Lanny Wadkins

Lanny Wadkins
Personal information
Full name Jerry Lanston Wadkins, Jr.
Nickname Lanny
Born December 5, 1949 (1949-12-05) (age 62)
Richmond, Virginia
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Nationality  United States
Career
College Wake Forest University
Turned professional 1971
Current tour(s) PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins 30
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 21
Japan Golf Tour 1
Champions Tour 1
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament T3: 1990, 1991, 1993
U.S. Open T2: 1986
The Open Championship T4: 1984
PGA Championship Won: 1977
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 2009 (member page)
PGA Player of the Year 1985

Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins, Jr. (born December 5, 1949) is an American professional golfer. He ranked in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 86 weeks from their debut in 1986 to 1988.[1]

Wadkins was born in Richmond, Virginia. He attended Wake Forest University. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1970 and turned professional in 1971. His first win on the PGA Tour arrived quickly at the 1972 Sahara Invitational in Las Vegas and he was later voted 1972 PGA Rookie of the Year. Two more wins followed in 1973 before his form dipped for three years. He bounced back to record his only major championship victory in the 1977 PGA Championship courtesy of a three hole sudden-death playoff at Pebble Beach Golf Links against Gene Littler. Although second in four subsequent major championships (U.S. Open 1986, PGA Championship 1982, 1984, 1987), this remained his only victory. On three occasions, he finished third in the Masters Tournament (1990, 1991, 1993). In The Open Championship, his best finish was fourth at St. Andrews in 1984. On the PGA Tour, he won The Players Championship at Sawgrass in 1979 and was voted PGA Player of the Year in 1985. Over his career, he picked up a win more seasons than not until 1992, when he achieved his twenty-first and final PGA Tour victory at the Canon Greater Hartford Open. He has also won in Australia, Canada, Japan and South America in his career. He played for the United States in the Ryder Cup eight times between 1977 and 1993, which ties the highest number of appearances in the competition by an American, alongside Raymond Floyd and Billy Casper. Wadkins collected 21½ points during his Ryder Cup career, one of the very best records on either side in the history of the competition. He also captained the team in 1995.

Wadkins began play on the Champions Tour in 2000, and picked up a win in his first event at the ACE Group Classic in a four-way playoff. As a senior, he divided his time between competition and broadcasting work with CBS Sports and did not become a regular winner at senior level. Wadkins worked as an analyst for CBS from 2002 until 2007 when he was replaced by Nick Faldo.

Wadkins was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009.[2]

Wadkins' younger brother Bobby currently plays on the Champions Tour. Lanny has two children, Travis and Jessica, also Wake Forest alumni. In 2011, Travis played on the eGolf Tour and made it to the final stage of the PGA Tour's Qualifying School but failed to earn a card.

Contents

Amateur wins (5)

Professional wins (30)

PGA Tour wins (21)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of
Victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Sep 12, 1972 Sahara Invitational -15 (65-69-70-69=273) 1 stroke Arnold Palmer
2 Apr 29, 1973 Byron Nelson Golf Classic -3 (71-68-71-67=277) Playoff Dan Sikes
3 Aug 19, 1973 USI Classic -9 (71-69-70-69=279) 2 strokes Lee Elder, Tom Jenkins,
Rik Massengale
4 Aug 14, 1977 PGA Championship -6 (69-71-72-70=282) Playoff Gene Littler
5 Sep 5, 1977 World Series of Golf -13 (69-69-66-67=271) 5 strokes Hale Irwin, Tom Weiskopf
6 Feb 25, 1979 Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open -8 (66-72-69-69=276) 1 strokes Lon Hinkle
7 Mar 31, 1979 Tournament Players Championship -5 (67-68-76-72=283) 5 strokes Tom Watson
8 Jan 25, 1982 Phoenix Open -21 (65-70-63-65=263) 6 strokes Jerry Pate
9 Apr 18, 1982 MONY Tournament of Champions -8 (67-72-68-73=280) 3 strokes Andy Bean, David Graham,
Craig Stadler, Ron Streck
10 Aug 22, 1982 Buick Open -15 (66-71-71-65=273) 1 stroke Tom Kite
11 Apr 3, 1983 Greater Greensboro Open -13 (72-69-67-67=275) 5 strokes Craig Stadler, Denis Watson
12 Jan 12, 1983 MONY Tournament of Champions -8 (67-70-71-72=280) 1 stroke Raymond Floyd
13 Jan 13, 1985 Bob Hope Classic -27 (67-67-68-66-65=333) Playoff Craig Stadler
14 Jan 27, 1985 Los Angeles Open -20 (63-70-67-64=264) 7 strokes Hal Sutton
15 Oct 13, 1985 Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic -21 (68-67-69-63=267) 3 strokes Mike Donald, Scott Hoch
16 Mar 1, 1987 Doral-Ryder Open -11 (75-66-66-70=277) 3 strokes Seve Ballesteros, Tom Kite,
Don Pooley
17 Feb 14, 1988 Hawaiian Open -16 (68-71-66-66=271) 1 stroke Richard Zokol
18 May 22, 1988 Colonial National Invitation -9 (67-68-70-65=270) 2 strokes Mark Calcavecchia, Ben Crenshaw,
Joey Sindelar
19 Jul 8, 1990 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic -18 (65-66-67-68=266) 5 strokes Larry Mize
20 Jan 20, 1991 United Hawaiian Open -18 (69-67-69-65=270) 4 strokes John Cook
21 Aug 2, 1992 Canon Greater Hartford Open -6 (68-70-71-65=274) 2 strokes Dan Forsman, Donnie Hammond,
Nick Price

PGA Tour playoff record (3-3)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1972 Phoenix Open Homero Blancas Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2 1973 Byron Nelson Golf Classic Dan Sikes Won with par on first extra hole
3 1977 PGA Championship Gene Littler Won with par on third extra hole
4 1983 Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open Gil Morgan, Curtis Strange Morgan won with birdie on second extra hole
5 1985 Bob Hope Classic Craig Stadler Won with birdie on fifth extra hole
6 1987 PGA Championship Larry Nelson Lost to par on first extra hole

Other wins (8)

Champions Tour wins (1)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runner-up
1977 PGA Championship 6 shot deficit -6 (69-71-72-70=282) Playoff1 Gene Littler

1Defeated Gene Littler with a par on the third extra hole.

Results timeline

Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
The Masters CUT CUT T19 T29 CUT DNP DNP DNP T18 T7
U.S. Open DNP T13 T25 T7 T26 T38 DNP DNP CUT T19
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP T7 T22 CUT DNP DNP CUT DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP T16 T3 CUT DNP CUT 1 T34 70
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
The Masters CUT T21 T33 T8 CUT T18 T31 T12 T11 T26
U.S. Open CUT T14 T6 7 T11 T5 T2 T36 T12 CUT
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP T29 T4 CUT DNP T29 T34 T26
PGA Championship T30 T33 2 CUT T2 T10 T11 2 T25 CUT
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters T3 T3 T48 T3 T18 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open T51 T63 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT T73 T45 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship CUT T43 T40 T14 T61 T63 CUT T58 DNP T34
Tournament 2000 2001
The Masters DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP
The Open Championship DNP DNP
PGA Championship CUT CUT

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

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
  2. ^ Wadkins to join World Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2009

External links

Match play era
1916 Jim Barnes • 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I • 1919 Jim Barnes • 1920 Jock Hutchison • 1921 Walter Hagen • 1922 Gene Sarazen • 1923 Gene Sarazen • 1924 Walter Hagen • 1925 Walter Hagen • 1926 Walter Hagen • 1927 Walter Hagen • 1928 Leo Diegel • 1929 Leo Diegel • 1930 Tommy Armour • 1931 Tom Creavy • 1932 Olin Dutra • 1933 Gene Sarazen • 1934 Paul Runyan • 1935 Johnny Revolta • 1936 Denny Shute • 1937 Denny Shute • 1938 Paul Runyan • 1939 Henry Picard • 1940 Byron Nelson • 1941 Vic Ghezzi • 1942 Sam Snead • 1943 Cancelled due to World War II • 1944 Bob Hamilton • 1945 Byron Nelson • 1946 Ben Hogan • 1947 Jim Ferrier • 1948 Ben Hogan • 1949 Sam Snead • 1950 Chandler Harper • 1951 Sam Snead • 1952 Jim Turnesa • 1953 Walter Burkemo • 1954 Chick Harbert • 1955 Doug Ford • 1956 Jack Burke, Jr. • 1957 Lionel Hebert

Stroke play era
1958 Dow Finsterwald • 1959 Bob Rosburg • 1960 Jay Hebert • 1961 Jerry Barber† • 1962 Gary Player • 1963 Jack Nicklaus • 1964‡ Bobby Nichols • 1965 Dave Marr • 1966 Al Geiberger • 1967 Don January† • 1968 Julius Boros • 1969‡ Raymond Floyd • 1970 Dave Stockton • 1971 Jack Nicklaus • 1972 Gary Player • 1973 Jack Nicklaus • 1974 Lee Trevino • 1975 Jack Nicklaus • 1976 Dave Stockton • 1977 Lanny Wadkins† • 1978 John Mahaffey† • 1979 David Graham† • 1980 Jack Nicklaus • 1981 Larry Nelson • 1982‡ Raymond Floyd • 1983‡ Hal Sutton • 1984 Lee Trevino • 1985 Hubert Green • 1986 Bob Tway • 1987 Larry Nelson† • 1988 Jeff Sluman • 1989 Payne Stewart • 1990 Wayne Grady • 1991 John Daly • 1992 Nick Price • 1993 Paul Azinger† • 1994 Nick Price • 1995 Steve Elkington† • 1996 Mark Brooks† • 1997 Davis Love III • 1998 Vijay Singh • 1999 Tiger Woods • 2000‡ Tiger Woods† • 2001 David Toms • 2002 Rich Beem • 2003 Shaun Micheel • 2004 Vijay Singh† • 2005 Phil Mickelson • 2006 Tiger Woods • 2007 Tiger Woods • 2008 Pádraig Harrington • 2009 Y. E. Yang • 2010 Martin Kaymer† • 2011 Keegan Bradley†
† indicates the event was won in a playoff ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire

