Calvin Peete

Calvin Peete
— Golfer —

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
Retired	2001
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
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 the emergence of Tiger Woods.

Biography

Peete was born in Detroit, Michigan. 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.^[1]

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

Peete died after a long battle with lung cancer, in Atlanta, Georgia on April 29, 2015.^[4] He was 71.

Family

Peete and his first wife, Christine, who divorced in 1987, are the parents of Charlotte, Calvin, Rickie, Dennis and Kalvanetta Peete. He was married to Pepper Peete and had two daughters, Aisha and Aleya.

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (12)

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

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

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

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

1982 Gold Win Cup Japan vs USA (tie with Bob Gilder), Dunlop Phoenix

Results in major championships

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

Note: Peete never played in The Open Championship.
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	4	8	8
U.S. Open	0	1	2	6	8	7
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0
PGA Championship	1	2	2	3	9	8
Totals	1	3	4	13	25	23

Most consecutive cuts made – 22 (1976 U.S. Open – 1987 Masters)
Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1982 U.S. Open – 1982 PGA)

References

↑ "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
↑ White Jr., Gordon S. (March 27, 1988). "Peete Returns to the Ranks of Leaders". The New York Times.
↑ 2002 United States Inductees
↑ Livsey, Laury (April 29, 2015). "Players champion Peete passes away at age 71". PGA Tour.

External links

Calvin Peete at the PGA Tour official site
Calvin Peete at the Japan Golf Tour official site
Calvin Peete Golf Companies

United States Ryder Cup team – 1983

Ben Crenshaw Raymond Floyd Bob Gilder Jay Haas Tom Kite Gil Morgan Calvin Peete Craig Stadler Curtis Strange Lanny Wadkins Tom Watson Fuzzy Zoeller Jack Nicklaus (non-playing captain)

Won: 14.5 – 13.5

United States Ryder Cup team – 1985

Raymond Floyd Hubert Green Peter Jacobsen Tom Kite Andy North Mark O'Meara Calvin Peete Craig Stadler Curtis Strange Hal Sutton Lanny Wadkins Fuzzy Zoeller Lee Trevino (non-playing captain)

Lost: 11.5 – 16.5

Players Championship champions

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† 2012 Matt Kuchar 2013 Tiger Woods 2014 Martin Kaymer

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

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