Lucas Parsons
Encyclopedia
Lucas John Kendall Parsons (born 4 October 1969) is an Australia
n professional golf
er.
Parsons was born in Orange, New South Wales
. As an amateur, he won both the Australian
and New Zealand Amateur Championships in 1991. He turned professional the following year and joined the PGA Tour of Australasia
.
Parsons won seven tournaments on the PGA Tour of Australasia, including the New Zealand Open
in 1995. He played one unsuccessful season on the United States
based PGA Tour
in 1996. He also played for a time on the European Tour
after graduating from the second tier Challenge Tour
in 1999, having won two tournaments and finished 10th on the money list. His best season-end ranking on the European Tour Order of Merit was 37th in 2000, the year he won the Greg Norman Holden International
, also a PGA Tour of Australasia event. He finished a career best 2nd on that tour's Order of Merit at the end of the 1999/2000 season.
Having retired from tournament golf at the end of 2008, Parsons now runs a café
in Randwick, New South Wales
and was a finalist in the first season of the competitive cooking television show MasterChef Australia
.
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
in Sydney
(T's Book Cafe in Randwick
), Parsons went on to compete in the competitive cooking show MasterChef Australia
in the hope of expanding his business and opening a restaurant. He cooked a Singaporean Chili Crab dish which impressed the judges and helped him progress to the semi-finals.
Parsons beat celebrity chef Ben O'Donoghue
in the sixth Celebrity Chef Challenge to guarantee himself a place in the finals. He was the first finalist eliminated on 13 July 2009.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n professional golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er.
Parsons was born in Orange, New South Wales
Orange, New South Wales
Orange is a city in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney, at an altitude of . Orange has an estimated population of 39,329 and the city is a major provincial centre....
. As an amateur, he won both the Australian
Australian Amateur
The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894 and is organized by Golf Australia....
and New Zealand Amateur Championships in 1991. He turned professional the following year and joined the PGA Tour of Australasia
PGA Tour of Australasia
The PGA Tour of Australasia is a professional golf tour for men. Official events on the tour count for World Golf Ranking points. The tour was formed in 1973 as the PGA Tour of Australia and adopted its current name in 1991....
.
Parsons won seven tournaments on the PGA Tour of Australasia, including the New Zealand Open
New Zealand Open
The BMW New Zealand Open is the leading men's golf tournament in New Zealand. In 2011, it will be hosted by The Clearwater Resort in Christchurch from 1–4 December. The tournament is being promoted by New Zealand Golf...
in 1995. He played one unsuccessful season on the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
based PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
in 1996. He also played for a time on the European Tour
PGA European Tour
The PGA European Tour is an organization which operates the three leading men's professional golf tours in Europe: the elite European Tour, the European Seniors Tour and the developmental Challenge Tour. Its headquarters are at Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England...
after graduating from the second tier Challenge Tour
Challenge Tour
The Challenge Tour is the second tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and as with on the main European Tour and the European Seniors Tour, some of the events are played outside of Europe...
in 1999, having won two tournaments and finished 10th on the money list. His best season-end ranking on the European Tour Order of Merit was 37th in 2000, the year he won the Greg Norman Holden International
Greg Norman Holden International
The Greg Norman Holden International was a men's professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It was played from 1993 to 2001. It was also co-sanctioned with the European Tour in 2000 and 2001...
, also a PGA Tour of Australasia event. He finished a career best 2nd on that tour's Order of Merit at the end of the 1999/2000 season.
Having retired from tournament golf at the end of 2008, Parsons now runs a café
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
in Randwick, New South Wales
Randwick, New South Wales
Randwick is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Randwick...
and was a finalist in the first season of the competitive cooking television show MasterChef Australia
Masterchef Australia
MasterChef Australia is a Logie award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as...
.
Amateur wins
- 1990 Lagonda Trophy (England)
- 1991 Australian AmateurAustralian AmateurThe Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894 and is organized by Golf Australia....
, New Zealand Amateur, Australian Medal, New South Wales Amateur
European Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 Feb 2000 2000 European Tour The 2000 European Tour was the 29th official season of golf tournaments known as the PGA European Tour.The Order of Merit was won by England's Lee Westwood who won six times during the season to end Colin Montgomerie's seven year reign as Europe's number one.... |
Greg Norman Holden International Greg Norman Holden International The Greg Norman Holden International was a men's professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It was played from 1993 to 2001. It was also co-sanctioned with the European Tour in 2000 and 2001... (co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia) |
4 strokes |  Peter SeniorPeter Senior Peter Albert Charles Senior is an Australian professional golfer who has won more than twenty tournaments around the world.... |
Challenge Tour wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 May 1999 1999 Challenge Tour The 1999 Challenge Tour was a series of golf tournaments known as the Challenge Tour, the official development tour run by the PGA European Tour... |
Challenge de Sablé | 4 strokes |  Kalle BrinkKalle Brink Kalle Henrik Brink is a Swedish professional golfer who currently plays on the Challenge Tour.Brink was born in Helsingborg, Sweden. He turned professional in 1994... |
|
| 2 | 1 Aug 1999 | Finnish Masters Finnish Masters The Finnish Masters was a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour between 1998 and 2000. It was played annually at Master Golf Club in Espoo, Finland.-Winners:-External links:*... |
1 stroke |  Thomas NørretThomas Nørret -Career:Nørret turned professional in 1999 at the relatively late age of 25, having spent time studying in both Denmark and the USA. He immediately joined the second-tier Challenge Tour and found instant success, posting two runners-up finishes in his debut season and finishing 25th in the final... |
PGA Tour of Australasia wins (7)
- 1993 Victorian OpenVictorian OpenThe Victorian Open is an annual golf tournament held in Australia. It was founded in 1957 and is the Victoria state open championship.The Victorian Open is one of the lower rated events on the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule, having previously been part of the developmental Von Nida Tour which...
- 1994 Queensland Open
- 1995 New Zealand OpenNew Zealand OpenThe BMW New Zealand Open is the leading men's golf tournament in New Zealand. In 2011, it will be hosted by The Clearwater Resort in Christchurch from 1–4 December. The tournament is being promoted by New Zealand Golf...
- 1997 Queensland PGA Championship, Toyota Southern Classic
- 1998 Queensland PGA Championship
- 2000 Greg Norman Holden InternationalGreg Norman Holden InternationalThe Greg Norman Holden International was a men's professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It was played from 1993 to 2001. It was also co-sanctioned with the European Tour in 2000 and 2001...
(co-sanctioned by the European Tour)
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour... |
T40 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico... |
DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T41 |
| PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship... |
DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
MasterChef Australia
After opening up a small cafeCafé
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
(T's Book Cafe in Randwick
Randwick, New South Wales
Randwick is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Randwick...
), Parsons went on to compete in the competitive cooking show MasterChef Australia
Masterchef Australia
MasterChef Australia is a Logie award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as...
in the hope of expanding his business and opening a restaurant. He cooked a Singaporean Chili Crab dish which impressed the judges and helped him progress to the semi-finals.
Parsons beat celebrity chef Ben O'Donoghue
Ben O'Donoghue
Ben O'Donoghue is an Australian chef and television personality. Currently he is one of the hosts and contestants of The Best in Australia airing on LifeStyle Food.-Early years:...
in the sixth Celebrity Chef Challenge to guarantee himself a place in the finals. He was the first finalist eliminated on 13 July 2009.