Matt Jones (golfer)
Matthew Jones is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour where he has won once, in the 2014 Shell Houston Open. Jones has won the Emirates Australian Open twice, in 2015 and 2019.
Amateur career
Jones was born in Sydney. He later moved to the United States to attend Arizona State University where he was a first-team All-American. He turned professional in 2001.Professional career
Jones joined the Nationwide Tour in 2004, but did not have a break-out year until 2007. After having only a combined 8 top-10 finishes in his first three seasons between 2004 and 2006, he almost matched that in one season. He had 6 top-10s in 2007, finishing second four times and losing in two playoffs. He finished 7th on the money list and qualified to play his rookie season on the PGA Tour in 2008.In his rookie season on the PGA Tour in 2008, Jones found limited success. His best finish of the season was a tie for 4th at the Honda Classic and the Buick Open. He finished the season with $775,899, but did not finish inside the top 125 on the money list, leaving him with conditional status for the 2009 season. In 2009 Jones had two top-10s, both 5th place finishes at the Buick Invitational and at the John Deere Classic. At the six-round PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament in December 2009, where the top 25 finishers obtained their 2010 PGA Tour cards, Jones finished 3rd.
He finished fifth at the 2010 John Deere Classic and seventh at the Quail Hollow Championship. Also, he finished second at the Australian Open. His best result in 2011 was sixth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Jones improved in the 2013 PGA Tour season. He resulted second at the Greenbrier Classic, fifth at the Wyndham Championship, sixth at the Memorial Tournament, seventh at the John Deere Classic and eighth at the BMW Championship. Later he finished sixth at the Australian Open.
In his 156th PGA Tour start, Jones got his first PGA Tour win at the 2014 Shell Houston Open, beating Matt Kuchar on the first playoff hole when he made a 42-yard chip in for a birdie. He had previously made a 46-foot putt on the 18th hole to take the match to a playoff. The win also made Jones the last guaranteed entrant to the Masters and moved him to 41st in the Official World Golf Ranking. In May he finished 17th at The Players Championship.
In the 2015 PGA season, Jones finished 11th at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. At the 2015 PGA Championship, Jones led the tournament by two strokes over Jason Day at the 36-hole stage. He shot rounds of 68-65 over the first two days for a total of 11-under-par. He started the third round strongly and extended his lead to three strokes midway through the round, but ended the round poorly, dropping four strokes in his last four holes to finish five behind the 54-hole leader, Jason Day. He would end the tournament T-21.
On 29 November 2015, Jones won his first title on his home PGA Tour of Australasia, with a victory in the Emirates Australian Open, one of the three Australian majors. He held off challenges by the world number one Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott to prevail by one stroke. Jones had led by three going into the final round, but dropped three shots in his opening two holes and also carded a triple bogey on the ninth hole. But he recovered by shooting two under on the back nine for a 73 to claim victory by one stroke. The win qualified Jones for the 2016 Open Championship.
On 8 December 2019, Jones won the Emirates Australian Open for the second time. With this win, he became one of 14 players, including Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Peter Thomson and Jordan Spieth, who have won the Australian Open at least twice since World War II.
Personal
Jones is married to the former Melissa Weber, who represented Idaho in Miss USA 2009 and has three daughters. His brother Brett is the head club professional of Due Process Stable Golf Club in Colts Neck, New Jersey. Brett played in the 2015 PGA Championship.Professional wins (3)
PGA Tour wins (1)
PGA Tour playoff record| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | 2014 | Shell Houston Open |  Matt Kuchar | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
| 1 | 29 Nov 2015 | Emirates Australian Open1 | 67-68-68-73=276 | −8 | 1 stroke |  Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth |
| 2 | 8 Dec 2019 | Emirates Australian Open | 67-65-68-69=269 | −15 | 1 stroke |  Louis Oosthuizen |
1Co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour
Playoff record
Nationwide Tour playoff record| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
| 1 | 2007 | Oregon Classic | Kyle Thompson, Jon Turcott | Thompson won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 2 | 2007 | Mark Christopher Charity Classic | Jeremy Anderson,  Richard Johnson | Johnson won with birdie on first extra hole |
Results in major championships
Results not in chronological order in 2020.CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
- Most consecutive cuts made – 6
- Longest streak of top-10s – 0
Results in The Players Championship
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
Results not in chronological order before 2015.| Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Championship | |||||||
| Match Play | T34 | T51 | NT1 | ||||
| Invitational | T31 | T16 | |||||
| Champions | T53 | T40 |
1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied