Eddie Pearce (born March 16, 1952) 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 ...

. Pearce was born in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

and grew up in

Temple Terrace, Florida Temple Terrace is an incorporated city in northeastern Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, adjacent to Tampa. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 26,690. It is the third and smallest incorporated municipality in Hillsb ...

, where, as an infant, his first golf club was placed in his hands by the legendary

Babe Didrikson Zaharias Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball and track and field. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer Ol ...

. By the time he was 12, he was shooting in the 60s and was featured as a child prodigy in Professional Golfer Magazine. He attended C. Leon King High School in nearby

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

and was on the same high school golf team as

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 ...

veteran

Gary Koch Gary D. Koch (born November 21, 1952) is an American professional golfer, sportscaster and golf course designer, who formerly played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour. Early years Koch was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in ...

. As an amateur, Pearce won the Florida Boys Junior Championship for his age division in three straight years (1964–1966). He also won his age division at the "Future Masters" Tournament in seven straight years (1963–1969). Pearce then went on to win the 1968 U.S. Junior Amateur, the

Florida Open The Florida Open is the Florida state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is now organized by the Florida State Golf Association (FSGA). It has been played annually since 1942 at a variety of courses around the ...

in 1970 and was awarded a golf scholarship to

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

. In 1971, Pearce was one hole away from winning the

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 ...

when

Gary Cowan Gary Cowan (born October 28, 1938) is a Canadian golfer who has achieved outstanding results at the highest class in amateur competition. Biography Cowan was born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He began to play golf at the municipal golf course ...

holed a long iron shot from the rough for an eagle and the win. Pearce won the 1971

North and South Amateur The North and South Men's Amateur Golf Championship, commonly known as the North and South Amateur, is an annual golf tournament held since 1901 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA. An invitational tournament, participants are ...

. He was a two-time All-American at Wake Forest (third team in 1971 and second team in 1972). He left after his sophomore year and turned pro, with many experts calling him the "next Jack Nicklaus." Pearce played on the PGA Tour from 1974 to 1981 and again in 1993. He also played on the

Ben Hogan Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

(now Web.com Tour) in 1992. In 1974, the inaugural year of

The Players Championship The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as The PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The P ...

, Pearce finished in 9th place. In the 1976

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

, Pearce was two-under par after the first two rounds before ending up the tournament tied for 28th. Although he never won on the PGA Tour, Pearce had four runner-up finishes.GolfObserver.com statistical profile
/ref> In 1974, he finished second at the

Hawaiian Open The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian O ...

(behind

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

) and second at the

Tallahassee Open The Tallahassee Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1969 to 1989. It was played at Killearn Country Club in Tallahassee, Florida. It was founded in 1969 as the Tallahassee Open Invitational. From 1983 to 1985, it was part of the PGA ...

(behind Allen Miller). The following year, he finished second at the Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic (behind

Bob Murphy Robert, Rob, Bob or Bobby Murphy may refer to: Sports Ice hockey *Robert Ronald Murphy or Ron Murphy (1933–2014), Canadian ice hockey player * Bob Murphy (ice hockey) (born 1951), Canadian retired professional ice hockey player *Rob Murphy (ice ...

). Then in 1979, he finished second at the

San Antonio Texas Open The Texas Open, known as the Valero Texas Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played near San Antonio, Texas. It dates back years to 1922, when it was first called the Texas Open; San Antonio-based Val ...

(behind

Lou Graham Louis Krebs Graham (born January 7, 1938) is an American professional golfer who won six PGA Tour tournaments including the 1975 U.S. Open. Most of his wins were in the 1970s. Lou Graham was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He started playing g ...

). In 2002, Pearce tried to qualify for the

U.S. Senior Open The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five major championships in senior golf, introduced in 1980. It is administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and is recognized as a major championship by both the PGA Tour Champions and the Eu ...

but missed by one stroke and was named an alternate.

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

References

External links

*
Story about "Fast" Eddie Pearce's playing days
* ttp://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20066352,00.html People article about Pearce and Ben Crenshawbr>Article about Pearce's childhood golfing exploits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Eddie American male golfers Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from Florida Sportspeople from Fort Myers, Florida People from Temple Terrace, Florida Sportspeople from the Tampa Bay area 1952 births Living people

Results in major championships

See also

References

External links