PGA Players of the Year
1948 Ben Hogan‡ · 1949 Sam Snead‡ · 1950 Ben Hogan† · 1951 Ben Hogan‡ · 1952 Julius Boros · 1953 Ben Hogan#∞ · 1954 Ed Furgol† · 1955 Doug Ford† · 1956 Jack Burke, Jr.‡ · 1957 Dick Mayer† · 1958 Dow Finsterwald† · 1959 Art Wall, Jr.† · 1960 Arnold Palmer‡ · 1961 Jerry Barber† · 1962 Arnold Palmer‡ · 1963 Julius Boros† · 1964 Ken Venturi† · 1965 Dave Marr †· 1966 Billy Casper† · 1967 Jack Nicklaus† · 1968 No award · 1969 Orville Moody† · 1970 Billy Casper† · 1971 Lee Trevino ‡· 1972 Jack Nicklaus‡∞∞ · 1973 Jack Nicklaus† · 1974 Johnny Miller† · 1975 Jack Nicklaus‡ · 1976 Jack Nicklaus · 1977 Tom Watson‡ · 1978 Tom Watson · 1979 Tom Watson · 1980 Tom Watson† · 1981 Bill Rogers† · 1982 Tom Watson‡ · 1983 Hal Sutton† · 1984 Tom Watson · 1985 Lanny Wadkins · 1986 Bob Tway† · 1987 Paul Azinger · 1988 Curtis Strange† · 1989 Tom Kite · 1990 Nick Faldo‡ · 1991 Corey Pavin · 1992 Fred Couples† · 1993 Nick Price · 1994 Nick Price‡ · 1995 Greg Norman · 1996 Tom Lehman† · 1997 Tiger Woods† · 1998 Mark O'Meara‡ · 1999 Tiger Woods† · 2000 Tiger Woods#∞ · 2001 Tiger Woods† · 2002 Tiger Woods‡ · 2003 Tiger Woods · 2004 Vijay Singh† · 2005 Tiger Woods‡∞∞ · 2006 Tiger Woods‡ · 2007 Tiger Woods† · 2008 Pádraig Harrington‡ · 2009 Tiger Woods · 2010 Jim Furyk · 2011 Luke Donald

PGA Tour Players of the Year
1990 Wayne Levi · 1991 Fred Couples · 1992 Fred Couples† · 1993 Nick Price · 1994 Nick Price‡ · 1995 Greg Norman · 1996 Tom Lehman† · 1997 Tiger Woods† · 1998 Mark O'Meara‡ · 1999 Tiger Woods† · 2000 Tiger Woods#∞ · 2001 Tiger Woods† · 2002 Tiger Woods‡ · 2003 Tiger Woods · 2004 Vijay Singh† · 2005 Tiger Woods‡∞∞ · 2006 Tiger Woods‡ · 2007 Tiger Woods† · 2008 Pádraig Harrington‡ · 2009 Tiger Woods · 2010 Jim Furyk · 2011 Luke Donald
† One major ‡ Two majors # Three majors ∞ One career grand slam ∞∞ Two career grand slams
All of these are in the year of the award

1974 Jack Nicklaus · 1975 Al Geiberger · 1976 Jack Nicklaus · 1977 Mark Hayes · 1978 Jack Nicklaus · 1979 Lanny Wadkins · 1980 Lee Trevino · 1981 Raymond Floyd† · 1982 Jerry Pate · 1983 Hal Sutton · 1984 Fred Couples · 1985 Calvin Peete · 1986 John Mahaffey · 1987 Sandy Lyle† · 1988 Mark McCumber · 1989 Tom Kite · 1990 Jodie Mudd · 1991 Steve Elkington · 1992 Davis Love III · 1993 Nick Price · 1994 Greg Norman · 1995 Lee Janzen · 1996 Fred Couples · 1997 Steve Elkington · 1998 Justin Leonard · 1999 David Duval · 2000 Hal Sutton · 2001 Tiger Woods · 2002 Craig Perks · 2003 Davis Love III · 2004 Adam Scott · 2005 Fred Funk · 2006 Stephen Ames · 2007 Phil Mickelson · 2008 Sergio García† · 2009 Henrik Stenson · 2010 Tim Clark · 2011 K.J. Choi†
† indicates the event was won in a playoff