Calvin Peete (July 18, 1943 – April 29, 2015) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. He was the most successful

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

to have played 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 k ...

, with 12 wins, prior to the emergence of

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 ...

. Peete won the

1985 Tournament Players Championship The 1985 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the twelfth Tournament Players Championship. Calvin Peete shot 66 in the fin ...

and finished the season top-5 on the PGA Tour money list three times;

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. He was ranked in the top 10 players on the

McCormack's World Golf Rankings The McCormack rankings were unofficial world golf rankings published in Mark McCormack's ''World of Professional Golf Annual'' from 1968 to 1985, and were a forerunner of the current Official World Golf Ranking. Unlike their replacement they were ...

in 1984.

Biography

Peete was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. He played on the 1983 and 1985 U.S.

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

teams. He won the

Vardon Trophy The Vardon Trophy is awarded by the PGA of America to the PGA Tour's leader in scoring average. When the award was first given in 1937, it was awarded on the basis of a points system. No award was given from 1942–1946 due to World War II. In ...

for lowest scoring average in 1984. He was in the top 10 of the

Official World Golf Ranking 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 ...

for several weeks when they debuted in 1986. 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 Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, playing on the public course at Genesee Valley Park. Growing up poor, Peete suffered a badly broken arm that was never properly set. 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. Peete died of lung cancer, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, on April 29, 2015. He was 71.

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (12)

''*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.'' PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

Results in major championships

''Note: Peete never played in

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

.''
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

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

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

U.S. national team appearances

(winners),

Nissan Cup Nissan Cup (french: Coupe Nissan) was an ice hockey tournament for men's national teams, which was played in Switzerland between 1988 Nissan Cup, 1988-1994 Nissan Cup (November), 1994. Originally played in November, the tournament was later moved ...

: 1985 (winners), 1986

References

External links

Calvin Peete Award
* * *
Calvin Peete Golf Companies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peete, Calvin American male golfers African-American golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Detroit Golfers from Florida People from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 1943 births 2015 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people