In 1981, Morse turned professional. He began his career playing in tournaments in and around his home state of
Michigan and eventually the Florida Tour. Morse first made a name for himself on the
Australasian Tour. One of Morse's finest performances on the Australasian Tour came in a runner-up performance in 1990. At that year's
Australian Masters, Morse finished only two shots back from world number one
Greg Norman while tying world number two
Nick Faldo. Later in the year he would improve on that performance defeating Norman and Faldo, who remained #1 and #2 in the world, at the
Australian Open. The win helped Morse move up to a world ranking high of #67 by the beginning of the next year. In 1993, Morse returned to the United States in an attempt to earn his PGA Tour card. He played on the developmental
Nike Tour and played very well, ultimately winning the 1993
Nike New England Classic. He earned his
PGA Tour card by finishing fifth on the 1993 Nike Tour money list. He was 35 years old when he joined the tour. Morse played full-time from 1994 to 1998. He was never a star on tour but did record a win the 1995
Hawaiian Open. He finished 42nd on the 1995 Money List. The following year he recorded his best finish at a
major championship: solo 4th at the
1996 U.S. Open. In addition Morse picked up a runner-up finish at the 1995
Buick Challenge. John Morse came to the 72nd Hole of the
1996 U.S. Open at one-under par only one stroke off the lead held by Steve Jones and Tom Lehman and tied with Davis Love III, who had just completed play at 279. Morse hit the fairway off the 18th tee then hit the green in regulation leaving himself a putt of just over 30 feet for birdie to tie the lead. His birdie attempt ran 4 feet past and the ball lipped out on his comeback putt for par. Morse finished the U.S. Open at EVEN for a total of 280 and 4th place alone. Morse joined the
Champions Tour in 2008. His best finish was T-3 at the 2008
AT&T Championship. == Awards and honors ==