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Czech-German professional golfer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexander Čejka (born 2 December 1970) is a Czech-German professional golfer.
| Alex Čejka | |
|---|---|
Čejka in 2012 | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Alexander Čejka |
| Born | 2 December 1970 Mariánské Lázně, Czechoslovakia |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) |
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Sporting nationality |  Germany |
| Residence | Munich, Germany Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1989 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour Champions European Senior Tour |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour Web.com Tour |
| Professional wins | 18 |
| Highest ranking | 33 (7 September 2003)[1] |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 1 |
| European Tour | 4 |
| Korn Ferry Tour | 1 |
| Challenge Tour | 4 |
| PGA Tour Champions | 3 |
| European Senior Tour | 3 |
| Other | 4 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | 26th: 2004 |
| PGA Championship | 4th: 2003 |
| U.S. Open | T8: 2010 |
| The Open Championship | T11: 1996 |
Čejka was born in Mariánské Lázně, Czechoslovakia. He left the country with his parents as a refugee at the age of nine, eventually settling in Munich, where he lived for many years, becoming a West German citizen. Čejka lives in Las Vegas and also has a home in Prague.
Čejka turned professional in 1989 and played on the European Tour from 1992 to 2002. His biggest tournament win was the Turespaña Masters Open de Andalucía at Islantilla Golf Club in 1995. That year he came 6th on the European Tour's Order of Merit. Since 2003 he played mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour. In 2003 he reached as high as No. 33 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Čejka took a five-shot lead into the final round of the 2009 Players Championship after rounds of 66, 67 and 72. He shot a 42 on the front nine, however, en route to a 79 and an eight-stroke loss to Henrik Stenson.
He represented Germany in the World Cup 12 times, including in 2011 at Mission Hills Haikou in Hainan Island, teaming with partner Martin Kaymer to tie for second, two strokes behind the winning United States team of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland. Čejka teamed with Kaymer in four World Cup appearances.
In 2012 Čejka finished 177th on the PGA Tour and moved to the Web.com Tour. He finished 64th in 2013, then 6th in 2014 to earn a return to the PGA Tour.
Čejka won his first PGA Tour event in his 287th Tour start, the 2015 Puerto Rico Open. Two players bogeyed the 18th hole ensuring a five-man playoff; Čejka won with a birdie at the first playoff hole.[2] He is the first golfer born in the Czech Republic to win a PGA Tour event and first non-American to win the Puerto Rico Open. At the time, he was also the third oldest first-time winner on the PGA Tour since 1970.[3]
He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[4]
With most of the sports world on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Čejka played on the Arizona-based Outlaw Tour, one of the few professional golf tours in operation during the pandemic, where he won two events.[5]
In May 2021, Čejka won his first tournament on the PGA Tour Champions at the Regions Tradition. Čejka won this major tournament in a playoff over Steve Stricker.[6] Three weeks later, Čejka won his second PGA Tour Champions major tournament of 2021 at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Čejka shot a final-round 67 Sunday to beat Tim Petrovic by four shots.[7]
In July 2023, Čejka won the Senior Open Championship at Royal Porthcawl in Wales on a blustery day with wet conditions. Čejka defeated Pádraig Harrington in a playoff to win the title. This was the third win of his senior PGA Tour Champions career, with all three coming at major championships.[8]
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 Mar 2015 | Puerto Rico Open | 70-67-75-69=281 | −7 | Playoff |  Jon Curran,  Emiliano Grillo, Tim Petrovic, Sam Saunders |
PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2015 | Puerto Rico Open | Jon Curran, Emiliano Grillo, Tim Petrovic, Sam Saunders |
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2017 | Shriners Hospitals for Children Open | Patrick Cantlay,  Kim Meen-whee |
Cantlay won with par on second extra hole |
| Legend |
|---|
| Tour Championships (1) |
| Other European Tour (3) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 Mar 1995 | Turespaña Masters Open de Andalucía | 71-68-70-69=278 | −6 | 3 strokes |  Costantino Rocca |
| 2 | 13 Aug 1995 | Hohe Brücke Open | 61-68-68-70=267 | −21 | 4 strokes |  Ignacio Garrido,  Rolf Muntz, Ronan Rafferty |
| 3 | 29 Oct 1995 | Volvo Masters | 74-66-72-70=282 | −2 | 2 strokes |  Colin Montgomerie |
| 4 | 13 Oct 2002 | Trophée Lancôme | 64-68-72-68=272 | −12 | 2 strokes | Carlos Rodiles |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 Feb 2014 | Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship | 68-68-63=199* | −14 | 3 strokes | Andrew Putnam |
*Note: The 2014 Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 Jun 1991 | Audi Quattro Trophy |  Glyn Krause, John Oates | |||
| 2 | 25 Jul 1993 | Audi Open | 72-66-71=209* | −7 | Playoff | Peter Harrison, Liam White |
| 3 | 8 Jun 1997 | KB Golf Challenge | 68-70-65-68=271 | −17 | 2 strokes | Michele Reale |
| 4 | 16 Jun 2002 | Galeria Kaufhof Pokal Challenge | 66-69-68-68=271 | −17 | 2 strokes | John E. Morgan, Marcel Siem |
*Note: The 1993 Audi Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.
