Hudson Swafford

Hudson Swafford
Personal information
Full nameJames Hudson Swafford
Born (1987-09-09) September 9, 1987 (age 37)
Tallahassee, Florida[1]
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight200 lb (91 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceSea Island, Georgia[1]
Career
CollegeUniversity of Georgia
Turned professional2011
Current tour(s)LIV Golf
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Web.com Tour
eGolf Professional Tour
Professional wins5
Highest ranking61 (January 23, 2022)[2]
(as of November 3, 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
Korn Ferry Tour1
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT30: 2022
PGA ChampionshipCUT: 2017, 2021, 2022
U.S. OpenCUT: 2010, 2014
The Open ChampionshipDNP

James Hudson Swafford (born September 9, 1987) is an American professional golfer. He formerly played on the PGA Tour, where he won three tournaments, until June 2022, when he joined LIV Golf.

Early life and amateur career

Swafford was born in Tallahassee, Florida.[1] He played his college golf at the University of Georgia.[3]

Professional career

Swafford turned professional after graduating in 2011. He joined the Nationwide Tour in 2012 and picked up his first victory at the Stadion Classic at UGA on May 6, shooting a course record 62 in the final round. Swafford trailed Luke List by a stroke heading to the final hole of the tournament, but he holed out his bunker shot for a birdie while List bogeyed to give him the victory. Swafford was familiar with the course as it is his former college course.[4] Swafford is a member of the Gridiron Secret Society.

Swafford played in the Web.com Tour Finals in 2013 and finished 21st to earn his PGA Tour card for 2014.

On January 22, 2017, Swafford recorded his first PGA Tour victory at the CareerBuilder Challenge. On September 27, 2020, Swafford won the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship. He was playing with a Major Medical Extension after a rib injury and foot surgery.[5]

On January 23, 2022, Swafford won The American Express in La Quinta, California for his third career PGA Tour win.[6]

After taking part in the inaugural LIV Golf event at Centurion Club near London in June 2022, Swafford had his PGA Tour membership indefinitely suspended. He switched from the Torque GC team to the Niblicks GC team after that first event. The team was rebranded as the RangeGoats GC by captain Bubba Watson for the 2023 LIV Golf League, with Swafford named as part of the lineup, but he ultimately sat out the season as he recovered from surgery on a hip injury.[7] Having not been signed by a team, he was given one of the two wild card places for the 2024 season.[8]

Personal

Hudson is the son of David and Jean Swafford. He graduated from Maclay School in Tallahassee, Florida before matriculating to the University of Georgia, where he received a B.S. in Consumer Economics. He is married to Katherine Wainwright Brandon.[9]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 Jan 22, 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge 65-65-71-67=268 −20 1 stroke Canada Adam Hadwin
2 Sep 27, 2020 Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship 65-67-69-69=270 −18 1 stroke United States Tyler McCumber
3 Jan 23, 2022 The American Express (2) 70-65-66-64=265 −23 2 strokes United States Tom Hoge

Web.com Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runners-up
1 May 6, 2012 Stadion Classic at UGA 66-70-69-62=267 −17 1 stroke United States Lee Janzen, United States Luke List

eGolf Professional Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Aug 13, 2011 HGM Hotels Classic 69-67-65-65=266 −21 1 stroke Brazil Fernando Mechereffe

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUT
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022
Masters Tournament CUT T30
PGA Championship CUT CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship NT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
The Players Championship T57 CUT CUT C CUT CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament 2017
Championship
Match Play
Invitational T10
Champions T50
  Top 10
  Did not play

"T" = tied

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Hudson Swafford". PGA Tour.
  2. ^ "Week 4 2022 Ending 23 Jan 2022" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  3. ^ "Swafford wins N'wide event on his college links". ESPN. Associated Press. May 6, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  4. ^ Towers, Chip (May 6, 2012). "UGA grad Hudson Swafford holes out on 18 to shoot 62 and win Stadion". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012.
  5. ^ "Swafford's late birdie leads to victory at Punta Cana". Associated Press News. September 27, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  6. ^ Martin, Sean (January 23, 2022). "A month after his father's passing, Hudson Swafford authors dramatic win at The American Express". PGA Tour. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  7. ^ "LIV Golf player facing six months out injured". Bunkered. February 20, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  8. ^ Leighfield, Jonny (January 31, 2024). "LIV Golf Announces Field Expansion With Extra 'Wildcard' Players". Golf Monthly. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  9. ^ "Engagement: Hudson Swafford & Katherine Brandon". Tallahassee Democrat. July 28, 2013. Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2015.