Tom Kite

Tom Kite
— Golfer —

Personal information
Full name	Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr.
Born	(1949-12-09) December 9, 1949 McKinney, Texas
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	170 lb (77 kg; 12 st)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Austin, Texas
Career
College	University of Texas
Turned professional	1972
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	38
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	19
European Tour	2
Champions Tour	10
Other	7
Best results in major championships (Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	2nd/T2: 1983, 1986, 1997
U.S. Open	Won: 1992
The Open Championship	T2: 1978
PGA Championship	T4: 1981, 1988
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2004 (member page)
PGA Tour leading money winner	1981, 1989
PGA Player of the Year	1989
GWAA Male Player of the Year	1989
Vardon Trophy	1981, 1982
Byron Nelson Trophy	1981, 1982
Bob Jones Award	1979

Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr. (born December 9, 1949) is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1989 and 1994.^[1]

Kite was born in McKinney, Texas. He began playing golf at age six, and won his first tournament at age 11. Kite attended the University of Texas on a golf scholarship and was coached by Harvey Penick. He turned professional in 1972 and has been a consistent money winner ever since. Known for his innovation, he was the first to add a third wedge to his bag, one of the first players to use a sports psychologist, and one of the first to emphasize physical fitness for game improvement. He also underwent laser eye surgery, due to his partial blindness,^[2] in a bid to improve his game late in his career.

He has 19 PGA Tour victories, including the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He competed on seven Ryder Cup squads (1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1993) and served as the 1997 captain. Kite holds a unique record of making the cut for the first four U.S. Opens held at Pebble Beach: 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2000. Kite also shares the distinction (with Gene Littler) of playing in the most Masters Tournaments without a win.^[3]

In 1989 he was named PGA of America Player of the Year; in 1981 the Golf Writers Association Player of the Year, the Vardon Trophy winner in 1981 and 1982, Bob Jones Award recipient in 1979 and Golf Digest Rookie of the Year in 1973.

Kite was the first in Tour history to reach $6 million, $7 million, $8 million, and $9 million in career earnings. He was the Tour's leading money-winner in 1981 and 1989. In his prime Kite had few peers with the short irons. In 1993, Johnny Miller referred to Kite as "the greatest short-iron player the game has seen."^[4]

His 16th and 17th PGA Tour victories were on Mother's Day and Father's Day in 1992.

In 2005 he led the PGA Tour's Booz Allen Classic by one shot going into the final round at the age of 55. If he had been able to stay ahead he would have beaten Sam Snead's record as the oldest winner on the PGA Tour by three years, but he fell away to finish tied 13th, seven shots behind Sergio García.

Kite currently plays the over 50s Champions Tour, where he has ten victories including one senior major, The Countrywide Tradition. At the 2012 U.S. Senior Open, Kite shot a front nine 28 (seven under par) in the first round. This was the lowest nine-hole score ever recorded in any USGA championship.^[5]^[6] He finished the tournament tied for 12th.

Kite has added golf course designer to his résumé and has successfully completed several golf courses in collaboration with Bob Cupp, Randy Russell and Roy Bechtol. Completed golf courses include Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey; Comanche Trace in Kerrville, Texas; Somersett Country Club in Reno, Nevada; Gaillardia Golf & Country Club in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and the Legends on LBJ in Kingsland, Texas.

Kite was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.^[7]

Amateur wins (1)

1972 NCAA Championship (individual; tie with Ben Crenshaw)

Professional wins (38)

PGA Tour wins (19)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jun 6, 1976	IVB-Bicentennial Golf Classic	−6 (71-70-70-66=277)	Playoff	Terry Diehl
2	Sep 4, 1978	B.C. Open	−17 (66-65-68-68=267)	5 strokes	Mark Hayes
3	Mar 8, 1981	American Motors Inverrary Classic	−14 (69-68-68-69=274)	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
4	Mar 7, 1982	Bay Hill Classic	−6 (69-70-70-69=278)	Playoff	Jack Nicklaus, Denis Watson
5	Feb 6, 1983	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	−12 (69-72-62-73=276)	2 strokes	Rex Caldwell, Calvin Peete
6	Mar 11, 1984	Doral-Eastern Open	−16 (68-69-70-65=272)	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
7	Jun 24, 1984	Georgia-Pacific Atlanta Golf Classic	−19 (69-67-66-67=269)	5 strokes	Don Pooley
8	May 5, 1985	MONY Tournament of Champions	−16 (68-66-66-64=264)	6 strokes	Mark McCumber
9	Aug 3, 1986	Western Open	−18 (66-70-65-69=270)	Playoff	Fred Couples, David Frost, Nick Price
10	Jun 7, 1987	Kemper Open	−14 (64-69-68-69=270)	7 strokes	Chris Perry, Howard Twitty
11	Mar 12, 1989	Nestle Invitational	−6 (68-72-67-71=278)	Playoff	Davis Love III
12	Mar 19, 1989	The Players Championship	−9 (69-70-69-71=279)	1 stroke	Chip Beck
13	Oct 29, 1989	Nabisco Championship	−8 (69-65-74-68=276)	Playoff	Payne Stewart
14	Aug 5, 1990	Federal Express St. Jude Classic	−15 (72-68-62-67=269)	Playoff	John Cook
15	Jan 6, 1991	Infiniti Tournament of Champions	−16 (68-67-68-69=272)	1 stroke	Lanny Wadkins
16	May 10, 1992	BellSouth Classic	−16 (70-65-72-65=272)	3 strokes	Jay Don Blake
17	Jun 21, 1992	U.S. Open	−3 (71-72-70-72=285)	2 strokes	Jeff Sluman
18	Feb 14, 1993	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	−35 (67-67-64-65-62=325)	6 strokes	Rick Fehr
19	Feb 28, 1993	Nissan Los Angeles Open	−6 (67-69-70-72=278)	3 strokes	Dave Barr, Fred Couples, Donnie Hammond, Payne Stewart

