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Calvin Peete

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Calvin Peete
Peete in 1986
Personal information
Full nameCalvin Peete
Born(1943-07-18)July 18, 1943
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedApril 29, 2015(2015-04-29) (aged 71)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Sporting nationality United States
Career
Turned professional1975
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins14
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour12
Japan Golf Tour2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT11: 1986
PGA ChampionshipT3: 1982
U.S. OpenT4: 1983
The Open ChampionshipDNP
Achievements and awards
Byron Nelson Award1984
Vardon Trophy1984

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.

Early life

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Peete was born in Detroit. He 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.[1]

Professional career

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Peete successfully graduated onto the PGA Tour at Spring 1975 PGA Tour Qualifying School. He was the leader in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour for 10 straight years, 1981–90. He was inducted into the African American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.[2]

Peete 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.[3]

Personal life

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Peete died of lung cancer, in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 29, 2015.[4] He was 71.

Professional wins (14)

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PGA Tour wins (12)

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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

PGA of Japan Tour wins (2)

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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

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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

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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

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Wins (1)

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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

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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

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ White Jr., Gordon S. (March 27, 1988). "Peete Returns to the Ranks of Leaders". The New York Times.
  2. ^ 2002 United States Inductees Archived February 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking". Official World Golf Ranking. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 17, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  4. ^ Livsey, Laury (April 29, 2015). "Players champion Peete passes away at age 71". PGA Tour.
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