Ross Fisher celebrates 500 events: Five wins, a Ryder Cup and a career defined by consistency

By Camilla Tait Robb

With any milestone comes an invitation for reflection, and Ross Fisher’s triumph of reaching 500 DP World Tour events at the 2026 Hero Dubai Desert Classic brings together moments, records and achievements that chart the arc of a remarkable career spanning more than two decades.

The list feels even more extraordinary when written down. Five victories, part of a winning European Ryder Cup side at Celtic Manor in 2010, a course record 61 on the Old Course at St Andrews, and a high of 17th on the Official World Golf Ranking in an era dominated by Tiger Woods.

The first time he played alongside Woods was in the penultimate group at the Dubai Desert Classic in 2007. The Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club is a course and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic an event Fisher enjoys, which makes the celebration of this particular milestone, while playing alongside Ryder Cup teammate Francesco Molinari, all the sweeter.

“Back in 2007, shooting 65 65 and leading after two days, then playing with Tiger on Sunday,” he says. “That was awesome. My first experience playing with him.”

He smiles at the symmetry of reaching 500 here, adding: “When I realised it might land in Dubai, I thought, how cool would that be.”

He admits he did not realise how close he was until late last season. “Yeah, I was amazed. I thought it was less,” he says. “I was looking at it thinking, how many have actually done 500. And then I saw it and thought, oh wow. It is an incredible feat to get to 500, but crikey, I could have got there way sooner if I had played more events. When I was top 50, I was only playing 22 to 24, and when you are outside that you are probably playing 26 to 28. So I could have reached it sooner.”

The moment he realised Dubai might be the one still makes him smile. “Towards the end of last year I was sitting down with one of my best mates, and he said, 'you must be close to 500, Fish'. I looked and it was 490‑something. So I thought, if I do that one and that one, and if I carry on and play those, Dubai could be my 500th. So yeah, it is pretty amazing.”

He takes a moment when asked how it feels. “It’s pretty cool,” he says. “It’s a unique milestone. When you first start out on Tour, you never really have that goal in your mind. But over the years you see guys like Miguel (Ángel Jiménez) and (David) Howell reach it, and to get there yourself is pretty special. And to do it in a place like Dubai, it’s pretty cool.”

The journey to 500 began long before the wins and the Ryder Cup. Fisher remembers his first event clearly.

“I got an invitation into the Ken Schofield Memorial at Woburn in 2004,” he says. “I played six events that year, went to Q School, got through first stage and second stage, missed the cut at finals, then played the whole year on Challenge Tour. I managed to get through Challenge Tour, but it wasn’t a great ranking, so I went back to Q School and bettered it. Those were my first four events with a proper card.”

He laughs at how quickly things escalated. “I hit the ground running," he explains. "Last group in my first event in China, and four weeks later I was leading in South Africa by five. It feels a lifetime ago, but the body is still fit and able to move at 45. Season 20 or 21, something like that. It is pretty cool to still be out here.”

What transpired was victories at the 2007 KLM Open, 2008 European Open, 2009 Volvo World March Play Championship, 2010 Irish Open, 2014 Tshwane Open, and a Ryder Cup appearance in 2010 at Celtic Manor where he contributed two points. Yet what he has built across those 20 plus seasons is something he never took for granted, and among all his achievements, one thing stands above the rest.

“Consistency,” he says, without hesitation. “Especially in the early days.”

The last few years have tested him in different ways, however.

“The last four or five years have been a bit of a struggle," he says. "Keeping my card two years in a row, then having to rely on career money this season. You never want to fall back on that. You want to keep your playing rights by right. But it is nice that I have had a career strong enough that the career money list is even an option. And I will be trying my hardest this season to keep my card for the next.”

Consistency has been a key to his longevity, supported by his drive, his mindset and his discipline in looking after himself.

“Hard work, practice, investing in a physio,” he says. “I have been seeing a physio since 2007 or 2008. I have seen my current one for about ten years. Keeping the body fit, healthy, mobile. I still feel pretty good at 45.”

The mindset behind his game has been just as important. Fisher has always carried a lightness and positivity, even when the stakes were high.

“As soon as you get negative, it can spiral,” he says. “There have been points throughout my career where thoughts creep in, are you ever going to do it again. You are in contention, you do not get over the line, and you think, am I going to be able to do that again. But I have always had a pretty positive outlook. You are not out on Tour for very long. So you have to make the most of it. And why be a grumpy, miserable old sod. Why not embrace it and have fun. That is what I have tried to do.”

The way he talks about it, that mindset has carried him through more moments than he can count, and the ones that stand out come back to him quickly. In a career full of highlights, he picks out a handful that mean the most.

“I mean there are plenty," he says. "Obviously the first win, because you have to get that duck off your back, and then probably the second win is just as big because you do not want to be a one-time fluke. I was really pleased to win consecutive years, 07, 08, 09 and 10, but also to follow that up with consistency in Majors.

"I had the chance to win the Open in 2009. I had the best cumulative score throughout the four Majors that year, which is a nice accolade. Any time you play Majors, that is where you are testing yourself against the best in the world.

“And obviously to play in a winning Ryder Cup is amazing. I would love to play another one, but it is going to be bloody hard to get into another because we have so many good players now. Back when I was first on Tour, mid to late 2000s, you could throw a circle around maybe a dozen players you thought could win. Whereas the last four or five years it feels more like 80 percent of the field [can]. The strength in depth is phenomenal. We have great youngsters coming out, and still some old boys competing.”

And then there is St Andrews, where he set the course record of 61 at the 2017 Alfred Dunhill Links.

“I did not like it when I first played it as an amateur,” he admits. “But the more you play it, the more you appreciate it. I have lost in a play-off, had two seconds, and the course record. I walked off disappointed with a 61 because I missed a short putt on the last. But it is pretty cool to say you have the record at the home of golf.”

There is a small pause, the kind that comes when a career stretches further than you ever imagined at the start. It leads him naturally to think about the beginning. He smiles when asked what the younger Ross would think of all this. “Hats off and bow down,” he says. “I think he would be proud.”

And then the question that always comes at 500. Is 600 next.

“That is a long way off," he says with a smile, laughing. "Depends how many events you play. I have played 22 to 24 most years, 28 to 30 when things are not going well. I would have to go a few more years. But it is not out of the question. If I stay healthy and fit and keep my card, who knows.”

But what keeps him going is not the number. It is the competition. The belief he can still win. His family.

“My son is off five and junior captain at his club," he says. "He wants to be where I am. I play with my son and daughter quite a bit, it is great. Hopefully I can achieve another victory now that my kids are old enough to understand it.”

Five hundred events is not a finish line. It is a marker of endurance, of evolution, of a player who has adapted across generations and still finds joy in the grind. Fisher has achieved a remarkable amount. But ask him what matters most, and the answer comes easily.

“Enjoying the competition,” he says. “Being out here. Having fun.”

Five hundred events later, he still is.