Garrett Michael Willis (born November 21, 1973) 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 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 k ...

and the

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental golf tour, 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 tha ...

. Willis was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. He attended

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...

where he was 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 wi ...

team, a first-team All-American his senior year. He won the

Canadian Amateur Championship The Canadian Amateur Championship, begun in 1895, is the men's amateur golf championship of Canada. It is staged annually by Golf Canada. It was played at match play until 1968, went to stroke play beginning in 1969, and reverted to match play in 1 ...

in 1995. He graduated and turned professional in 1996. Willis began his career in professional golf playing on the Hooters Tour and in selected international events. He then moved up to the BUY.COM Tour (the precursor of the Nationwide Tour). Willis made his debut on the PGA Tour at the

Touchstone Energy Tucson Open The Tucson Open was a golf tournament in Arizona on the PGA Tour from 1945 to 2006, played annually in the winter in Tucson. It was last held at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort in late February, with a $3 million purse and a $540,000 winner ...

in 2001, and became the fourth Tour player to win in his first start as a member joining

Marty Fleckman Martin Alan Fleckman (born April 23, 1944) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Port Arthur, Texas, Fleckman credits Byron Nelson, Carl Lohren, and Jim Hardy with teaching him how to play g ...

(1967),

Ben Crenshaw Ben Daniel Crenshaw (born January 11, 1952) is a retired American professional golfer who has won 19 events on the PGA Tour, including two major championships: the Masters Tournament in 1984 and 1995. He is nicknamed ''Gentle Ben''. Professiona ...

(1973) and

Robert Gamez Robert Anthony Gamez (born July 21, 1968) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. Gamez was born in Las Vegas, and is of Mexican descent. He attended the University of Arizona where he was a member of the golf team ...

(1990). In recent years, Willis has split his playing time between the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He posted a Nationwide Tour victory in 2005 at the

Envirocare Utah Classic The Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank is a professional golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour, played at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Utah. One of the original tournaments of the 1990 Ben Hogan Tour as the Utah Classic, the tour ...

. He came close to winning again on the Nationwide Tour in 2007, when he and

Justin Bolli Justin Bolli (born March 18, 1976) is an American professional golfer. who has played on the PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour. Bolli was born in Portland, Oregon. Bolli started playing on the Nationwide Tour (now Web.com Tour) full-time in 2004 an ...

finished tied for second, a single stroke behind

Jay Williamson Justin Arch "Jay" Williamson IV (born February 7, 1967) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. Williamson was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Trinity College and was a member of the ...

in the

Fort Smith Classic The Fort Smith Classic was a golf tournament on the Nationwide Tour. It is held each year at Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith, Arkansas. It was the only annual PGA Tour event in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The 2010 purse was a record $52 ...

. Willis won again in 2009 on the Nationwide Tour at the

WNB Golf Classic The WNB Golf Classic was a professional golf tournament in the United States on the Web.com Tour. It was played annually at the Midland Country Club in Midland, Texas, and the title sponsor was Western National Bank. It debuted in 1992 as the Be ...

by one stroke over

Chad Collins Chad Steven Collins (born September 20, 1978) is an American professional golfer. Collins was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He graduated from Methodist College in 2001 with a degree in Business Administration. While at Methodist, he won the ...

. He finished 12th on the money list to earn his 2010 PGA Tour card. Willis lives in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

with his wife, Jennifer. Willis last played a PGA Tour event in 2016.

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (1)

Nationwide Tour wins (2)

Nationwide Tour playoff record (0–1)

Other wins (5)

*1996 Decatur Dailey Hooters Tour Championship (

NGA Hooters Tour SwingThought, formerly the NGA Pro Golf Tour, is the oldest developmental golf tour based in the United States. The tour was acquired by Golf Interact in 2014 and rebranded as SwingThought. The tour consists of around 25 professional golf tourna ...

) *1997 Panama Open *2000

Tennessee Open The Tennessee Open is the Tennessee state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Tennessee Golf Association. It has been played annually since 1949 at a variety of courses around the state. Winn ...

*2013

*2015

Results in major championships

''Note: Willis only played in the U.S. Open.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Garrett American male golfers East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Charlotte, North Carolina Golfers from Knoxville, Tennessee 1973 births Living people