Larry Nelson

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Larry Gene Nelson (born September 10, 1947) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level.

Nelson was born in Fort Payne, Alabama. He didn't play the game as a child – atypical for a successful professional golfer – but only began to do so at the age of 21 after he returned from military service in Vietnam. Nelson carefully studied Ben Hogan's book The Five Fundamentals of Golf while learning how to play the game. He soon found that he had a talent for the game, breaking 100 the first time he played and 70 within nine months. He went on to graduate from Kennesaw Junior College in 1970 and turned professional the following year. He qualified for the PGA Tour at 27. His breakthrough year came in 1979 when he won twice and finished second in the money list to Tom Watson.

Nelson was to win ten times on the PGA Tour, of which three, a high proportion, were major championships. His major first was the 1981 PGA Championship which he won by four strokes. In 1983 he was victorious at the U.S. Open coming from seven behind at the half-way point, and scoring an outstanding 132 aggregate for the last 36 holes to beat Tom Watson by one. In 1987 he finished tied with Lanny Wadkins after the regulation 72 holes of PGA Championship, and won the title with a par at the first playoff hole.

Nelson played on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1979, 1981, and 1987. He also won four tournaments in Japan. Since turning fifty in 1997 Nelson has had a successful Champions Tour career, although he has not won a senior major. He is also active in golf course design. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in April 2006 [1] and inducted in October 2006.

[edit] Results in major championships

Tournament 1976 1977 1978 1979
The Masters DNP DNP DNP T31
U.S. Open T21 T54 CUT T4
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship T34 T54 T12 T28
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
The Masters T6 CUT T7 CUT 5 T36 T36 CUT T33 CUT
U.S. Open T60 T20 T19 1 CUT T39 T35 CUT T62 T13
The Open Championship T12 DNP T32 T53 CUT T55 CUT T48 T13 CUT
PGA Championship CUT 1 CUT T36 CUT T23 CUT 1 T38 T46
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters 48 55 DQ DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open T14 T3 CUT T46 CUT DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship CUT CUT T28 T56 CUT CUT WD T71 DNP CUT
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP CUT

DNP = did not play
DQ = disqualified
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

[edit] PGA Tour wins (10)

Major championships are shown in bold.

[edit] Other regular career wins (5)

[edit] Champions Tour wins (19)

[edit] Other senior career wins (1)

  • 1999 Chrysler Senior Match Play Challenge

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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