Jay Townsend

Jay Townsend (born March 14, 1962) is an American professional golfer and broadcaster.

Early life and amateur career Townsend was born in Michigan, His father was a club professional. At the very end of the 1988–89 season, he won the Trustbank Tournament of Champions over fellow American Bruce Vaughan. The following season, he finished runner-up at the 1990 Dewars W Lab Tournament, this time behind John Bland.

He recorded his first top-10 on the European Tour in 1991, a T-9 at the Murphy's Cup. His following year was his best season on the European Tour. In 1992 he made 16 of 24 cuts and finished in the top-100 of the Order of Merit for the first time. He also recorded his best finishes, placing T-5 at the Liebig Ligurian Open and T-3 at the Lyon Open V33 that summer. In 1995, he recorded his best overall season in his career with 5 top-10s and finishing 43rd on the Order of Merit, both career bests. This success would continue through the early 1996 season as he would open with a 64 (−8) against an "elite field" at the Dubai Desert Classic, placing him in second place, one behind Miguel Ángel Jiménez. He followed that with three consecutive rounds of 71 to finish at –11 and a tie for 7th.

This high placing, however, would represent Townsend's career peak as he did not improve on his global ranking. He finished in a tie for third at the 1997 Alamo English Open which was his best finish of the season. Townsend finished no better than 89th on the Order of Merit in the late 1990s. He ceased playing as a touring professional during the 1998 season, retiring in mid-year. and more recently he has worked for European Tour Productions' "World Feed", which is broadcast to TV platforms around the world including Golf Channel in the United States. He says he has always enjoyed radio prior to his television career.