15 Things You Didn't Know About Richard Bland
1. Richard Bland was born 3rd February 1973 in Burton-Upon-Trent, England
2. He turned professional in 1996 and gained his European Tour card in 2002.
3. He is a big fan of Southampton Football Club and is close friends with Southampton legend, Matt Le Tissier. In the past, Le Tissier has even carried the bag for Bland.
Le Tissier and Bland at the 2003 Caltex Masters
4. The Englishman graduated from the Challenge Tour on four occasions, most recently in 2019, when at the age of 46 he was the oldest player to earn his card.
5. His hobbies include football, cricket and Formula 1.
6. Bland is attached to Stoneham Golf Club in Southampton.
7. The Englishman made history at the 2021 British Masters by becoming the oldest first-time winner in European Tour history. It was his 478th start.
8. Bland amassed around $8 million in career earnings having made 511 starts on the DP World Tour.
9. He has made 10 hole-in-ones.
Bland celebrates his British Masters victory in 2021
10. At the 2021 US Open, he was the second-round co-leader. At 48 years of age, he became the oldest player to hold or share a US Open lead after 36 holes.
11. Bland reached a career-best world ranking of 48th in April 2022. He spent more than 50 weeks of his career as a top 100 player.
12. In June 2022, Bland joined LIV Golf and has played every tournament since. He plays under the Cleeks GC banner
13. Despite his long career, Bland has played in just nine Major championships. His best finish was T22 in the 2017 Open Championship.
14. In June 2023, both Bland and Lee Westwood had their application for The Senior Open turned down. The reason was due to the fact both were fined by the DP World Tour for joining LIV Golf.
15. His best performance on LIV is a third-place finish at the 2023 Greenbrier event.
HOW FAR DOES RICHARD BLAND DRIVE THE BALL?
During the 2022 DP World Tour Tour season, Bland averaged 291.26 yards off the tee; this put him 144th in the long drive standings. During the 2023 LIV Golf season, the Englishman averaged 297.6 yards, but LIV's way of measuring tee shots is slightly different to the DP World Tour's.
