Michael Hoey

Michael George Hoey (born 13 February 1979) is a Northern Irish professional golfer.Hoey was born in Ballymoney. He won the British Amateur Championship in 2001 and was a member of the victorious 2001 Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team. As British Amateur Champion, he was invited to play in the U.S. Masters in 2002, where he missed the cut by a single stroke. He turned professional later that year.Until 2009, Hoey had struggled to secure his place on the main European Tour and had mostly competed the second tier Challenge Tour where he has three tournament victories, the 2005 BA-CA Golf Open, the 2007 Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata, and the 2008 Banque Populaire Moroccan Classic. He finished 8th on the end of season rankings in 2005, which gave him automatic promotion to the European Tour. Following a largely unsuccessful début season in 2006, he returned to the Challenge Tour the following year. He regained his playing privileges on the European Tour for the 2009 season at final qualifying school.Early in 2009, Hoey finished runner-up to Retief Goosen in the Africa Open on the Sunshine Tour. Then in April, he claimed his first European Tour title, at the Estoril Open de Portugal where he defeated Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño on the third hole of a sudden death playoff. The win also gave him a two year exemption on the European Tour.Hoey represented Ireland, alongside Gareth Maybin at the 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup where they finished in 24th position.