Todays Birthday 19/4
Today's Birthday, April 19: Australian golfer Matt Jones (1980 - )
Former Australian Open champion Matt Jones is getting back into the swing of things on the US PGA Tour after regaining his full playing rights on the final day of the 2017 season.
After losing his US PGA playing card in 2016, the now 38-year-old surged from 47th to tied fifth with a final round four-under 65 at the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship in Florida.
The scintillating final round was enough to secure him 17th place on the competition's finals money list, with the top 25 players earning cards to play on the top-flight tour for the 2018 season.
Born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Oyster Bay, Jones' passion for the sport was fanned when he met legendary Australian golfer Greg Norman as a six-year-old.
Learning his trade from his father and uncle, the budding linksman spent most of his free time walking the golf course with his older brother Brett, who later became a New Jersey club professional himself.
But it wasn't until age 15 that he had his first professional lesson with Gary Barter, Jones' swing coach and mentor over the past two decades.
After graduating from Sydney's Jannali High School in 1997, the NSW state junior champion moved to the US in 1998 to attend Arizona State University.
On the US college circuit, Jones was named a 2001 first-team All-American.
The promising talent turned professional later that year, but was forced to slog away as part of the US PGA's developmental circuit before earning his ticket to the main draw in 2008.
After a dozen top 10 finishes on tour, the Australian had a breakout couple of years - runner-up at the 2013 Greenbrier Classic before claiming a maiden PGA title at the 2014 Shell Housten Classic.
Back on home turf, Jones overcame jitters in the final round of the 2015 Australian Open to fight off a late challenge from defending champion Jordan Spieth and hoist the Stonehaven Cup aloft.
The Oyster Bay native has racked up more than 20 top 10 finishes and $US10 million prize money in his 10 years on the world's best tour.
Jones married American Melissa Weber, a former Miss Idaho, in 2010 and the pair has two daughters.
