Paul Stankowski

{{short description|American professional golfer (born 1969)}} {{use mdy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox golfer | name = Paul Stankowski | image = | imagesize =  | caption = | fullname = Paul Francis Stankowski | nickname = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|12|2}} | birth_place = Oxnard, California, U.S. | death_date =  | death_place = | height =  | weight =  | nationality = {{USA}} | residence = Flower Mound, Texas, U.S. | spouse = | partner = | children = | college = University of Texas at El Paso | yearpro = 1991 | retired =  | tour = PGA Tour Champions | extour = PGA Tour Nationwide Tour Gateway Tour | prowins = 8 | pgawins = 2 | eurowins =  | japwins = 1 | asiawins =  | sunwins =  | auswins =  | nwidewins = 1 | chalwins =  | champwins =  | seneurowins =  | otherwins = 4 | majorwins =  | masters = T5: 1997 | usopen = T19: 1997 | open = CUT: 1997 | pga = T41: 2000 | wghofid =  | wghofyear =  | award1 =  | year1 =  | award2 = | year2 = | awardssection =  }} '''Paul Francis Stankowski''' (born December 2, 1969) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He previously played on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he won one event, and the PGA Tour, where he was a two-time champion.

== Early life == Stankowski was born in Oxnard, California.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Glick |first=Shav |date=1989-07-30 |title=Stankowski Leads SoCal Team in Pacific Coast Play |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-30-sp-960-story.html |access-date=2025-04-14 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ledin |first=Loren |title=Ronney Jenkins leads Fab Five into Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame |url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/sports/2019/03/06/ronnie-jenkins-leads-fab-five-into-ventura-county-sports-hall-fame/3080796002/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |newspaper=Ventura County Star |date=March 6, 2019}}</ref> He first played golf on Easter Sunday in 1978 at the age of 8. He attended the University of Texas at El Paso.

== Professional career == In 1991, Stankowski turned professional. He initially played on the Nike Tour. His first and only victory in this tour came at the 1996 Nike Louisiana Open. The following week, he won the BellSouth Classic on the PGA Tour. Stankowski started the week as the sixth alternate. He won becoming the only golfer in history to win a developmental tour event and a PGA Tour event in back-to-back weeks. He had another big year in 1997, winning the United Airlines Hawaiian Open. His best finish in a major was T5 at the 1997 Masters Tournament.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Golf Major Championships |url=http://golfmajorchampionships.com/players?player=504 |title=Paul Stankowski |accessdate=August 29, 2016}}</ref>

In 1998, however, his fortunes began to change due to a host of injury-related ailments. He injured his right shoulder at the Bay Hill Invitational that year and also had LASIK surgery. As a Callaway sponsored player in 1999, he tried to help his game by sneaking Ping clubs into his bag at the Colonial.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-may-26-1999-1035344/ |title=Stankowski caught with wrong clubs in his bag |newspaper=Brownsville Herald |date=May 26, 1999 |accessdate=February 10, 2019}}</ref> In 2004, he suffered a major injury to his left wrist and played the two following years under a Major Medical Extension.

Stankowski made over 400 starts on the PGA Tour. Towards the end of his PGA Tour career, his desire to be closer to his family resulted in him focusing entrepreneurship and radio broadcasting. He is the co-owner of Francis Edward, a leather goods company whose name is derived from the middle names of Stankowski and co-founder Mike Vicary.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://shopfrancisedward.com/ |title=Francis Edward, Stankowski's belt company}}</ref>

In 2018 and 2019, he took advantage of an exemption reserved for those 48 and 49 years old on the Korn Ferry Tour, playing in a total of six events but not making the cut in any of them.

In December 2021, Stankowski finished high enough at the PGA Tour Champions Qualifying School (Q-School) to earn eligibility to compete in open qualifiers for PGA Tour Champions events in 2022.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2021-12-10 |title=Rob Labritz among five golfers to earn 2022 tour cards at PGA Tour Champions Q-School |url=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2021/12/10/rob-labritz-2022-tour-card-pga-tour-champions-q-school/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |magazine=Golfweek |first=Todd |last=Kelly}}</ref>

== Personal life == Stankowski is married and has two children.

