Sammy Tindol Rachels III (born September 23, 1950) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour, but found his greatest level of success on the Champions Tour.
Early life Rachels was born in DeFuniak Springs, Florida. He has lived in the town his entire life. He attended Columbus College and won the 1971 NAIA Championship.
Professional career In 1972, Rachels turned professional. Rachels played on the PGA Tour from 1975 to ;1985, and had 11 top-10 finishes in 123 career events. Although he never won, he recorded runner-up finishes at the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic and Bank of Boston Classic in 1983. He also had a runner-up finish in the unofficial Magnolia State Classic that year. His best finish in a major championship was T6 at the 1981 U.S. Open. Four back operations forced him to leave the Tour and take a club pro job near his home in the Florida Panhandle.
Rachels joined the Nationwide Tour in his forties to prepare for the Champions Tour, which he joined after reaching the age of 50 in September 2000. He won three events in his first two years on the Champions Tour.
Professional wins (4) Regular career wins (1) 1994 PGA Club Professional Championship
Senior PGA Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Jun 3, 2001 BellSouth Senior Classic−17 ( 66-70-63=199)4 strokes Hale Irwin2Oct 14, 2001The Transamerica−14 (70-63-69=202)1 stroke Raymond Floyd, Doug Tewell3May 5, 2002Bruno's Memorial Classic−15 (70-64-67=201)Playoff Dana Quigley
Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12002Bruno's Memorial Classic Dana QuigleyWon with birdie on second extra hole
Results in major championships Tournament1981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993U.S. OpenT6PGA ChampionshipCUTT45CUT Note: Rachels never played in the Masters Tournament or The Open Championship.
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
U.S. national team appearances PGA Cup: 1990 (winners), 1996 (tie)
See also Spring 1975 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates 1982 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
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