Larry Nelson

Larry Gene Nelson (born September 10, 1947) is an American professional golfer. He has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level.

Early life and amateur career Nelson was born in Fort Payne, Alabama and grew up in Acworth, Georgia, northwest of Atlanta. He did not play the game growing up – atypical for a successful professional golfer – focusing on basketball and baseball.

Nelson took up golf at the age of 21, after he returned from serving in the infantry in Vietnam (Nelson was a 20-year-old newlywed when he was drafted into the U.S. Army). Nelson was first introduced to golf by Ken Hummel, a soldier and friend in his infantry unit, and Nelson carefully studied Ben Hogan's book The Five Fundamentals of Golf while learning how to play the game. He soon discovered that he had a talent for the game, breaking 100 the first time he played and 70 within nine months. Nelson went on to graduate from Kennesaw Junior College in 1970.

Professional career

In 1971, Nelson turned professional. He qualified for the PGA Tour at 1973 PGA Tour Qualifying School. Nelson's breakthrough year came in 1979 when he won twice and finished second on the money list to Tom Watson.

Nelson won 10 times on the PGA Tour including three major championships. He earned his first major title at the 1981 PGA Championship which he won by four strokes over Fuzzy Zoeller. In 1983, Nelson was victorious at the U.S. Open at Oakmont coming from seven behind at the halfway point to defeat Tom Watson by a single shot. Nelson scored a U.S. Open record 65-67 over the last 36 holes at the difficult Oakmont course which broke a 51-year Open record established by Gene Sarazen. His 10-under-par 132 record score has yet to be equaled. In 1987, he finished tied with Lanny Wadkins after the regulation 72 holes of the PGA Championship. He won the title with a par at the first playoff hole.

Nelson played on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1979, 1981, and 1987. His record of 9–3–1 is one of the best since the event became USA v Europe in 1979; it had been a perfect 9–0–0 after the first two events.

Nelson also had great success internationally. He won four tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour. Nelson also finished runner-up at the 1982 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, 1985 Suntory Open, and the 1987 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters in Japan. In addition, in 1987 he finished runner-up at the New Zealand Open on the PGA Tour of Australia. He lost to Northern Ireland's Ronan Rafferty in a sudden-death playoff.

Since turning 50 in 1997, Nelson has had a very successful Champions Tour career, winning 19 times.

Nelson is also active in golf course design and created the LagRx Swing Trainer to help golfers condition and improve their muscle memory.

Honors Nelson was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in October 2006.

In 2011, Nelson received the PGA Distinguished Service Award from the PGA of America. The award "honors outstanding individuals who display leadership and humanitarian qualities, including integrity, sportsmanship and enthusiasm for the game of golf".

Professional wins (41) PGA Tour wins (10) Legend Major championships (3) Other PGA Tour (7) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Mar 11, 1979Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic−14 (67-69-67-71=274)3 strokes Grier Jones2Jul 8, 1979Western Open−2 (71-69-70-76=286)Playoff Ben Crenshaw3Jun 8, 1980Atlanta Classic−18 (66-69-68-67=270)7 strokes Andy Bean, Don Pooley4Apr 5, 1981Greater Greensboro Open−7 (69-68-69-75=281)Playoff Mark Hayes5Aug 9, 1981PGA Championship−7 (70-66-66-71=273)4 strokes Fuzzy Zoeller6Jun 19, 1983U.S. Open−4 (75-73-65-67=280)1 stroke Tom Watson7Oct 21, 1984Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic−22 (66-66-64-70=266)1 stroke Hubert Green8Aug 9, 1987PGA Championship (2)−1 (70-72-73-72=287)Playoff Lanny Wadkins9Oct 18, 1987Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic (2)−20 (68-69-68-63=268)1 stroke Morris Hatalsky, Mark O'Meara 10Jun 26, 1988Georgia-Pacific Atlanta Golf Classic (2)−20 (63-66-66-73=268)1 stroke Chip Beck

PGA Tour playoff record (3–2) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11979Danny Thomas Memphis Classic Gil MorganLost to birdie on second extra hole 21979Western Open Ben CrenshawWon with birdie on first extra hole31981Greater Greensboro Open Mark HayesWon with birdie on second extra hole41987 PGA Championship Lanny WadkinsWon with par on first extra hole51989 GTE Byron Nelson Classic Jodie MuddLost to birdie on first extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Oct 12, 1980Tokai Classic−14 (72-69-66-67=274)1 stroke Yutaka Hagawa2Apr 24, 1983Dunlop International Open1−12 (67-65-69=201)1 stroke Masahiro Kuramoto3Sep 10, 1989Suntory Open−12 (69-67-70-70=276)Playoff Saburo Fujiki4Nov 24, 1991Dunlop Phoenix Tournament−12 (70-71-67-68=276)Playoff Isao Aoki, Seve Ballesteros, Jay Don Blake 1Co-sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit

PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (2–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11985Suntory Open Tateo OzakiLost to par on second extra hole21989Suntory Open Saburo FujikiWon with birdie on first extra hole31991Dunlop Phoenix Tournament Isao Aoki, Seve Ballesteros, Jay Don BlakeWon with par on fourth extra holeBallesteros eliminated by birdie on third holeBlake eliminated by par on first hole

Other wins (2) 1978 Georgia Open 1988 PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event)

