Frank Nobilo


Frank Nobilo


Frank Ivan Joseph Nobilo (born 14 May 1960) is a New Zealand former professional golfer.

Nobilo had a successful playing career, winning 14 pro tournaments around the world. He was at his peak during the mid-1990s when he also produced strong finishes in all four major championships.

Since his 2003 retirement, Nobilo has worked as a television announcer for golf events.

Personal life

Nobilo was born in Auckland, of Italian and Croatian descent, and is the great-grandson of an Italian pirate. At birth, his right leg was shorter than his left, causing him ongoing back problems. He was educated at St Peter's College in Auckland where he was persuaded to play golf by schoolmates (Chris Treen and Mark Lewis). Nobilo preferred to play Rugby league for Glenora over Rugby Union for St Peter's, which was "a bone of contention" with the school, and with his parents.

I got a bit of grief because I preferred league over rugby then and I was a bit more of a rebel. I used to catch the train to and from school and it took about 30–40 minutes. My mum said it drove her crazy because I missed it often and my parents were living in Glen Eden and I would end up in Henderson and they'd have to come and collect me.

Nobilo and his wife, Selena, married in 1998. He has a daughter, former CNN journalist Bianca Nobilo, who also speaks Italian and Croatian, from a previous marriage. Nobilo works as an ambassador for The House of Nobilo, one of New Zealand's leading wineries and founded by one of his relatives Nikola Nobilo. Frank Nobilo was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to golf, in the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Career

In 1978, Nobilo won the New Zealand Amateur at 18, the second-youngest winner of this title. He turned professional in November 1979. His first professional win came in 1982 at the New South Wales PGA Championship on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Nobilo joined the European Tour in 1985 as a full-time player, having played in selected events in 1982 and 1983. He recorded his first win on the Tour in the 1988 PLM Open (not to be confused with the KLM Open). Nobilo subsequently won four other European Tour events and finished inside the top 50 on the Order of Merit every season from 1988 to 1996, with a best of 14th place in 1993.

After strong performances in all the majors, including a 4th-place finish in the Masters Tournament and a tie for 8th in the PGA Championship, Nobilo left Europe at the end of 1996 and joined the United States-based PGA Tour for the following season. He won the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic during his rookie season, which proved to be his only win on that tour. He has featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

One week after his marriage to Selena in 1998, Nobilo was struck above the left eye by an errant tee shot at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Central Florida. The injury required 30 stitches, and affected his play afterwards.

Nobilo played for the International Team in each of the first three Presidents Cups (1994, 1996, 1998). He contributed significantly to the international appeal of the event when in 1998 and paired with fellow kiwi Greg Turner he holed a 70-foot putt on the final green to defeat the American pairing. On 2 October 2008, International Presidents Cup team captain Greg Norman announced that Frank Nobilo would serve as his assistant captain for the 2009 Presidents Cup 6–11 Oct. 2009 at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco.

On 9 October 2007, it was reported that Nobilo had announced he would be coming out of retirement, and attempt to gain a card for the U.S. PGA Tour through qualifying school. However, in a statement issued on the Golf Channel's website, Nobilo denied the report: "I have not, nor did I have any intention of entering this years PGA Tour Qualifying school."

Television work

Upon retiring from tournament golf in 2003, Nobilo joined the Golf Channel for studio coverage. He has been a key member of the Live From team at the major championships. From 2012 to 2014, he occasionally filled in for Peter Jacobsen on NBC's golf coverage (NBC and Golf Channel are corporate siblings).

In 2015, Nobilo joined CBS's golf coverage, replacing Peter Oosterhuis. Like Oosterhuis did, he worked only the cable coverage of about half of CBS's events, while working on the network coverage of the other half, including the Masters and PGA Championship. He remained on Live From on Golf Channel but will no longer be allowed to fill in on NBC. Nobilo made his CBS debut at the 2015 Phoenix Open.

He was also a commentator in Rory McIlroy PGA Tour and EA Sports PGA Tour video games, released in 2015 and 2023, respectively.

Amateur wins

  • 1978 New Zealand Amateur
  • 1979 New Zealand Under-25 Stroke Play Championship

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

European Tour wins (5)

Asian PGA Tour wins (1)

Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (0–1)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (2)

Other wins (4)

  • 1987 New Zealand PGA Championship
  • 1995 Sarazen World Open
  • 1996 Subaru Sarazen World Open
  • 1997 Mexican Open

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

  • Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (1986 Open Championship – 1994 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Team appearances

Amateur

  • Eisenhower Trophy (representing New Zealand): 1978
  • Nomura Cup (representing New Zealand): 1979

Professional

  • World Cup (representing New Zealand): 1982, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000
  • Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing New Zealand): 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
  • Presidents Cup (International team): 1994, 1996, 1998 (winners)
  • Alfred Dunhill Challenge (representing Australasia): 1995
  • UBS Warburg Cup (representing the Rest of the World): 2001

See also

  • 2000 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
  • List of alumni of St Peter's College, Auckland

References

External links

  • Official website
  • Frank Nobilo at the European Tour official site
  • Frank Nobilo at the PGA Tour official site
  • Frank Nobilo at the Official World Golf Ranking official site

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Frank Nobilo by Wikipedia (Historical)



 


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