Stankowski is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and sponsored the annual ''Paul Stankowski FCA Golf Scramble'' in El Paso for a time. He lives in Flower Mound, Texas in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

==Professional wins (8)== ===PGA Tour wins (2)=== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" !No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning score!!Margin of victory!!Runner(s)-up |- |align=center|1 |align=right|Apr 7, 1996 |BellSouth Classic |−8 (68-71-70-71=280) |Playoff |{{flagicon|USA}} Brandel Chamblee |- |align=center|2 |align=right|Feb 16, 1997 |United Airlines Hawaiian Open |−17 (71-66-64-70=271) |Playoff |{{flagicon|USA}} Jim Furyk, {{flagicon|USA}} Mike Reid |}

'''PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)''' {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" !No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent(s)!!Result |-style="background:#D0F0C0;" |align=center|1 |1996 |BellSouth Classic |{{flagicon|USA}} Brandel Chamblee |Won with par on first extra hole |-style="background:#D0F0C0;" |align=center|2 |1997 |United Airlines Hawaiian Open |{{flagicon|USA}} Jim Furyk, {{flagicon|USA}} Mike Reid |Won with birdie on fourth extra hole Reid eliminated by par on first hole |}

===PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)=== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" !No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning score!!Margin of victory!!Runner-up |- |align=center|1 |align=right|Nov 24, 1996 |Casio World Open |−11 (69-69-71-68=277) |Playoff |{{flagicon|USA}} David Ishii |}

'''PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (1–0)''' {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" !No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result |-style="background:#D0F0C0;" |align=center|1 |1996 |Casio World Open |{{flagicon|USA}} David Ishii |Won with birdie on first extra hole |}

===Nike Tour wins (1)=== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" !No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning score!!Margin of victory!!Runner-up |- |align=center|1 |align=right|Mar 31, 1996 |Nike Louisiana Open |−22 (69-66-64-67=266) |4 strokes |{{flagicon|USA}} Greg Whisman |}

===Gateway Tour wins (1)=== *2009 DFW Summer 10

===Other wins (3)=== *1992 New Mexico Open *1996 Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua International *2001 Straight Down Fall Classic (with Brad Payne)

==Results in major championships== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;" !Tournament !1994 !1995 !1996 !1997 !1998 !1999 !2000 !2001 !2002 |- |align=left|Masters Tournament |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |CUT |style="background:yellow;"|T5 |T39 |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |- |align=left|U.S. Open |CUT |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |T19 |CUT |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |T62 |- |align=left|The Open Championship |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |CUT |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |- |align=left|PGA Championship |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |CUT |T47 |T67 |CUT |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |T41 |74 |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |} {{legend|yellow|Top 10}} {{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}} CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied

==Results in The Players Championship== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;" !Tournament !1995!!1996!!1997!!1998!!1999!!2000!!2001!!2002!!2003!!2004 |- |align=left|The Players Championship |CUT |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |T14 |WD |CUT |CUT |T44 |CUT |CUT |T16 |} {{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}} CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place

==Results in senior major championships== ''Results not in chronological order'' {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;" !Tournament !! 2021!!2022!!2023!!2024!!2025!!2026 |- |align=left|Senior PGA Championship |T23 |T43 |T26 |T17 |CUT |CUT |- |align=left|The Tradition |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |T23 |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |T27 |T51 |- |align=left|U.S. Senior Open |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |T18 |style="background:yellow;"|T8 |style="background:yellow;"|8 | |- |align=left|Senior Players Championship |T20 |T38 |T44 |16 |T57 | |- |align=left|The Senior Open Championship |CUT |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |style="background:#eeeeee;"| |CUT |T56 | |} {{legend|yellow|Top 10}} {{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}} CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{PGATour player|08375}} *{{JapanTour player|10820}} *{{OWGR|4051}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stankowski, Paul}} Category:American male golfers Category:UTEP Miners men's golfers Category:PGA Tour golfers Category:Golfers from Ventura County, California Category:Golfers from Texas Category:Sportspeople from Oxnard, California Category:Sportspeople from Flower Mound, Texas Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American sportsmen