Matt

Jones

Jones moved to the U.S. in 1998 to play college golf at Arizona State University and while at ASU he was a first-team All-American.

He turned professional in 2001 but had to wait until 2007 for his breakout season, in which he racked up four second-place finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour, and secured seventh on the money list to earn his PGA Tour card.

Two of his near misses were as a result of playoffs. At the 2007 Oregon Classic in September, Jones and Jon Turcott were edged out by Kyle Thompson, who birdied the second extra hole to win.

A month later at the Mark Christopher Charity Classic, Richard Johnson took the honors with a birdie on the first extra hole, eclipsing Jones and Jeremy Anderson.

His maiden appearance at a major in 2009 was one to forget after he tackled the unforgiving Bethpage Black course, host of a rain-affected U.S. Open, while injured.

Matt Jones produced one of the shots of the year to clinch his first PGA Tour win at the 2014 Shell Houston Open in April.

It was his 156th start on the Tour and the maiden victory was well worth the wait.

In the final round, Jones drained a 46-foot putt on the 18th for a birdie, carding a 66 that pulled him level with overnight leader Matt Kuchar who had bogeyed two of the final three holes.

But it was at the first sudden death playoff hole where the magic came.

Jones weighed up his third shot, which required a chip from 42 yards over a bunker to the uphill 18th green.

He pitched the ball short of the ridge on the green to let the ball run round to the left and towards the pin.

With just the right pace the ball rolled to the flag and dropped into the hole for a birdie that Kuchar could not match.

That winning shot also booked Jones his first ticket to the Masters the following week.

Winning a tournament on home turf is special, but victory in your national championships is the stuff of dreams.

Jones was on the brink of achieving both at the 2015 Australian Open, a tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

He began Sunday’s play as the overnight leader, and despite a tough battle, made two birdies on a bogey-free back nine to keep his nose ahead by one shot to lift the Stonehaven Cup.

“That was very stressful, it wasn’t comfortable out there for me,” he said.

“I’ve watched the Australian Open for many years and just to have my name on that trophy is something I’ll never forget.”

Jones was champion once again with a more dominant display in 2019, but even that had its drama.

He looked in complete control until South African Louis Oosthuizen pulled off an eagle at the final hole to record a 66.

That left Jones needing to sink a pressure 4-foot putt on the par-5 18th, which he did.

“I was told on the 18th fairway that Louis had made eagle ahead of me,” he said. “So, it was a pretty good up and down to win the championship.”

It took seven years for Jones to land his second win on the PGA Tour but when he did it was a big one.

At the 2015 Honda Classic in Florida, Jones blew the field away to win by five strokes.

He also shot up the FedEx Cup standings from 60th to 11th and qualified for the Masters as a result of becoming champion.

“Sorry, I’m pretty emotional,” he said in his interview after. “Seven years … I’ve had some tough times in between that and now.

“But I just worked hard. Had some tough times putting but just worked hard with my coach home in Australia, Gary [Barter] and it’s finally paid off.”

By the end of the 2021-22 season, Jones had competed in 364 PGA Tour events, winning twice and gathering 19 top-five finishes. He has also achieved a career best 41st on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Jones signed on for the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series in 2022 and was a member of Aussie themed-team Punch GC.

In his first season, Punch, who rebranded as Ripper GC, enjoyed a big showing at the end-of-season Team Championship at Trump National Doral in Miami, sealing the runners-up spot behind Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC.

Jones was 42nd in the individual standings and signed on again as a Ripper in 2023.

There was a team win to celebrate in Bedminster in August and again was retained by Cameron Smith for Ripper for the following year.

2024 was a roaring success for Ripper GC as they won the Team Championship finale in Dallas after finishing third in the regular season standings.

They won back-to-back team events in Adelaide and Singapore during the year, with Jones  finishing T9 in Australia, his best performance of the season.

The Australian’s two-under-par 70 in the four-team shootout to decide the Team Championship in Dallas contributed to Ripper’s combined score of 11-under to edge out 4Aces GC and the Iron Heads for the title.

Jones got the nod for a fourth season playing on LIV Golfwith Ripper in 2025.

In 2011 Matt Jones became engaged to Melissa Weber, the winner of Miss Idaho 2009 who also made the top 15 of Miss USA. The two married in 2012. 

The couple have three daughters and that was a big factor behind Jones moving to the LIV Golf League.

“The schedule is great for me with three kids — three young girls,” Jones said when announcing his decision.

“I want to be around as a dad. I mean, I’ve been out here [the PGA Tour] for 15 years.

“I’ve missed a lot of what goes on in my kids’ lives. I was raised with a mom and dad that were always there for me.

“They were at every sporting event, every schooling event, and that’s something I’d like to try to do for my kids.”