Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins Jr. (born December 5, 1949) is an American professional golfer. He won 21 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1977 PGA Championship. He ranked in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for 86 weeks from the ranking's debut in 1986 to 1988.
Early life and amateur career Wadkins was born in Richmond, Virginia. He has a younger brother, Bobby Wadkins, who also became a professional golfer. Wadkins attended Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County.
After high school, he attended Wake Forest University on an Arnold Palmer golf scholarship. He joined Kappa Sigma fraternity at Wake Forest. He won the 1970 U.S. Amateur by one stroke over Tom Kite, when the tournament was played as stroke play.
Professional career In 1971, Wadkins turned professional. In the summer he won the Greater Bangor Open in Maine for his first professional victory. His first win on the PGA Tour came at the Sahara Invitational in Las Vegas in October 1972 where he finished one stroke ahead of runner-up Palmer, his scholarship benefactor. Wadkins was later voted Rookie of the Year on the tour in 1972. Two more wins followed in 1973 before his form dipped for three years. He bounced back to win his sole major title at the 1977 PGA Championship. He prevailed on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff at Pebble Beach against Gene Littler. It was the first time the sudden-death format was used in a stroke-play major championship.
Wadkins was runner-up in four subsequent majors (U.S. Open in 1986, PGA Championship in 1982, 1984, 1987) and finished third in the Masters three times (1990, 1991, 1993). At The Open Championship his best finish was fourth at St. Andrews in 1984.
On the PGA Tour, Wadkins won 1979 Tournament Players Championship 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.
Like many star American golfers Wadkins was invited to play in a number of international tournaments. He won the 1978 Victorian PGA Championship on the PGA Tour of Australia and the 1979 Bridgestone Open on the Japan Golf Tour. He also finished runner-up at the 1979 German Open, 1980 Air New Zealand Shell Open, and 1990 Austrian Open. He also won significant events in South America and Canada.
Wadkins played for the United States in the Ryder Cup eight times between 1977 and 1993. Wadkins collected 21 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 at Oak Hill Country Club.
Senior career 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 and did not become a regular winner at the senior level.
Following the retirement of Ken Venturi in June 2002, Wadkins was the lead golf analyst for CBS Sports for over four years, until he was replaced by Nick Faldo after the 2006 season. Later, he was the lead analyst for the Champions Tour on Golf Channel for 13 years until he retired in January 2025, and was succeeded by Paul Azinger.
Honors In 1972, Wadkins was voted Rookie of the Year for the PGA Tour In 1985, Wadkins was named PGA Player of the Year In 2009, Wadkins was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame
Personal life Lanny is married to Penelope Wadkins and they have three children: Jessica, Travis, and Tucker. Travis played on the Wake Forest University golf team 2006–2010. Tucker played on the University of Arizona golf team from 2011–2015. 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.
A nephew, Ron Whittaker, is a professional golfer on the second-tier Web.com Tour with 77 PGA Tour starts.
Amateur wins 1968 Southern Amateur 1969 Eastern Amateur 1970 U.S. Amateur, Southern Amateur, Western Amateur
Professional wins (33) PGA Tour wins (21) Legend Major championships (1) Players Championships (1) Other PGA Tour (19) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Oct 29, 1972Sahara Invitational65-69-70-69=273−111 stroke Arnold Palmer2Apr 29, 1973Byron Nelson Golf Classic71-68-71-67=277−3Playoff Dan Sikes3Aug 19, 1973USI Classic71-69-70-69=279−92 strokes Lee Elder, Tom Jenkins, Rik Massengale4Aug 14, 1977PGA Championship69-71-72-70=282−6Playoff Gene Littler5Sep 5, 1977World Series of Golf69-66-67-65=267−135 strokes Hale Irwin, Tom Weiskopf6Feb 25, 1979Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open66-72-69-69=276−81 stroke Lon Hinkle7Mar 25, 1979Tournament Players Championship67-68-76-72=283−55 strokes Tom Watson8Jan 25, 1982Phoenix Open65-70-63-65=263−216 strokes Jerry Pate9Apr 18, 1982MONY Tournament of Champions67-72-68-73=280−83 strokes Andy Bean, David Graham, Craig Stadler, Ron Streck10Aug 22, 1982Buick Open66-71-71-65=273−151 stroke Tom Kite11Apr 3, 1983Greater Greensboro Open72-69-67-67=275−135 strokes Craig Stadler, Denis Watson12Apr 24, 1983MONY Tournament of Champions (2)67-70-71-72=280−81 stroke Raymond Floyd13Jan 13, 1985Bob Hope Classic67-67-68-66-65=333−27Playoff Craig Stadler14Jan 27, 1985Los Angeles Open (2)63-70-67-64=264−207 strokes Hal Sutton15Oct 13, 1985Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic68-67-69-63=267−211 stroke Mike Donald, Scott Hoch16Mar 1, 1987Doral-Ryder Open75-66-66-70=277−113 strokes Seve Ballesteros, Tom Kite, Don Pooley17Feb 14, 1988Hawaiian Open68-71-66-66=271−17 1 stroke Richard Zokol 18May 22, 1988Colonial National Invitation67-68-70-65=270−101 stroke Mark Calcavecchia, Ben Crenshaw, Joey Sindelar19Jul 8, 1990Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic65-66-67-68=266−185 strokes Larry Mize20Jan 20, 1991United Hawaiian Open (2)69-67-69-65=270−184 strokes John Cook21Aug 2, 1992Canon Greater Hartford Open68-70-71-65=274−62 strokes Dan Forsman, Donnie Hammond, Nick Price
