Alejandro Cañizares

Who is Alejandro Cañizares?

José Alejandro Cañizares Gómez is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour.

Cañizares was born in Madrid, and is the son of five-time European Tour winner and four-time European Ryder Cup team member José Maria Cañizares. He attended college in the United States, where he won the 2003 NCAA men's golf championship while at Arizona State University. He turned professional in 2006.

In August 2006, Cañizares won on his third start as an affiliate member of the European Tour, at the Imperial Collection Russian Open. The win gave him full membership of the tour for two years. It also put him into the record books as the fastest affiliate member to win on the tour, surpassing Sergio García and Graeme McDowell who had both won in their fourth tournaments.

Cañizares earned his PGA Tour card for 2008 through the 2007 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. He divided his time between both the PGA and European tours during the season, but was only able to retain his playing status in Europe.

In March 2014, Cañizares won his second European Tour title at the Trophée Hassan II tournament in Morocco. He shot a 62 in the first round and lead wire-to-wire, culminating in a five-stroke victory to end an eight year drought on the tour.