Stephen Gallacher continues to be one of the nicest golfers you could ever meet.

There’s not been one occasion in over 30-years reporting on the efforts of Scottish-born players that Stevie has ever declined this journalist’s request for his time.

It speaks volumes of the support he’s afforded all members of the media.

Photograph – Stevie Gallacher Golf Foundation.

And in celebrating his 50th birthday I’ve enjoyed putting together 50 facts and figures you may already know or maybe not on this most affable of professional golfers.

1.  Full name – Stephen James Gallacher

2. Born Dechmont, Scotland and since the age of 12 has lived in Bathgate, Scotland

3. Nephew of former European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher and cousin of Sky Sports news presenter Kirsty Gallacher.

4. Married (1999) to Helen and they have two children Jack and Ellie

5. Won the Scottish Boys Championship at age 16,

6. Won the Scottish Amateur age 17

7. After capturing the 1992 Scottish Amateur his uncle Bernard Gallacher encouraged him to hang back a few years and learn to be a winner. Stevie took his advice and went to win the 1994 European Amateur to help seal his place in the victorious 1995 GB  & I Walker Cup at Royal Porthcawl.

8. In Wales, Stevie and Gordon Sherry teamed to tackle Tiger Woods and fellow American John Harris in the opening match of the 1995 Walker Cup though were comfortably beaten 4 & 3 by their USA rivals.  Gallacher did win two of his singles matches and GB & I comfortably won the overall battle.

9. First DP World Tour tournament – 1993 Scottish Open (Accepting an invitation as an amateur)

10. First prize cheque – Euro 903 – T46th 1996 Moroccan Open

11. Largest prize cheque – Euro 645,162.40 – Victory 2014 Dunhill Linls Championship

12. Career prize money (1st November, 2024) – Euro 12,151,194.10

13. As at his 50th birthday he’s contested 663 DP World Tour events – includes 4 wins, 7 seconds, 6 thirds and 52 other top-10s.

14. His 100th DP World Tour event – 2001 Volvo Andalucian Masters (T33rd), 200th – 2005 Open Championship (MC), 300th – 2009 Celtic Manor Wales Open (MC), 400th – 2012 BMW International Open (T33rd), 500th – 2017 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (MC) and 600th – 2021 AVIV Dubai Championship (T61st)

15. He joined fellow Scots – Sam Torrance, Colin Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie – to play 600 events.

16. First DP World Tour top-10 finish – T10th 1999 Sazazen World Open. A week later T6th Belgacom Open.

17. First DP World Tour top-5 finish – T4th 2000 Dubai Desert Classic

18. First DP World Tour victory – 2004 Dunhill Links Championshio

19. Lowest DP World Tour round – 62 – Third round in winning 2013 Omega Dubai Desert Classic

20. Lowest 72 DP World Tour tally – 22-under winning 2013 Omega Dubai Desert Classic

21. Contested 20 majors (2 Masters, 6 PGA Championships, 4 US Opens & 8 Open Championships.

22. Best results in the majors – T15th 2014 Open at Royal Liverpool

23. Had finished with a back-to-back 7th placing and a then a third at the Wales Open but agonsingly shy of qualifying automatically for the 2014 Ryder Cup but two days later Captain Paul McGinley handed him a Gleneagles ‘wildcard’ pick,

24. Gallacher was one of three rookies in the European Team that also included Frenchman Victor Dubuisson and Welshman Jamie Donaldson.

25. Gallacher made his debut teaming with Ian Poulter but lost their Friday morning Fourballs match 5 & 4 to the Americans Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth.

26. Gallacher didn’t play again till the Sunday Singles and lost the fifth match of the day 5 & 3 to Phil Mickelson.  Disappointingly, Gallacher was the only member of McGinley’s team not to win a point.

27. Five days after being selected for the 2014 Ryder Cup his beloved grandmother Millie sadly passed away.

28. It was a double player/coach celebration at the 2014 Scottish Golf awards with Gallacher winning the ‘Player of the Year’ honours and his coach Alan McCloskey from Bothwell Castle being awarded the inaugural ‘Bob Torrance PGA Coach of the Year’ Award.

29. In early 2016 he contested just one event in a three-month absence from late February to the first week in May after undergoing surgery on a long-running troublesome hand. Prior to the operation in March that year he also had made just one cut in five 2016 events.

30. Steve’s father had been a big influence in his son’s emerging golf career including when Stevie was aged just 10 and his father won the Bathgate Club championship

31. It was his father Jim who also suggested Stevie’s son Jack should caddy for him.

32. As a youngster, Jack would dress in golfing attire that included a golf glove hanging from his back pocket.  He’d often run ahead of any practice round of competition round to find a seat in a grandstand and watch his father hit into the greens.

33. With then 18-year-old son Jack by his side as caddy, Gallacher ended a five-year winless drought in capturing the 2019 Indian Open.

34. He won the Indian Open despite taking a final round quadruple bogey at the seventh hole.

35. In proudly posing with the Indian Open trophy Gallacher was asked by photographers to move far too close to the water-body adjacent to the 18th green. It resulted in the lid of the trophy falling into the water. However, the lid was not immediately retrievable, so he was soon presented with the replica of the trophy. Luckily, a diver fetched the lid of the trophy though remarking that if the lid had slipped a couple of feet further in water, it would have hit the bottom around 30 feet deep.

36. His highest world ranking was No. 31 in August 2014.  Turns 50 as the World No. 978

37. Sadly, his father passed away in 2020 at the ‘young’ age of just 67.

38. Steve’s golfing dream was not to win a major but to follow the likes legendary Scots Eric Brown and ‘Uncle Bernard’ into a European Ryder Cup team.

39. Says he felt in playing the majors he was “out of his comfort zone and tried too hard while in the US his short game wasn’t as good”.

40. Revealed mid this year (2024) he had never in his career played Royal Troon and venue for the 2024 Open Championship.

41. Some of his favourite golf courses – Carnoustie, Old Course at St. Andrews and Royal Melbourne

42. He worked on his game with now departed Bob Torrance who also coached the likes of his own son Sam along with Ian Woonsam, Paul McGinely, Paul Lawrie, Marc Warren, Padraig Harrington and so many others.

43. Stevie boasts a gym in his garage while his nephew is his trainer.

44. Launched in 2012 the Stephen Gallacher Foundation

45. Indicated it was speaking with Paul McGinley, who had launched his own foundation, that encouraged Stevie to launch his own Stephen Gallacher Foundation

46. The Foundation hosts an annual Race to Dunbar series of events for juniors.  A past winner was then 10-year-old Connor Graham in 2021. Connor was a member of the 2024 GB & I Walker Cup team.

47. King Charles III awarded Stevie an MBE in August 2024 for his Services to Golf.

48. Steve joined double-major winning and fellow Scot Sandy Lyle also being honoured by the King.

49. He also recently accepted the 2025 role to again captain Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup and don’t bet against Stevie following good friend Dean Robertson as a future GB & I Curtis Cup captain.

50. Known to be a very keen Celtic follower in the Scottish Premier League

A very happy 50th birthday, Stevie