecutive 5-under 67s at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. Finished T8.
2007: Finished 135th on the money list, but improved his position on TOUR with his T23 finish at PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament...First career top-10 was a T5 at the Turning Stone Resort Championship.
2006: Finished 21st on the Web.com Tour money list and improved his status for the following season's PGA TOUR with T4 finish at PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, becoming first player from the Web.com Tour to improve status through Qualifying Tournament...First full season on the Web.com Tour included four top-10s and his first career Web.com Tour victory. Fired rounds of 71-69-69-68 to finish tied with Gavin Coles at 11-under 277 at the Peek'n Peak Classic. Parred third extra hole to win for the first time.
2005: In first PGA TOUR start, missed the cut at the U.S. Open...Made six cuts in a combined 10 starts during the 2004 and 2005 Web.com Tour seasons.
2004: Only top-25 was a T12 at the Envirocare Utah Classic in his first career start on the Web.com Tour...Also played on the Spanos Tour. Amateur: Earned All-Pac-10 honors after capturing medalist honors at the 2003 Pac-10 Championship. Won 2001 Southern California Golf Association Amateur at age 19, the youngest person since Tiger Woods in 1994 to capture the nation's second-oldest, continuously contested amateur championship.
personalLists his parents as his heroes. Got his start in golf from friends and his dad.
ntlTeamsWorld Cup (1), 2009.