William Fred Mayfair (born August 6, 1966) is an American
professional golfer who plays on the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
.
Early years and amateur career
Mayfair was born in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
. Before his fifteenth birthday, he won numerous junior golf tournaments. In
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
, he was on the cover of ''
Boys' Life
''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas.
''Scout Life'' is pu ...
'' magazine as "golf's junior hotshot". He attended
Arizona State University and was a member of the
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
team.
He won the 1986
U.S. Amateur Public Links and the 1987
U.S. Amateur
The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...
,
[ defeating ]University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...
graduate Eric Rebmann 4&3. He won the 1987 Haskins Award The Haskins Award is presented annually by the Haskins Commission to honor the most outstanding collegiate golfer in the United States. The award is named in memory of Fred Haskins, former golf teaching professional at the Country Club of Columbus ...
for the nation's top collegiate golfer.
Professional career
Mayfair turned professional in 1988[ and has won five events on the ]PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
, including the 1995 Tour Championship
The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...
. He has featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings
The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986.
The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...
, going as high as 26th in 1996. He holds the distinction of being the only player to ever beat Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
in a playoff on the PGA Tour (1998 Nissan Open
The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually in ...
).[
Mayfair was the medalist at the 2010 PGA Tour's ]Qualifying School
In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...
. He finished 142nd on the Tour money list that year, which granted him conditional status for 2011. He finished the 2011 season 109th on the money list and retained his tour card for 2012. In 2013 and 2014 Mayfair split his playing time between the PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour, playing mostly on the Web.com Tour in 2014. During his PGA Tour career, Mayfair made 761 starts and earned over $20.3 million. In 2016, he joined PGA Tour Champions
PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour.
History and format
The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...
.
Personal life
Mayfair lives in Scottsdale, Arizona
, settlement_type = City
, named_for = Winfield Scott
, image_skyline =
, image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg
, image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg
, nick ...
where he plays out of Estrella Mountain Ranch Golf Club. On July 31, 2006, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility.
Risk factors include an ...
. He had surgery on August 3 of that year and it has been reported that the cancer was contained.[ In April 2021 he announced that he had been diagnosed as having ]autism spectrum disorder
The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...
(ASD) in November 2019.
Amateur wins
''this list may be incomplete''
*1986 U.S. Amateur Public Links
*1987 Pacific Coast Amateur, U.S. Amateur
The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...
*1988 Pacific Coast Amateur
Professional wins (5)
PGA Tour wins (5)
PGA Tour playoff record (2–5)
Results in major championships
LA = Low Amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Summary
*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (three times)
*Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (six times)
Results in The Players Championship
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
*Walker Cup
The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...
: 1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
(winners)
Professional
* Four Tours World Championship: 1991
See also
*1988 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
This is a list of the 1988 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates. 52 players earned their 1989 PGA Tour card through Q-School in 1988. The tournament was played over 108 holes at the PGA West (Nicklaus Resort course) and La Quinta Hotel Golf Clu ...
* 2010 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayfair, Billy
American male golfers
Arizona State Sun Devils men's golfers
PGA Tour golfers
Golfers from Scottsdale, Arizona
Golfers from Phoenix, Arizona
1966 births
Living people
People on the autism spectrum