Champions Tour wins (19) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Feb 22, 1998American Express Invitational−13 (63-69-71=203)4 strokes Dave Stockton2May 31, 1998Pittsburgh Senior Classic−12 (65-65-74=204)5 strokes Bob Duval3Sep 27, 1998Boone Valley Classic −16 (70-65-65=200)2 strokes Graham Marsh4Feb 21, 1999GTE Classic−8 (70-68-67=205)2 strokes Bruce Fleisher5May 2, 1999Bruno's Memorial Classic −11 (70-67-68=205)1 stroke Dana Quigley6Apr 23, 2000Las Vegas Senior Classic−19 (67-66-64=197)5 strokes Bruce Fleisher Hale Irwin7May 28, 2000Boone Valley Classic (2)−16 (66-66-68=200)3 strokes Tom Watson8Aug 27, 2000FleetBoston Classic−13 (67-70-66=203)4 strokes Jim Thorpe 9Sep 3, 2000Foremost Insurance Championship−18 (66-69-63=198)3 strokes Dave Stockton10Sep 24, 2000Bank One Senior Championship−13 (67-68-68=203)6 strokes Bill Brask, Jim Thorpe11Oct 1, 2000Vantage Championship−12 (66-63-69=198)Playoff Jim Dent, Gil Morgan12Jan 24, 2001MasterCard Championship−19 (67-64-66=197)1 stroke Jim Thorpe13Feb 8, 2001Royal Caribbean Classic29 pts (6-15-8=29)1 point Vicente Fernández14Jun 24, 2001FleetBoston Classic (2)−15 (65-69-67=201)3 strokes Bruce Fleisher15Jul 8, 2001Farmers Charity Classic (2)−14 (67-67-68=202)1 stroke Jim Ahern16Oct 21, 2001SBC Championship−17 (67-69-63=199)2 strokes Bob Gilder, Gary McCord17Sep 14, 2003Constellation Energy Classic−9 (67-70-70=207)2 strokes Jim Dent, Doug Tewell18May 9, 2004FedEx Kinko's Classic−7 (73-69-67=209)1 stroke Bruce Lietzke19Oct 10, 2004Administaff Small Business Classic−14 (68-70-64=202)Playoff Hale Irwin

Champions Tour playoff record (2–3) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11998Cadillac NFL Golf Classic Jim Colbert, Bob DicksonDickson won with birdie on first extra hole21998Kroger Senior Classic Hugh Baiocchi, Bob Charles Frank Conner, Bruce SummerhaysBaiocchi won with birdie on second extra hole32000The Countrywide Tradition Tom Kite, Tom WatsonKite won with birdie on sixth extra holeNelson eliminated by par on second hole42000Vantage Championship Jim Dent, Gil MorganNelson won with birdie on sixth extra holeDent eliminated by birdie on first hole52004Administaff Small Business Classic Hale IrwinWon with birdie on first extra hole

Other senior wins (6) 1999 Chrysler Senior Match Play Challenge 2004 Office Depot Father/Son Challenge (with son Drew) 2007 Del Webb Father/Son Challenge (with son Josh) 2008 Del Webb Father/Son Challenge (with son Drew) 2015 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf (Legends division, with Bruce Fleisher) 2016 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf (Legends division, with Bruce Fleisher)

Playoff record PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11987Nissan-Mobil New Zealand Open Ronan RaffertyLost to par on seventh extra hole

Major championships Wins (3) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 1981 PGA Championship 4 shot lead −7 (70-66-66-71=273) 4 strokes Fuzzy Zoeller 1983 U.S. Open 1 shot deficit −4 (75-73-65-67=280) 1 stroke Tom Watson 1987 PGA Championship (2) 3 shot deficit −1 (70-72-73-72=287) Playoff1 Lanny Wadkins 1Defeated Wadkins with a par on the first extra hole.

Results timeline Tournament 1976 1977 1978 1979 Masters TournamentT31U.S. OpenT21T54CUTT4The Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipT34T54T12T28

Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Masters TournamentT6CUTT7CUT5T36T36CUTT33CUTU.S. OpenT60T20T191CUTT39T35CUTT62T13The Open ChampionshipT12T32T53CUTT56CUTT48T13CUTPGA ChampionshipCUT1CUTT36CUTT23CUT1T38T46

Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Masters Tournament4855DQU.S. OpenT14T3CUTT46CUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipCUTCUTT28T56CUTCUTWDT71CUT Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Masters TournamentU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipCUTCUTCUT Tournament 2010 2011Masters TournamentU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipCUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut (3rd round cut in 1984 Open Championship) DQ = disqualified WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 1 3 3 14 9U.S. Open 1 0 1 3 3 8 20 14The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 6PGA Championship 2 0 0 2 2 4 27 13Totals 3 0 1 6 8 17 70 42 Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1978 PGA – 1980 Open Championship) Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1981 PGA – 1982 Masters)

Results in The Players Championship Tournament1974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989The Players ChampionshipCUTT72T39T8T4T20DQCUTT10CUTT62CUTCUTCUTCUTT59 Tournament199019911992199319941995199619971998The Players ChampionshipT16T23CUTCUTT55CUTT62CUTCUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut DQ = disqualified "T" indicates a tie for a place

U.S. national team appearances Ryder Cup: 1979 (winners), 1981 (winners), 1987 UBS Warburg Cup: 2001 (winners) Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing Senior PGA Tour): 1997, 1998 (winners)

Larry Nelson

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