Michael Hoey

Michael Hoey is a retired Northern Irish professional golfer who won five European Tour titles, including a victory over compatriot Rory McIlroy at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

At the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Michael Hoey defeated world number one Rory McIlroy to claim the most prominent win of a career that produced five European Tour titles, briefly placing his name alongside the Northern Irish golfing generation that had come to define the sport. As an amateur he won the 2001 British Amateur Championship and was part of the winning Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team that year, earning him an invitation to the 2002 Masters, where he missed the cut by a single stroke before turning professional. Hoey spent much of his early professional career on the second-tier Challenge Tour, winning three titles there between 2005 and 2008 before finally securing his European Tour card. He broke through with his first European Tour win at the 2009 Estoril Open de Portugal, defeating Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño in a playoff, and followed it with a second title at the 2010 Madeira Islands Open. Hoey's signature moment came at the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where he defeated fellow Northern Irishman and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy to win the title. He added a fourth European Tour victory later that year at the Trophée Hassan II in Morocco, climbing inside the world's top 75, and won a fifth title before injuries and form eventually ended his run on tour. He represented Ireland at the 2007 World Cup alongside Gareth Maybin, and retired from professional competition having won eight titles across the European and Challenge Tours.

Steady, patient competitor known for closing out tournaments from off the pace

Part of Northern Ireland's deep bench of modern European Tour golfers alongside the region's major champions

• 5x European Tour winner
• British Amateur Champion (2001)
• Winning member of the 2001 Walker Cup team