PGA Tour playoff record (6–4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1976	IVB-Bicentennial Golf Classic	Terry Diehl	Won with par on fifth extra hole
2	1982	Bob Hope Desert Classic	Ed Fiori	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
3	1982	Bay Hill Classic	Jack Nicklaus, Denis Watson	Won with birdie on first extra hole
4	1986	Western Open	Fred Couples, David Frost, Nick Price	Won with birdie on first extra hole
5	1988	Kemper Open	Morris Hatalsky	Lost to par on second extra hole
6	1988	Nabisco Championship	Curtis Strange	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
7	1989	Nestle Invitational	Davis Love III	Won with par on second extra hole
8	1989	Nabisco Championship	Payne Stewart	Won with par on second extra hole
9	1990	Federal Express St. Jude Classic	John Cook	Won with birdie on first extra hole
10	1992	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	John Cook, Rick Fehr, Mark O'Meara, Gene Sauers	Cook won with eagle on fourth extra hole Fehr eliminated with birdie on second hole Kite and O'Meara eliminated with birdie on first hole

European Tour wins (2)

Other wins (7)

1974 Air New Zealand Open
1981 JCPenney Mixed Team Classic (with Beth Daniel)
1987 Kirin Cup (individual)
1989 Alfred Dunhill Cup (team)
1992 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Billy Andrade), Franklin Funds Shark Shootout (with Davis Love III)
1996 Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (with Jay Haas)

Champions Tour wins (10)

Legend
Champions Tour major championships (1)
Other Champions Tour (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Apr 2, 2000	The Countrywide Tradition	−8 (68-70-71-71=280)	Playoff	Larry Nelson, Tom Watson
2	Jun 11, 2000	SBC Senior Open	−9 (71-68-68=207)	2 strokes	Bruce Fleisher
3	Sep 30, 2001	Gold Rush Classic	−22 (65-62-67=194)	1 stroke	Allen Doyle
4	Jan 20, 2002	MasterCard Championship	−17 (63-69-67=199)	6 strokes	John Jacobs
5	Mar 3, 2002	SBC Senior Classic	−4 (74-69-69=212)	Playoff	Tom Watson
6	Oct 13, 2002	Napa Valley Championship	−12 (66-66-72=204)	1 stroke	Bruce Fleisher, Fred Gibson
7	Aug 8, 2004	3M Championship	−13 (65-69-69=203)	1 stroke	Craig Stadler
8	Mar 12, 2006	AT&T Classic	−12 (70-64-70=204)	5 strokes	Gil Morgan
9	Aug 20, 2006	Boeing Greater Seattle Classic	−15 (71-64-66=201)	Playoff	Keith Fergus
10	Aug 24, 2008	Boeing Classic	−14 (69-67-66=202)	2 strokes	Scott Simpson

Champions Tour playoff record (3–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2000	The Countrywide Tradition	Larry Nelson, Tom Watson	Won with birdie on sixth extra hole Nelson eliminated with par on second hole
2	2002	SBC Senior Classic	Tom Watson	Won with par on second extra hole
3	2006	Boeing Greater Seattle Classic	Keith Fergus	Won with birdie on first extra hole
4	2007	Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf	Jay Haas	Lost to par on first extra hole
5	2008	ACE Group Classic	Brad Bryant, Scott Hoch, Tom Jenkins	Hoch won with birdie on first extra hole

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1992	U.S. Open	1 shot deficit	−3 (71-72-70-72=285)	2 strokes	Jeff Sluman

Results timeline

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament	DNP	T42	T27	DNP	DNP	T10	T5	T3	T18	5
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	T19	DNP	T8	CUT	CUT	T27	T20	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T5	DNP	T2	T30
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T39	T33	T13	T13	CUT	T35

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	T6	T5	T5	T2	T6	CUT	T2	T24	44	T18
U.S. Open	CUT	T20	29	T20	CUT	13	T35	T46	T36	T9
The Open Championship	T27	DNP	CUT	T29	T22	T8	CUT	T72	T20	T19
PGA Championship	T20	T4	T9	T67	T34	T12	T26	T10	T4	T34

