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Calvin Peete
Personal information
Full name Calvin Peete
Born (1943-07-18)July 18, 1943
Detroit, Michigan
Died April 29, 2015(2015-04-29) (aged 71)
Atlanta, Georgia
Nationality  United States
Career
Turned professional 1975
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins 14
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 12
Japan Golf Tour 2
Best results in Major Championships
The Masters Tournament T11: 1986
U.S. Open T4: 1983
The Open Championship DNP
PGA Championship T3: 1982
Achievements and awards
Vardon Trophy 1984
Byron Nelson Award 1984

Calvin Peete (July 18, 1943 – April 29, 2015) was an American professional golfer. He was the most successful African-American to have played on the PGA Tour, with 12 wins, prior to the emergence of Tiger Woods. Peete won the 1985 Tournament Players Championship and finished the season top-5 on the PGA Tour money list three times; 1982, 1983 and 1985. He was ranked in the top 10 players on the McCormack's World Golf Rankings in 1984.

Biography

Peete was born in Detroit. He played on the 1983 and 1985 U.S. Ryder Cup teams. He won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average in 1984. He was in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for several weeks when they debuted in 1986.

Peete did not begin playing golf until he was in his 20s, but immediately excelled at a game most pros learn as young children. He learned the game while peddling goods to migrant workers in Rochester, New York, playing on the public course at Genesee Valley Park. Growing up poor, Peete suffered a badly broken arm that was never properly set. He was the leader in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour for 10 straight years, 1981–90. Peete was inducted into the African American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

Peete died of lung cancer, in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 29, 2015. He was 71.

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (12)

Legend
Players Championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (11)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Jul 15, 1979 Greater Milwaukee Open 69-67-68-65=269 −19 5 strokes Mexico Victor Regalado, United States Jim Simons,
United States Lee Trevino
2 Jul 11, 1982 Greater Milwaukee Open (2) 70-66-69-69=274 −14 2 strokes Mexico Victor Regalado
3 Jul 25, 1982 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic 66-68-69=203* −10 2 strokes United States Bruce Lietzke
4 Sep 5, 1982 B.C. Open 69-63-64-69=265 −19 7 strokes United States Jerry Pate
5 Oct 24, 1982 Pensacola Open 65-66-72-65=268 −16 7 strokes Canada Dan Halldorson, United States Hal Sutton
6 May 22, 1983 Georgia-Pacific Atlanta Golf Classic 68-75-63=206* −10 2 strokes United States Chip Beck, United States Jim Colbert,
United States Don Pooley
7 Jul 24, 1983 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic (2) 66-75-66-69=276 −8 1 stroke United States Tim Norris
8 Oct 7, 1984 Texas Open 67-67-66-66=266 −14 3 strokes United States Bruce Lietzke
9 Jan 20, 1985 Phoenix Open 65-65-72-68=270 −14 2 strokes United States Morris Hatalsky, United States Doug Tewell
10 Mar 31, 1985 Tournament Players Championship 70-69-69-66=274 −14 3 strokes United States D. A. Weibring
11 Jan 11, 1986 MONY Tournament of Champions 68-67-64-68=267 −21 6 strokes United States Mark O'Meara
12 Mar 23, 1986 USF&G Classic 68-67-66-68=269 −19 5 strokes United States Pat McGowan

*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1986 Houston Open United States Curtis Strange Lost to birdie on third extra hole

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 Nov 7, 1982 Goldwin Cup Japan vs USA 66-68=134 −10 Shared title with United States Bob Gilder
2 Nov 21, 1982 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament 73-69-67-72=281 −7 3 strokes Spain Seve Ballesteros, United States Larry Nelson

Results in major championships

Tournament 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
Masters Tournament T19 T21 T30 49 T15 T31 T11 T33
U.S. Open T23 T11 T28 T14 T10 T4 WD T24 CUT
PGA Championship T42 T43 T3 T36 4 T18 T30 WD T38

Note: Peete never played in The Open Championship.
     Top 10      Did not play WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 4 8 8
U.S. Open 0 0 0 1 2 6 9 7
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PGA Championship 0 0 1 2 2 3 9 8
Totals 0 0 1 3 4 13 26 23
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 22 (1976 U.S. Open – 1987 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1982 U.S. Open – 1982 PGA)

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
1985 Tournament Players Championship Tied for lead −14 (70-69-69-66=274) 3 strokes United States D. A. Weibring

Results timeline

Tournament 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
The Players Championship CUT CUT CUT T70 T29 T41 T35 1 CUT CUT T16 CUT T46 76 WD CUT WD WD

     Win      Did not play CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

U.S. national team appearances

  • Ryder Cup: 1983 (winners), 1985
  • Nissan Cup: 1985 (winners), 1986

See also

  • Spring 1975 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
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