Townsend won the 1967
Dutch Open in his first season as a professional. These good performances gained him an entry to the
Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship at
Royal Birkdale where he finished second to
Gay Brewer, winning over £6,000. At the end of the year he travelled to Australia. He won
The Western Australian Ten Thousand and finished runner-up at the
Wills Masters (where he lost in a playoff to
Gary Player) and the
Dunlop International. After this promising start to his career, Townsend played a number of events on the
PGA Tour in 1968, 1969, and 1970. He did not, however, enjoy the same degree of success although he did have four top-10 finishes in 1969, including a solo fourth place in the
Western Open. As well as playing in a number of
PGA Tour events, Townsend was runner-up to
Tony Jacklin in the 1970
W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament. He had more success in 1971, winning the
Walworth Aloyco Tournament in Italy and the
Swiss Open and finishing 5th in the Order of Merit. Townsend was also a runner-up in the 1974
French Open and the 1979
European Open Championship. He finished in the top-10 of the Order of Merit twice: 4th in 1972 and 9th in 1974. Townsend represented Great Britain twice in the
Ryder Cup, in
1969 and
1971. He won his first three matches in 1969, playing twice with
Tony Jacklin and once with
Christy O'Connor Snr. However he lost in the next two sessions and was not selected for the final singles matches. In 1971 he played in all six sessions but lost each time, although four of the matches went to the final hole. He twice played for England in the
World Cup, playing with
Peter Butler in 1969 and
Maurice Bembridge in 1974. On turning professional, Townsend became the touring professional at Porters Park Golf Club, south of
St Albans, where he had played as an amateur. In 1970 he became the touring professional at
Portmarnock Golf Club where he stayed until 1990, having replaced
Harry Bradshaw as the club professional. Townsend was elected Captain of the
Professional Golfers' Association in 1994. After turning 50, Townsend played on the
European Senior Tour from 1996 to 2006, winning the
Royal Westmoreland Barbados Open in March 2002. ==Personal life==