Challenge Tour playoff record (1–0)
| Legend |
|---|
| PGA Tour Champions major championships (3) |
| Other PGA Tour Champions (0) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 May 2021 | Regions Tradition | 68-69-66-67=270 | −18 | Playoff | Steve Stricker |
| 2 | 30 May 2021 | KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship | 67-70-68-67=272 | −8 | 4 strokes | Tim Petrovic |
| 3 | 30 Jul 2023 | The Senior Open Championship | 68-71-74-76=289 | +5 | Playoff |  Pádraig Harrington |
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (2–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2021 | Regions Tradition | Steve Stricker |
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2023 | The Senior Open Championship | Pádraig Harrington |
Won with birdie on second extra hole |
| Legend |
|---|
| Senior major championships (2) |
| Other European Senior Tour (1) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 May 2021 | KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship | 67-70-68-67=272 | −8 | 4 strokes | Tim Petrovic |
| 2 | 31 Jul 2022 | JCB Championship | 69-66-70=205 | −11 | 2 strokes | Paul McGinley |
| 3 | 30 Jul 2023 | The Senior Open Championship | 68-71-74-76=289 | +5 | Playoff | Pádraig Harrington |
European Senior Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023 | The Senior Open Championship | Pádraig Harrington |
Won with birdie on second extra hole |
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
| Tournament | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 44 | |||
| U.S. Open | T50 | |||
| The Open Championship | T11 | CUT | ||
| PGA Championship | T52 | T65 |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 26 | |||||||||
| U.S. Open | T61 | T60 | ||||||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | T13 | CUT | CUT | CUT | |||||
| PGA Championship | 4 | CUT | CUT |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T35 | ||||||||
| U.S. Open | T8 | CUT | T41 | T60 | |||||
| The Open Championship | |||||||||
| PGA Championship | WD |
| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | ||||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | |||||
| U.S. Open | ||||||
| The Open Championship | NT | T75 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 3 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 15 |
| Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | T33 | T12 | CUT | T9 |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | T58 | CUT | 74 | T9 | T79 | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match Play | R16 | R32 | R64 | ||||
| Championship | T55 | NT1 | T12 | T28 | |||
| Invitational | T42 | T9 |
1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Regions Tradition | 1 shot deficit | −18 (68-69-66-67=270) | Playoff | Steve Stricker |
| 2021 | KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship | 1 shot deficit | −8 (67-70-68-67=272) | 4 strokes | Tim Petrovic |
| 2023 | Senior Open Championship | 1 shot deficit | +5 (68-71-74-76=289) | Playoff | Pádraig Harrington |
| Tournament | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Tradition | 1 | DQ | T9 | |
| Senior PGA Championship | 1 | 13 | T12 | |
| U.S. Senior Open | T26 | T13 | T9 | T16 |
| Senior Players Championship | T5 | T9 | ||
| The Senior Open Championship | T18 | T12 | 1 | T15 |
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place
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