Leonard Earl Mattiace (; born October 15, 1967) is an American professional golfer, formerly of 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 ...

and now playing on the

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 ...

. Mattiace was born in

Mineola, New York Mineola is a village in and the county seat of Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 18,799 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from an Algonquin Chief, Miniolagamika, which means "pleasant village". ...

. He attended Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, Florida. He graduated from

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 1990 with a degree in Sociology. While at Wake Forest, he played on the team that won the NCAA Division I Golf Championship in 1986. He turned pro later in 1990. Mattiace first gained notability when he surged into contention in the final round of the

1998 Players Championship The 1998 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 25th Players Championship. Five strokes back, Justin Leonard shot a final round 67 ...

. Trailing by one shot going into the par-3 17th hole, he hit his tee shot into the water, his third shot into a bunker, and his fourth shot into the water. He ended up with a quintuple-bogey 8 on the hole and finished in a tie for fifth, four strokes behind the eventual winner

Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He has twelve career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship. Early years Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Leonard graduated ...

. Mattiace's career year was 2002, when he earned wins at the

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 ...

(his 220th PGA Tour start) and the FedEx St. Jude Classic. In 2003, he contended in the Masters Tournament by shooting a 65 in the final round which put him into a playoff with

Mike Weir Michael Richard Weir, (born May 12, 1970) is a Canadian professional golfer. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He spent over 110 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 2001 and 2005. He plays golf left-handed ...

. On the first playoff hole, Mattiace found himself stymied by trees when his approach drifted offline. Weir needed only a bogey to secure the victory and Mattiace finished second, earning $648,000 in prize money. Shortly after the 2003 season, Mattiace's career was threatened by a skiing accident and torn ACLs in both knees. Mattiace was ranked as high as 24th in the Official World Golf Ranking, but was not fully exempt on the PGA Tour after 2005. He made his

debut in March 2018 at the Cologuard Classic. He currently resides in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. Mattiace is naturally left-handed but plays right-handed.

Amateur wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *1985 Southern Amateur

Professional wins (2)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

Results in major championships

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

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (2002 U.S. Open – 2003 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

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

Results in World Golf Championships

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

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)

References

External links

* * *
Len's Friends Foundation official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattiace, Len American male golfers Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from New York (state) Golfers from Jacksonville, Florida People from Mineola, New York 1967 births Living people