Michael Long (golfer)

Michael Richard Long (born 27 August 1968) is a New Zealand professional golfer who has played on a number of tours, including two seasons on the PGA Tour and three seasons on the European Tour. He won four times on the PGA Tour of Australasia between 1996 and 2018 and twice on the Nationwide Tour. He won the 2020 European Senior Tour Q-School.

Early life and amateur career
Long was born in Cromwell, New Zealand. He took up golf when he lived at Waitangi where his father worked, later attending Waikato University. He had considerable success as an amateur, winning the New Zealand under-18 title in 1985, the under-21 title in 1988, the under-23 title in 1989 and the New Zealand Amateur in 1990. He was in the four-man New Zealand team in the 1990 Eisenhower Trophy, played in Christchurch. The team finished joint runners-up behind Sweden. Individually Long had the joint third best score, behind two Swedes.

Professional career
Long turned professional after the Eisenhower Trophy and joined the PGA Tour of Australasia. Despite having limited success on his home tour he travelled to the United States to play in the PGA Tour Q-school at the end of 1995, earning a place on the second-tier 1996 Nike Tour. He played in 9 tournaments between March and August. His best finish was to be tied for fourth place in his last event, the Nike Permian Basin Open, despite a first round 74. Following his period in America Long had much more success in the 1996/1997 Australasian Tour season, results that lifted him from outside the top 800 into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings. During this season he won the 1996 New Zealand Open, his major success as a professional. In January 1997 he was a runner-up in the Johnnie Walker Classic, an event co-sponsored by the European Tour, winning A$121,000. Ernie Els won the event, a stroke ahead of Long and Peter Lonard. Long incurred a one-stroke penalty, penalising himself, when his ball moved after he addressed the ball on the 15th green of the final round. He was also third in the Greg Norman Holden International, the Schweppes Coolum Classic and the Ford South Australian Open, and had three other top-10 finishes.

Long's runner-up finish in the Johnnie Walker Classic gave him playing opportunities on the European Tour and he played on the tour from 1997 to 1999. He was 43rd in the Order of Merit in 1997, 84th in 1998 and 131rd in 1999. Long played with Grant Waite in the 1997 World Cup of Golf, the pair finishing in a tie for 9th place. In February 1999 Long won the Greg Norman Holden International at The Lakes Golf Club. Bernhard Langer came to final hole needing par-3 for victory. However he took a triple-bogey 6, Long taking the A$180,000 first prize.

In late 1999 Long's career was interrupted after suffering a broken C5 bone in his neck in a boogie boarding accident. After making a recovery he turned his attentions to America and played on the second-tier Buy.com Tour, which became the Nationwide Tour in 2003. He had some success at this level, winning twice, at the 2001 Buy.com Boise Open and the 2003 VB Open, and losing in a playoff for the 2004 Lake Erie Charity Classic. He twice finished high enough in the money list to graduate to the PGA Tour. Playing two full seasons on the main tour, in 2002 and 2005, he was unable to keep his card on either occasion. Long played on the Buy.com/Nationwide Tour from 2000 to 2007 with the exception of his two seasons on the main PGA Tour.

By 2008 Long had lost his playing rights on the Nationwide Tour and returned to Australasia. He topped the 2008 Von Nida Tour money list and was tied for third in the 2009 Australian Open. From 2009 Long also played on the OneAsia tour. In 2011 he lost in a four-man playoff for the Nanshan China Masters and he had third-place finishes in the 2009 Midea China Classic and the 2012 Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open.

In early 2016, at the age of 47, Long won the Oates Victorian Open after a playoff against Matthew Millar. Millar had birdied the last three holes to force a playoff. At the first playoff hole Long hooked his second shot into long grass but managed to hit the ball to five feet and holed the putt to win the title with a birdie 4. In May 2018, Long won the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship at Kalgoorlie Golf Course, one stroke ahead of Brody Martin after a final round 64.

Since turning 50 Long has played on the Ladbrokes Legends Tour. In 2018 he won Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open and the Australian PGA Seniors Championship and won the Sheraton South Pacific Golf Classic in 2019. In January 2020 he won the European Senior Tour Q-School. The 2020 season was cancelled but his playing rights were rolled over to the 2021 season and he finally made his debut on the tour in June 2021. The following month he led his qualifying section for the 2021 Senior Open Championship with a 5-under-par 65, to get a place in the event, his first senior major.

Long was on the board of the PGA of Australia from 2014 to 2018.

Amateur wins

 * 1985 New Zealand under 18s
 * 1988 New Zealand under 21s
 * 1989 New Zealand under 23s
 * 1990 New Zealand Amateur

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (4)
PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (1–0)

Nationwide Tour wins (2)
Nationwide Tour playoff record (0–1)

Other wins (3)

 * 1992 South West Open (Australia), New Caledonia Open
 * 2007 Nedlands Masters

Playoff record
OneAsia Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships
Note: Long only played in The Open Championship. CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied

Team appearances
Amateur
 * Nomura Cup (representing New Zealand): 1989
 * Eisenhower Trophy (representing New Zealand): 1990
 * Sloan Morpeth Trophy (representing New Zealand): 1990

Professional
 * Dunhill Cup (representing New Zealand): 1997, 1998, 1999
 * World Cup (representing New Zealand): 1997