Background
Driscoll was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest of seven children. He grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts outside of Boston.
Driscoll was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest of seven children. He grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts outside of Boston.
Driscoll attended Brookline High School, Brookline, Massachusetts and then attended The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, for a postgraduate year and went on to the University of Virginia where he was named to the Virginia first-team All-State golf team his senior year.
He then went on to defeat the state"s best golfers at the Massachusetts State Amateur Championship in 1996 at the age of 18 and then again in 1998. By the summer of 1996 James was the second-ranked junior in the country, and that is when he made his first cameo on the national stage, losing the final of the United States. Junior to Scott Hailes. He lost to Jeff Quinney in the finals of the 2000 United States. Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey.
He had upset Englishman Luke Donald in the semifinals 2&1 and made an inspiring comeback in the final being 3 down with three to play.
Driscoll was eventually defeated on the 39th hole by Quinney. His runner-up finish gave him an invitation to the 2001 Masters Tournament.
At the Masters Driscoll fired a 68 in the first round, marking the best opening round by an amateur since Ken Venturi"s 66 in 1956. Driscoll turned professional in 2001.
He has been on and off the Professional Golf Association Tour for a couple years, but his top 25 finish on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list has given him Professional Golf Association Tour membership for 2008.
Driscoll was runner-up at the Professional Golf Association Tour"s Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2005. He had his second runner-up finish on the 2009 Valero Texas Open, losing to Zach Johnson in a sudden-death playoff. 1993 Massachusetts Junior Amateur Nationwide Tour (1) Other wins DNP = Did not play CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied Yellow background for top-10.
Amateur Walker Cup: 2001.
He was a member of the 2001 Walker Cup team