Alex Cejka, 2009 Players Championship Runner-Up
Golfer Alex Cejka is Czech Open and Lancome Trophee Winner
Aug 16, 2009
Alex Cejka is a professional golfer from Czechoslovakia who has played on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. He is considered one of the top players in Eastern Europe, having won 10 championships in his 20-plus years as a pro.
Early Years
Cejka was born in 1970 in Marienbad, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), but fled with his father to Yugoslavia in 1979. From there, he traveled to Italy and Switzerland before settling with his father in Munich, Germany. Today, Cejka considers himself a German and golfs under its flag, though his home is in Prague.
Czech OpenIn Germany, Cejka took up golf in his early teens and became a scratch golfer by the age of 16. He turned pro in 1989, and played on the European Tour from 1992 to 2002. He won the Czech Open in 1990 as an amatuer and again in 1992.
European Tour
Cejka won his largest tournament in 1995 at the Volvo Masters at Valderrama in Sotogrande, Spain. He worked his way all the way up to sixth in the European Tour rankings in the same year, and won the Trophee Lancome, one of France's premier golf tournaments, in 2002 as his last win on the European Tour.
Alex Cejka on the PGA Tour
In addition to his success on the European Tour, Cejka established himself as one of the top players on the smaller Challenger Tour from 1991 to 2002. He earned victories at the Audi Quattro Open in 1991, the Audi Open in 1993, the KB Golf Challenger in 1997 and the Galeria Kaufhof Pokal Challenge in 2002. After leaving the European and Challenger Tours in 2002, Cejka has played mostly on the U.S. PGA Tour since, making his way into the top 50 of the world golf rankings at various points in his career, and has found himself hovering around 125 since early 2009.
2009 Players Championship
In addition to his 10 career wins, Cejka has only been outside of the top 125 money list on the PGA once, and was able to make the qualifying cut for the next year. He has earned over six million dollars in his career, and has finished as high as fourth in the PGA Championship, 13th in the Open Championship, 26th in the Masters and second in the Players Championship. Cejka has also appeared for Germany and for Europe in team events such as the Alfred Dunhill Cup, the World Cup and the Seve Trophy.
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