Eduardo Romero: Argentine Golf Champ, 2 Senior Majors
Eduardo Romero was a professional golfer from Argentina whose run of tournament victories stretched from the early 1980s into the 2000s. Never a winner on the PGA Tour, Romero wons dozens of times on other tours, including wins in three decades on the European Tour. Later, he won two senior majors on the Champions Tour.
Full name: Eduardo Alejandro Romero
Date of birth: July 17, 1954
Place of birth: Villa Allende, Cordoba, Argentina
Date and place of death: February 13, 2022, in Villa Allende, Cordoba, Argentina
Nickname: El Gato ("the cat")
His Biggest Wins
Romero won eight times on the European Tour and five times on the Champions Tour. Those are the tournaments listed here. But he had dozens more victories in Argentina and South America, plus on the European Seniors Tour. Those additional wins are listed at the bottom of this article.European Tour Wins (8)
- 1989 Trophee Lancome
- 1990 Volvo Open di Firenze
- 1991 Spanish Open
- 1991 Open de France
- 1994 Italian Open
- 1994 European Masters
- 2000 European Masters
- 2002 Scottish Open
Champions Tour Wins (5)
- 2006 Tradition
- 2008 Dick's Sporting Goods Open
- 2008 U.S. Senior Open
- 2008 SAS Championship
- 2009 Toshiba Classic
In the Majors
In the four major championships of men's professional golf, Romero had two career Top 10 finishes. He tied for eighth place in the 1989 British Open, and tied for seventh place in the 1997 British Open. He had two additional Top 20 finishes: tied 13th in the 1988 Open and tied 20th in the 1993 PGA Championship. His first appearance in a major was at the 1985 Open Championship, his last in the 2009 Open Championship.Romero won two senior majors, however: the 2006 Tradition and 2008 U.S. Senior Open. Those wins are covered in the "More About" section that follows.
More About Eduardo Romero
Born the son of a club professional in the Cordoba province of Argentina, Eduardo Romero once said that he realized from age nine "that my life was going to revolve around golf."And it did, as he won all around the world. And he did it all with a smile. Romero was known for his big drives, deft short-game touch, and his big, jovial personality. He was always a popular player with fans and fellow pros.
The beginning of his pro career, however, was delayed by a two-year enlistment in the Argentine Army. During his time in the military, Argentina went through a military coup, resulting in Romero seeing battle.
He was already 26 years when he turned pro in 1980. Romero started on the Argentine Tour, winning his first three titles in 1983. After an 8-win season in 1984, he decided to test his game outside of his home country.
It was a good decision to play the European Tour: He wound winning eight times on that tour, over three different decades. Romero won the Spanish, French, Italian and Scottish opens, and he won the European Masters twice. His wins stretched from 1989 to 2002.
His first European Tour victory was the 1989 Trophee Lancome, which he won by a single stroke over runners-up Bernhard Langer and Jose Maria Olazabal. His last was the 2002 Scottish Open, which he won in a playoff.
Romero's biggest win on the Euro Tour was probably the 1991 Spanish Open, in which he defeated Seve Ballesteros in a playoff. His second European Masters victory, in 2000, was by a whopping 10 strokes. And that final win in the 2002 Scottish Open came just shy of his 48th birthday, making Romero, at the time, the third-oldest winner on the European Tour.
Romero was 13th on the European Tour Order of Merit (based on the money list at the time) in 1989, 11th in 1990, 17th in 1991, 14th in 1994, 13th in 1997, 16th in 2000, and a career-best 5th in 2002 at the age of 48.
"I just played because I loved golf. I loved to hit the ball, and I always went out to enjoy what I did." — Eduardo RomeroRomero had PGA Tour membership in just two years, 1986 and 1995, both times after making it through Q-School. In 1986, he made just 11 cuts in 30 starts. In 1995, he made just four cuts in 15 starts. But in-between, he had his best showing in a PGA Tour event: tied for second place in the 1990 International (the modified Stableford tournament).
Over his career on the European Tour, Romero made 383 career starts. In addition to his eight wins, he was second nine times and third-place 15 times, with 89 total Top 10 finishes.
On the PGA Tour, Romero made 96 career starts, with five Top 10 finishes.
And all the while, he continued playing in Argentina and South America. His wins in Argentina spanned from 1980 through 2000. Romero won the Argentine PGA Championship eight times, first in 1983, last in 1999. But his biggest win in his native country was the 1989 Argentine Open. When he was finally finished winning at home, he had 44 career victories on the Argentine Tour, second only to his idol and mentor, Roberto de Vicenzo.
He also represented Argentina 13 times in the World Cup, second only to De Vicenzo's 15 times. In the 2000 World Cup, played in Argentina, Romero and Angel Cabrera teamed to finish second to the Team USA duo of Tiger Woods and David Duval.
Romero turned 50 in 2004, just in time to made his debut as a senior (50-and-over) golfer in the Senior British Open. He tied for second place.
