Ed Fiori

Ed Fiori
Personal information
Full name Edward Ray Fiori
Born April 21, 1953 (1953-04-21) (age 58)
Lynwood, California
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 16 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Sugar Land, Texas
Career
College University of Houston
Turned professional 1977
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins 8
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 4
Champions Tour 1
Other 3
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament T6: 1980
U.S. Open T35: 1978
The Open Championship DNP
PGA Championship T9: 1989

Edward Ray Fiori (born April 21, 1953) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.

Fiori was born in Lynwood, California. As a youth, Fiori would sneak through a barbed wire fence to a nine-hole course near his Downey, California home to practice his game.[1] He attended the University of Houston where he played on the golf team. He turned pro in 1977 and joined the PGA Tour in 1978.

Fiori won four tournaments on the PGA Tour. His first win was at the 1979 Southern Open. His last victory at the 1996 Quad City Classic led to the postponement of his plans to retire from the game and become a charter-boat captain.[1] Fiori's previous PGA tour victory was 14 years earlier, at the 1982 Bob Hope Desert Classic.[2] Fiori's victory at Quad Cities denied a young rookie named Tiger Woods his first title. This would be the only time in his career that Woods would fail to win with an outright 54-hole lead until Y. E. Yang outplayed him in the 2009 PGA Championship.

At 5 feet 7 inches tall and 220 pounds, Fiori is a stocky man; and in recent years has been plagued with a host of weight-related health problems that have affected his play and limited his playing time, including spinal fusion surgery. Fiori is nicknamed "The Grip" because of his unusually strong grip on the club.[1] He lives in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land, Texas.

Contents

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (4)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 14, 1979 Southern Open –14 (69-72-65-68=274) Playoff Tom Weiskopf
2 Jul 5, 1981 Western Open –11 (74-67-69-67=277) 4 strokes Jim Colbert, Greg Powers,
Jim Simons
3 Jan 17, 1982 Bob Hope Desert Classic –25 (70-65-66-67-67=335) Playoff Tom Kite
4 Sep 15, 1996 Quad City Classic –12 (66-68-67-67=268) 2 strokes Andrew Magee

PGA Tour playoff record (2-0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1979 Southern Open Tom Weiskopf Won with birdie on second extra hole
2 1982 Bob Hope Desert Classic Tom Kite Won with birdie on second extra hole

Other wins (3)

Champions Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Mar 7, 2004 MasterCard Classic –6 (72-71-67=210) Playoff Graham Marsh

References

  1. ^ a b c "Biographical information from PGA Tour's official site". http://www.pgatour.com/players/s/?/00/13/46/media. 
  2. ^ Zullo, Allan, "Astonishing but True Golf Facts", Andrew McMeels Publishing, Forest Fairview, North Carolina, 2001.

External links