"PGA Champion" Steve Marino Hand Signed 3X5 Card Todd Mueller COA

Description

Up for auction "PGA Champion" Steve Marino Hand Signed 3X5 Card. This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-4842
Stephen Paul Marino, Jr.
(born March 10, 1980) is an American
professional golfer
who plays on the
PGA Tour
. A
military brat
, Marino was born in
Altus, Oklahoma
, where his father, Steve Sr., was stationed as a
navigator
in the
U.S. Air Force
. The family moved to Alaska when he was an infant, and later to Ohio and Alabama. In 1991, they relocated to
Fairfax
,
Virginia
, a
suburb
southwest of
Washington, D.C.
, where they continue to reside. Marino's golf game began to blossom at age 14, when he worked and played at the Army Navy Country Club in Fairfax; he graduated from
W.T. Woodson High School
in 1998. During his senior year he won the Virginia High School championship, and received a golf scholarship to the
University of Virginia
in
Charlottesville
. At the end of his freshman year, he won the 1999 Virginia Amateur championship. He was a member of the
Beta Theta Pi
fraternity
and graduated from U.Va. in 2002 with a degree in
sociology
.
Marino embarked on his professional career in 2002 on the Tar Heel Tour, and moved to Florida to practice and play year-round. He qualified for the
Canadian Tour
for the 2003 season, and went to Canada again in 2004, but then headed back to Florida. There he played on the
Golden Bear Tour
, a developmental circuit backed by
Jack Nicklaus
in which all the events were within 60 miles (100 km) of
West Palm Beach
, near where he lived then (and now).
Before reaching the PGA Tour, Marino won the 2006
Sidney Frank
Memorial
Gateway Tour
Championship, where he carded a 13-under-par 59 during the third round. It was his second Gateway Tour win of 2006.
[8]
Marino was a
Monday qualifier
on the
Nationwide Tour
in
2006
, where he earned 4,000 and finished 42nd on the money list, which was insufficient to earn a PGA Tour card. Instead, he qualified through the six-round
qualifying school
in December, earning his card for the 2007 season. In his rookie season of 2007, Marino finished 80th on the PGA Tour money list and retained his tour card for 2008, with winnings exceeding ,100,000. He had four top-10 finishes in 31 events. In 2008, Marino finished 34th on the PGA Tour money list, earning over ,000,000, and retained his tour card for 2009. He had six top-10 finishes in 32 events, highlighted by a career-best second-place finish in the
Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun
in
Mexico
. In May 2009, Marino and
Tim Clark
lost to
Steve Stricker
in a two-hole playoff at the
Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
in
Fort Worth, Texas
. Marino received international attention in 2009 when he was co-leader (with
Tom Watson
) at the halfway point of the
2009 Open Championship
at
Turnberry
in
Scotland
. However, Marino faltered over the weekend and finished the event tied 38th. He finished the 2009 season 35th on the PGA Tour money list. Marino finished tied for second at the 2011
Sony Open in Hawaii
. He led the 2011
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
after the second and third rounds, but on the final day, eventual winner
D. A. Points
passed him. Marino had to make an eagle on the par-5 18th hole in order to tie Points, who had finished. But Marino hit into the
Pacific Ocean
and took a triple-bogey eight, which dropped him into a tie for fourth place.
Marino led the 2011
Arnold Palmer Invitational
during the fourth round, as late as the 17th hole. But he suffered two buried lies in bunkers on the 15th and 17th holes, and despite making a birdie on the final hole, ended in second place, one stroke behind winner
Martin Laird
.
[12]
Marino advanced his position on the
Official World Golf Ranking
to a career high of #54. Marino was identified as the best PGA Tour player without a victory by writer Craig Dolch, who noted that he has posted 21 top-10 finishes in his 124 Tour starts to date.
In January 2012, Marino was diagnosed with a bone contusion on the tip of his tibia and femur in his left leg. He did not play again until May.
In 2012, he played at total of six PGA Tour events, making the cut in two of them. In 2013, he played in 12 PGA Tour events, making the cut five times. In March 2016, Marino lost in a sudden-death playoff to
Tony Finau
at the
Puerto Rico Open
. In the playoff, both players birdied the 18th hole twice. But playing the 18th for the third time in the playoff, Marino three-putted from just off the green for a par, while Finau birdied the hole again for the win. This was Marino's fifth runner-up finish of his career but he is still winless in 182 events on the PGA Tour.