He joined the PGA Tour's Champions Tour two years later at age 52, and in his eighth started recorded his first victory — and it was a senior major. At that 2006 Tradition, Romero came from five strokes back at the start of the final round to beat Lonnie Nielsen in a playoff for the victory. He had started the tournament with an over-par score in the first round. It was the first time in any senior major that a golfer won after opening with an over-par score.
Romero continued playing 15 or more tournaments a year on the Champions Tour through 2012. And he had another major championship victory. Romero won the 2008 U.S. Senior Open despite making four consecutive birdies on the back nine of the final round. He still won by four strokes over runner-up Fred Funk.
Romero won three times overall on the Champions Tour in 2008, sharing the tour lead, and after winning the U.S. Open went on to a third-place finish in the Senior British Open. He finished a career-best seventh on the senior money list in 2008.
In addition to his two senior major wins, Romero made it into a playoff at a third (the 2006 Senior British Open, lost to Loren Roberts) and was also runner-up two other times (t2 2004 Senior Brit, tied with Tom Kite one behind Pete Oakley; solo second in 2007 Senior PGA behind Denis Watson).
For his Champions Tour career, Romero made 125 starts, had five wins, four seconds, three thirds, and 32 total Top 10 finishes. He was third in scoring average in 2007, and twice finished runner-up in driving distance.
Romero also made a handful of starts (never more than four) each year on the European Seniors Tour from 2004 through 2016, a total of 33 starts in which he had three wins, three seconds, two thirds, and 12 overall Top 10 finishes.
Romero retired from tournament golf in 2016 and returned to Argentina. He ran for mayor of his hometown and won in a landslide, then was re-elected in 2000.
Early in 2002, Romero took a leave of absence from the mayoralty due to the effects of cancer. He died of complications from the disease less than two months later, aged 67.
Additional Tournament Wins by Romero
We listed his biggest wins (European Tour, Champions Tour) above. But, as noted, Romero won dozens more times around the world, mostly in Argentina. This is a list of those additional victories:Wins In Argentina
- Argentine PGA Championship (8): 1983, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999
- Center Open (7): 1984, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1999
- North Open (5): 1987, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998
- 1980 Argentine Caddie's Tournament
- 1983 La Cumbre Open
- 1983 Highland Grand Prix
- 1984 Carilo Open
- 1984 Abierto del Litoral
- 1984 La Cumbre Open
- 1984 San Martin Grand Prix
- 1984 Chaco Open
- 1984 Ituzaingo Grand Prix
- 1984 Jockey Club Rosario Open
- 1987 Sevel Grand Prix
- 1987 Los Cardales Grand Prix
- 1987 American Express Grand Prix
- 1988 South Open
- 1988 Norpatagonico Open
- 1989 Argentine Open
- 1989 Sevel Grand Prix
- 1989 Los Lagartos Grand Prix
- 1991 Acantilados Grand Prix
- 1992 South Open
- 1997 Las Delicias Open
- 1998 Acantilados Grand Prix
- 1999 La Cumbre Open
Other Notable Victories
- 1984 Chile Open
- 1987 Prince of Wales Open (Chile)
- 1987 Santo Domingo Open (Chile)
- 1987 Sports Frances Open (Chile)
- 1988 Punta del Este Open (Uruguay)
- 1995 Punta del Este Open (Uruguay)
- 1997 Las Brisas Open (Chile)
- 1998 Mexican Open
- 1998 Las Brisas Open (Chile)
Wins on the European Seniors Tour
Romero is credited with three EST victories, one of which is the 2008 U.S. Senior Open. The other two:- 2005 Travis Perkins Senior Masters
- 2006 Wentworth Senior Masters
Associated Press. "Argentine golfer Eduardo Romero dies at 67," February 14, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-sports-eduardo-romero-golf-26ff3629075bc1044d26b71c2fa354a0.
EuropeanTour.com. "Eduardo Romero: 1954 – 2022," https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/news/articles/detail/eduardo-romero-1954-2022/.
EuropeanTour.com. Players, Eduardo Romero, https://www.europeantour.com/players/eduardo-romero-170/career-record?tour=dpworld-tour.
Herrington, Ryan. "Eduardo Romero, winner of more than 80 worldwide titles, dies at 67," GolfDigest.com, February 14, 2022, https://www.golfdigest.com/story/eduardo-romero-el-gato-argentina-dies-at-67.
Livsey, Laura. "Eduardo Romero, former U.S. Senior Open champion, dies at age 67," PGATour.com, February 14, 2022, https://www.pgatour.com/article/news/latest/2022/02/14/eduardo-romero-former-us-senior-open-champion-dies-at-age-67.
PGATour.com. Players, Eduardo Romero, https://www.pgatour.com/player/02020/eduardo-romero/career.
PGA Tour Champions. Champions Tour Official 2010 Guide.
PGA Tour Champions. Champions Tour Official 2015 Guide.
