How many wins did Richard Bland have before his Senior PGA Championship debut? LIV golfer’s records explored

Richard Bland has won two professional events before winning the 2024 Senior PGA Championship on Sunday (May 26). At the Harbor Shores Resort event, he won the third professional event of his career.

Richard Bland started his professional journey in 1996 and qualified for the Challenge Tour in 1998 before winning his maiden event in 2001.

That season, he won the season-ending Challenge Tour Grand Final by registering a five-stroke win over Philip Golding. He played four rounds of 69, 68, 66, and 63 to settle for a score of under 18.

The win ensured the Englishman's place on the European Tour, and he embarked on his journey with the new circuit in 2002. He started in great form and finished second at the Murphy's Irish Open in his inaugural season on the series but struggled in subsequent seasons.

Bland won his first European Tour event in 2021 at the Betfred British Masters. It was his first win in 478 starts on the European Tour, making him the oldest golfer to win his first event on the circuit.

At the tournament, Bland played four rounds of 68, 69, 72, and 66 to finish in a tie with Guido Migliozzi. They competed in a playoff where Bland registered the victory and took home the trophy. The win was very special for the golfer, who was 48 at that time.

After winning the Senior PGA Championship, Richard Bland spoke about his maiden European Tour win, saying (via Golf Digest):

"Obviously, the British Masters was very special at 48, but this is right up there. I couldn’t be happier.”

In 2022, Bland made his debut on the PGA Tour and competed at the Valero Texas Open, where he finished within the top 30. With that, he secured a spot in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings, and soon after joined LIV Golf.

Bland has competed in all the seasons of LIV Golf but has not won any event on the circuit. However, he recently won his third professional event on his Senior PGA Championship debut. He registered a three-stroke win over Richard Green after playing four rounds of 64, 66, 74, and 63.

Besides playing in regular tournaments, Richard Bland has also competed in Majors. The 51-year-old player has played in three of the four Majors and is yet to make his debut at the Masters. His best finish at the US Open was recorded in 2022, where he tied for 43rd place, while he finished T22 at The Open Championship in 2017. He hasn't yet made the cut at the PGA Championship.

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A quick recap of Richard Bland's performance on LIV Golf

Bland made his debut at the LIV Golf series in 2022, playing for Cleeks GC. He competed in all seven events that season and was placed fourth at the Bangkok event.

In the following season, Bland competed in 13 LIV Golf events. He started his outing playing at the Mayakoba event. He recorded three top-10 finishes that season: sixth at London, third at Greenbrier and ninth at the Chicago event.

Richard Bland settled within the top 25 in the season-ending standings and secured his spot for the third season. In 2024, he has played in seven events so far, with the best recorded at the Hong Kong event in March, where he finished eighth.