Darius van Driel, the Dutch golf star was born in Leidschendam, Netherlands, on June 2, 1989, and has been proven to be one of the greatest golfers the industry has ever had. He started playing golf at the ripe age of 11; however, his journey was halted by a hand injury after falling off a banana boat. Thinking his dream of becoming a professional golfer was over, Van Driel turned his focus back to his studies but never lost hope.

He completed his bachelor’s in economics and sports marketing at the Johan Cruyff Institute in Barcelona, Spain. He got a job at Nike’s European headquarters, all while competing in amateur golf. But as they say, handwork always pays off, and van Driel’s sure did! In 2015, he turned professional, and his journey took new turns.

The making of van Driel’s professional career

Van Driel’s amateur years in the golf industry have been significantly brilliant. Having won the Dutch National Strokeplay Championship with 19 under in 2007 and 22 under in 2010, van Driel’s golf career kicked off when he was only eighteen. The young player was also selected as a member of the Dutch team for the European Amateur Team Championship in the same year.

The golfer was making a name at such an early age. In 2008, he won the Dutch National Strokeplay Championship. The win got him something more than just the trophy; he got into that year’s KLM Dutch Open. But the stars were not in the golfer’s favor, and unfortunately, he missed the cut.

Van Driel aced the Dutch National Matchplay Championship in 2013. He finished the Lytham Trophy by coming in second in the game and was again declared a member of the Dutch team. He said goodbye to his amateur years and got a place at the qualifying school for the Alps Tour.

2015 was the year when the real fun and challenges began. Van Driel got the first position on the satellite Alps Tour once and was a runner-up five times. This gave the golfer an order of merit that helped him qualify for the 2016 season on the Challenge Tour. The golfer paired up with Joost Luiten later that year at the 2016 World Cup of Golf. Next year, he faced a minor back injury and could only finish 91st in the final Challenge Tour rankings.

He ended the 2018 season in 33rd place in the season rankings. In the same year, van Driel became the first Dutch golfer in five years to win the Euram Bank Open. This was a pretty big achievement for the golfer. The year 2019 came with a lot of surprises and proved to be the best year of van Driel’s golf career; he won the Rolex Trophy and closed the year with a total of six other tournaments, where he was listed among the top 10 players. This achievement not only helped him gain his card for the 2020 season of the DP World Tour but also got him the tag of Dutch Golfer of the Year.

2021 was also quite a year for the golfer, with second place at the Porsche Open and fourth place at the Dutch Open, he earned his full Tour card in Category 10 for 2022. So far on DPWT, he has won once, which was this year at the Magical Kenya Open. In his 120 starts on the DPWT, he has earned €1,689,696.16. As graceful as his professional life, his personal life is also blissful. 

Personal life and fatherhood

Besides acing the golf world, Darius van Driel is also doing awesome by becoming a family man. Van Driel loves to share his little milestones on Instagram with his fans. For instance, when he got engaged to Sanne Van Driel in 2020, the golfer shared an enthusiastic post with the caption, “She said yes, we’re engaged!”. They got married a year later, in 2021, and the golfer happily shared the pictures, as he wrote, “A beautiful day with a golden edge! It was the best day of our lives! Mr & Mrs van Driel.”

Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of Mrs. Van Driel with her husband on the greens. From the looks of it, it seems that she loves supporting her husband in his career. Whether it is coming to a game with him or giving the best gift a man could ever ask for, a child! Yes, you heard that right. The couple recently welcomed their precious baby boy, Oliver, in 2022. According to the DP World Tour, other than spending time with his family, the player is also fond of cooking and modern cars. 

Do you think Van Driel will keep performing in 2024, as he has over the years? Do let us know in the comments!