Paul David Goydos (born June 20, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has 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. ...

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

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 ...

Early life

Goydos was born and raised in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

and is the youngest of three brothers. He began golfing at a very young age, winning his local course championship while still in junior high school. He attended

Woodrow Wilson Classical High School Woodrow Wilson High School (colloquially known as Long Beach Wilson) is an American public high school located in Long Beach, California. This two-block campus is located approximately 1.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, across from the Recreation ...

, and went on to attend

Long Beach State University California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

on a golf scholarship. He graduated with a BA in finance and worked for a short time as a substitute teacher at an inner city high school. He turned pro in 1989 and started out as a struggling mini-tour player, supplementing his income by continuing to work as a substitute teacher.

Professional career

Paul Goydos won the 1990 Long Beach Open, which was his first big breakthrough in his professional career. This allowed him to attend Qualifying School that fall. He made the Finals and earned partial exempt status on the Ben Hogan Tour. In 1991 and 1992, he played on the

(now Korn Ferry Tour), earning one victory at the 1992 Ben Hogan Yuma Open. He earned his PGA Tour card for 1993 by going through

Qualifying School In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. Goydos won two PGA Tour events – the 1996

Bay Hill Invitational The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played each March at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, a private golf resort owned since 1974 by Arnold Palmer in Bay Hill, a suburb southwest of Orlando, Florida ...

and the 2007

Sony Open in Hawaii 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 ...

. He has amassed more than 40 top-10 finishes and has more than $12 million in career earnings (on the PGA Tour). His best finish in a major was a T-12 at the 1999 U.S. Open. Goydos had only two starts in 2004, both coming at the end of the year, because of sinus surgery and hip problems; he played in 2005 under a Major Medical Exemption. His victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2007 elevated Goydos into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Goydos lost in a playoff at

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 ...

in 2008 to

Sergio García Sergio García Fernández (; born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has played on the European Tour, PGA Tour and LIV Golf Invitational Series. García has won 36 international tournaments as a professional, most notably t ...

when he put his tee shot on the par-3 17th (the first playoff hole) in the water. During the first round of the 2010 John Deere Classic, Goydos became the fourth, and oldest player in PGA Tour history to shoot 59. His round included 12 birdies and 6 pars. Goydos played in six events in 2012 before bone spurs in his left wrist and subsequent surgery forced him out of action for 15 months. He missed the cut in two events in 2013. He started the 2014 season on a Major Medical Extension, but was unable to satisfy the requirements and was demoted to the Past Champions category. At the same time, Goydos became eligible for the Champions Tour.

PGA Tour Champions career

On September 21, 2014, he earned his first Champions Tour victory in the Pacific Links Hawai'i Championship with a tournament record score of 19-under-par. He became the eighth player to win on all the PGA Tour sponsored major tours (PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, and PGA Tour Champions). On February 8, 2015, he won his second Champions Tour event, the

Allianz Championship :''There was also a tournament by the same name now called the Principal Charity Classic'' The Boca Raton Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions. Since 2007 Champions Tour, 2007, it has been played at the Old Course at Broken ...

in Boca Raton, Florida. He finished his 2015 season with over 1 million dollars earned. On July 10, 2016, he won his third PGA Tour Champions event, the Dick's Sporting Goods Open in

Endicott, New York Endicott is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 13,392 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is named after Henry B. Endicott, a founding member of the End ...

. He shot 67-66-69, to win by two shots over Wes Short Jr. The signature shot for the tournament was his drive of the sub-300 yard, par-4 16th hole, in which on Saturday, his drive landed less than 10 feet from the hole and he would make the putt for an eagle 2. With this victory, in addition to earning a $300,000 first prize check, vaulted him to collect over 15 million dollars from his combined earnings on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. He won his fourth PGA Tour Champions event, the

Charles Schwab Cup Championship The Charles Schwab Cup Championship is the final event of the season on the U.S.-based PGA Tour Champions, the world's leading golf tour for male professionals aged 50 and above. Played in late October or early November each year, it is PGA Tour ...

by posting scores of 62-67-66 to hold off the late charges of

Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first official number one ran ...

and

Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999. He has won 31 European Tour events ...

