Edward Ray Fiori (born April 21, 1953) is 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 ...

who has 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 ...

and the

Champions Tour 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 years ...

. Fiori was born in Lynwood, California. As a youth, Fiori would sneak through a barbed wire fence to a nine-hole course near his

Downey, California Downey is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program. It is also the home of ...

home to practice his game. He attended the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

where he played on 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 wi ...

team. He turned pro in 1977 and joined the PGA Tour in 1978. Fiori won four tournaments on the PGA Tour. His first win was at the 1979

Southern Open The Southern Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1970 to 2002. It was played at the Green Island Country Club in Columbus, Georgia, from 1970 to 1990 and at the Callaway Gardens Resort (Mountain View Course), Pine Mountain, Georgia, ...

. His last victory at the 1996

Quad City Classic The John Deere Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in July, usually the week before The Open Championship, at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois. History The tournament bega ...

led to the postponement of his plans to retire from the game and become a charter-boat captain. Fiori's previous PGA tour victory was 14 years earlier, at the 1982

Bob Hope Desert Classic The Desert Classic (currently known as The American Express for sponsorship reasons; previously known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, Palm Springs Golf Classic, the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and the Humana Challen ...

.Zullo, Allan, "Astonishing but True Golf Facts", Andrew McMeels Publishing, Forest Fairview, North Carolina, 2001. Fiori's victory at Quad Cities denied a rookie

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 ...

his first title. This would be the only time in his career that Woods would fail to win with an outright 54-hole lead until Y. E. Yang outplayed him in the

2009 PGA Championship The 2009 PGA Championship was the 91st PGA Championship, held August 13–16 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, a suburb southwest of Minneapolis. Yang Yong-eun, more commonly referred to as "Y.E. Yang" in the U.S., won his firs ...

. At 5 feet 7 inches tall and 220 pounds, Fiori is a stocky man; and in recent years has been plagued with a host of weight-related health problems that have affected his play and limited his playing time, including spinal fusion surgery. Fiori is nicknamed "The Grip" because of his unusually strong grip on the club. He lives in the

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

suburb of Sugar Land, Texas.

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (4)

PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)

Other wins (2)

*1981 Southern California Open *1984

Jerry Ford Invitational The Jerry Ford Invitational was a celebrity pro-am golf tournament hosted by former President Gerald Ford. It was played in Vail, Colorado Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the tow ...

Champions Tour wins (1)

Champions Tour playoff record (1–0)

Results in major championships

''Note: Fiori 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 ...

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fiori, Ed American male golfers Houston Cougars men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfers from California Golfers from Texas People from Lynwood, California Sportspeople from Downey, California People from Sugar Land, Texas 1953 births Living people