PGA Tour playoff record (3–3) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11972Phoenix Open Homero BlancasLost to birdie on first extra hole21973Byron Nelson Golf Classic Dan SikesWon with par on first extra hole31977PGA Championship Gene LittlerWon with par on third extra hole41983 Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open Gil Morgan, Curtis StrangeMorgan won with birdie on second extra hole51985Bob Hope Classic Craig StadlerWon with birdie on fifth extra hole61987PGA Championship Larry NelsonLost to par on first extra hole
European Tour wins (1) Legend Major championships (1) Other European Tour (0) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Aug 14, 1977PGA Championship69-71-72-70=282−6Playoff Gene Littler
European Tour playoff record (1–2) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11977PGA Championship Gene LittlerWon with par on third extra hole21987PGA Championship Larry NelsonLost to par on first extra hole31990Austrian Open Bernhard LangerLost to birdie on third extra hole
PGA of Japan Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Oct 28, 1979Bridgestone Tournament66-71-69-71=277−111 stroke Yoshikazu Yokoshima
PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Oct 22, 1978Garden State Victorian PGA Championship75-68-69-69=281−73 strokes Bob Shearer
Other wins (9) 1971 Virginia Open, Greater Bangor Open 1978 Labatt's International Golf Classic 1980 PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event) 1981 Caribbean Open (Colombia) 1984 World Nissan Championship (Japan) 1990 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Bobby Wadkins) 1991 Shark Shootout (with Tom Purtzer) 2015 PNC Father Son Challenge (with son Tucker)
Senior PGA Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunners-up1Feb 13, 2000ACE Group Classic67-68-67=202−14Playoff José María Cañizares, Walter Hall, Tom Watson
Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12000ACE Group Classic José María Cañizares, Walter Hall, Tom WatsonWon with par on third extra holeHall and Watson eliminated by par on first hole
Major championships
Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 1977 PGA Championship 6 shot deficit −6 (69-71-72-70=282) Playoff1 Gene Littler 1Defeated Littler with a par on the third extra hole.
Results timeline Tournament1970197119721973197419751976197719781979Masters TournamentCUTCUTT19T29CUTT18T7U.S. OpenT13T25T7T26T38CUTT19The Open ChampionshipT7T22CUTCUTPGA ChampionshipT16T3CUTCUT1T3470
Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989Masters TournamentCUTT21T33T8CUTT18T31T12T11T26U.S. OpenCUTT14T67T11T5T2T36T12CUTThe Open ChampionshipT29T4CUTT29T34T26PGA ChampionshipT30T332CUTT2T10T112T25CUT
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999Masters TournamentT3T3T48T3T18CUTU.S. OpenT51T63CUTThe Open ChampionshipCUTT73T45CUTPGA ChampionshipCUTT43T40T14T61T63CUTT58T34
Tournament20002001Masters TournamentU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipCUTCUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut (3rd round cut in 1985 Open Championship) "T" indicates a tie for a place.
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 3 3 5 12 23 17U.S. Open 0 1 0 2 5 11 20 16The Open Championship 0 0 0 1 2 3 14 9PGA Championship 1 3 1 5 6 10 28 20Totals 1 4 4 11 18 36 85 62 Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (1985 PGA – 1989 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (twice)
The Players Championship Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 1979 Tournament Players Championship 3 shot lead −5 (67-68-76-72=283) 5 strokes Tom Watson
Results timeline Tournament1975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996The Players ChampionshipWDT65T34CUT1T45CUTCUTCUTT5CUTT40CUTT6T41CUT62T29CUTCUTCUTCUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place.
U.S. national team appearances Amateur Walker Cup: 1969 (winners), 1971 Eisenhower Trophy: 1970 (winners)
Professional Ryder Cup: 1977 (winners), 1979 (winners), 1983 (winners), 1985, 1987, 1989 (tie), 1991 (winners), 1993 (winners), 1995 (captain) World Cup: 1977, 1984, 1985 Dunhill Cup: 1986 Four Tours World Championship: 1985 (winners), 1987 (winners), 1991 US v Japan: 1982, 1983
See also 1971 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins List of men's major championships winning golfers
References
External links
Golf Channel: Lanny Wadkins