. This win put him over the million dollar mark in earnings for the second consecutive year, and he finished the overall Charles Schwab Cup Championship points chase in third place. At the end of July 2017, Goydos had two top-10 finishes to his credit for the season. During the first round of the

3M Championship The 3M Championship was a professional golf tournament in Minnesota on the PGA Tour Champions, played annually at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, a suburb north of Minneapolis. Based in Saint Paul, 3M was the main sponsor of the tournament. I ...

, he shot a 2-under-par 70, but over the weekend, he had rounds of 60 (a course record) and 66 to finish at 20-under-par and in a tie with

Gene Sauers Gene Craig Sauers (born August 22, 1962) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour Champions. He had three wins on the PGA Tour and overcame a deadly skin condition that kept him off the golf course for five years. He ...

. Then on the first playoff hole, Sauers hit his second shot in the water and had to take a drop. With Goydos safely on in two shots, he two-putted for a birdie and his fifth win on the PGA Tour Champions. For his last 37 holes played, he shot 19-under-par. By the end of 2017, he had earned $878,168 for the season; which was good enough to finish in the top 20 of the 2017 PGA Tour Champions Tour money list (19 place overall). In the 2018 season, Goydos had a very solid year of performance which included seven top-10 finishes, amassing over 900,000 dollars earned, and finishing the Charles Schwab Cup standings in 12th place. As of the end of the 2018 season, he has earned just under five million dollars in his PGA Tour Champions career ($4,997,332). His 2019 season produced very similar results to 2018, with a total of eight top-10 finishes, his highest being at the

Regions Tradition The Tradition (known as the Regions Tradition for sponsorship reasons) is an event on the PGA Tour Champions. First staged in 1989, the PGA Tour recognizes the event as one of the five senior major golf championships. Unlike the U.S. Senior Ope ...

(tied for second place), and earning just under 950,000 dollars for the season, to finish in the top 25 of the Charles Schwab Cup standings. In 2020, he was limited to playing in only 11 events, however, two top-10 finishes late in the season at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic and the Charles Schwab Cup Championship allowed him to earn slightly over $300,000 for 2020. As this season also included the 2021 campaign, another top-ten finish at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, put his total for the 2020–21 combined season at over one million dollars, and he finished the season in 29th overall place in the Charles Schwab Cup standings. In addition, his PGA Tour Champions career earnings as of end of 2021, were very slightly more the seven million dollars. For the 2022 PGA Tour Champions season, Goydos continued playing at a constant level of success which included six top-10 finishes, highest being a tie for second at The TimberTech Championship, winnings of $868,875, (to bring his combined PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions total earnings over $20 million), and finishing the season in the top-20 of the Charles Schwab Cup standings (17th overall). For his PGA Tour Champions career, he has earned $7,877,716.

Ryder Cup

Goydos has not played in the Ryder Cup but was selected by U.S. team captain

Corey Pavin Corey Allen Pavin (born November 16, 1959) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and currently on the PGA Tour Champions. He spent over 150 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1986 and 1997 ...

as one of his vice-captains for the 2010 event.

Awards

Goydos was inducted into the inaugural class of the Long Beach Golf Hall of Fame in 1996 and was inducted into the Long Beach State 49er Athletic Hall of Fame the same year. The golf ball that was used when he shot 59 is at the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Goydos has two children, Chelsea and Courtney. Ex-wife Wendy (Medak) died of a possible drug overdose (pending toxicology report) while attempting to treat migraines in 2009.

Professional wins (10)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Ben Hogan Tour wins (1)

Other wins (2)

*1990

Long Beach Open The Long Beach Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It was held in Long Beach, California at the Virginia Country Club from 1926 to 1930 and at the Lakewood Country Club from 1949 to 1951. In 1957 the Long Beach Open was a PGA Satellite Eve ...

*1996 EA Sports Challenge Championship

PGA Tour Champions wins (5)

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–0)

Results in major championships

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

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (1996 PGA – 1999 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 0

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goydos, Paul American male golfers Long Beach State Beach men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfers from California Sportspeople from Long Beach, California Sportspeople from Orange County, California People from Rancho Santa Margarita, California Wilson Classical High School alumni 1964 births Living people