James Driscoll

James Driscoll (born October 9, 1977) is an American professional golfer and current player on the PGA Tour.Driscoll was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest of seven children. He grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts outside of Boston. He started golf at a young age and won the Club Championship at his home club of Charles River age 15. James would win the Massachusetts Junior Championship a year later. He then went on to defeat the state's best golfers at the the Massachusetts State Amateur Championship in 1996 at the age of 18 and then again in 1998. He was the youngest winner ever of the Massachusetts Amateur and showed much promise at a young age. By the summer of 1996 James was the second-ranked junior in the country, and that's when he made his first cameo on the national stage, losing the final of the U.S. Junior to Scott Hailes.Driscoll attended The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, and went on to the University of Virginia where he was named to the Virginia first-team All-State golf team his senior year. He lost to Jeff Quinney in the finals of the 2000 U.S. Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey. He had upset Englishman Luke Donald in the semifinals 2&1 and made an inspiring comeback in the final being 3 down with three to play. Driscoll was eventually defeated on the 39th hole by Quinney. His runner-up finish gave him an invitation to the 2001 Masters Tournament. He was member the 2001 Walker Cup team. At the 2001 Masters Driscoll fired a 68 in the first round marking the best opening round by an amateur since Ken Venturi's 66 in 1956. His playing partner Tom Watson said, "This was the best round I've seen here by an amateur." Driscoll would go on to miss the cut.Driscoll turned professional in 2001 . He won his first and only professional event at the 2004 Nationwide Tour event the Virginia Beach Open. He has been on and off the PGA Tour for a couple years, but his top 25 finish on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list has given him PGA Tour membership for 2008. Driscoll was runner-up at the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2005. James lost to Tim Petrovic in a sudden-death playoff after missing a birdie putt on the final green of regulation for the win. He had his second runner-up finish on the 2009 Valero Texas Open, loosing to Zach Johnson in a sudden death playoff.