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	T14	56	DNP	CUT	4	CUT	CUT	2	38	DNP
U.S. Open	T56	T37	1	CUT	T33	T67	T82	T68	T43	T60
The Open Championship	CUT	T44	T19	T14	T8	T58	T27	T10	T38	DNP
PGA Championship	T40	T52	T21	T56	T9	T54	CUT	5	CUT	CUT

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T32	T5	CUT	CUT	T57
The Open Championship	T70	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T19	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	3	1	9	12	16	26	21
U.S. Open	1	0	0	1	3	9	33	24
The Open Championship	0	1	0	2	5	10	22	19
PGA Championship	0	0	0	3	6	12	28	23
Totals	1	4	1	15	26	47	109	87

Most consecutive cuts made – 15 (1986 PGA – 1990 U.S. Open)
Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (four times)

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runners-up
2000	The Countrywide Tradition	−8 (66-71-71-72=280)	Playoff¹	Larry Nelson, Tom Watson

¹Kite won with birdie on sixth extra hole; Nelson eliminated with par on second hole^[8]

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2014.

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
The Tradition	1	T24	T7	T2	T4	T36	T4	T4	T18	T11
Senior PGA Championship	T2	T23	T15	T10	T121	T10	T40	T7	T13	T14
Senior Players Championship	6	T10	T10	T2	T7	T39	T9	T25	T21	T47
U.S. Senior Open	3	15	3	T12	T3	T37	T55	T22	T12	CUT
Senior British Open Championship	–	–	–	4	T2	CUT	T10	T10	T16	T8

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
The Tradition	T54	15	T47	T60	T59	72
Senior PGA Championship	T29	CUT	CUT	T28	CUT	CUT
Senior Players Championship	T16	T17	52	T27	79	DNP
U.S. Senior Open	T8	T29	T12	T44	T14	DNP
Senior British Open Championship	DNP	T49	T24	T14	DNP	DNP

Note: The Senior British Open was not a Champions Tour major until 2003.
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Eisenhower Trophy: 1970 (winners)
Walker Cup: 1971

Professional

Ryder Cup: 1979 (winners), 1981 (winners), 1983 (winners), 1985, 1987, 1989 (tie), 1993 (winners), 1997 (captain)
World Cup: 1984, 1985
Dunhill Cup: 1989 (winners), 1990, 1992, 1994

References

↑ "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
↑ "Surgery has opened up a whole new world to Kite". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on October 10, 2011.
↑ "Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Master's". MSNBC. Associated Press. April 3, 2009. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012.
↑ "Short-iron specialist Kite surges past the $8m mark". The Herald. March 1, 1993. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
↑ Kupelian, Vartan (July 12, 2012). "Kite rewrites USGA record books with front-nine 28". PGA Tour. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
↑ "2012 USGA Media Guide: USGA Superlatives" (PDF). USGA. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
↑ "Which players will reach the HOF?". ESPN. April 18, 2007.
↑ Arkush, Michael (April 3, 2000). "Kite Wins in 6th Hole of Playoff". The New York Times.

External links

Tom Kite at the PGA Tour official site
Tom Kite at the European Tour official site
about.com profile
Tom Kite Design

U.S. Open champions

1895 Horace Rawlins 1896 James Foulis 1897 Joe Lloyd 1898 Fred Herd 1899 Willie Smith 1900 Harry Vardon 1901 Willie Anderson† 1902 Laurie Auchterlonie 1903 Willie Anderson† 1904 Willie Anderson 1905 Willie Anderson 1906 Alex Smith 1907 Alec Ross 1908 Fred McLeod† 1909 George Sargent 1910 Alex Smith† 1911 John McDermott† 1912 John McDermott 1913 Francis Ouimet#† 1914‡ Walter Hagen 1915 Jerome Travers# 1916 Chick Evans# 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I 1919 Walter Hagen† 1920 Ted Ray 1921‡ Jim Barnes 1922 Gene Sarazen 1923 Bobby Jones#† 1924 Cyril Walker 1925 Willie Macfarlane† 1926 Bobby Jones# 1927 Tommy Armour† 1928 Johnny Farrell† 1929 Bobby Jones#† 1930 Bobby Jones# 1931 Billy Burke† 1932 Gene Sarazen 1933 Johnny Goodman# 1934 Olin Dutra 1935 Sam Parks, Jr. 1936 Tony Manero 1937 Ralph Guldahl 1938 Ralph Guldahl 1939 Byron Nelson† 1940 Lawson Little† 1941 Craig Wood 1942–45 Cancelled due to World War II 1946 Lloyd Mangrum† 1947 Lew Worsham† 1948 Ben Hogan 1949 Cary Middlecoff 1950 Ben Hogan† 1951 Ben Hogan 1952 Julius Boros 1953‡ Ben Hogan 1954 Ed Furgol 1955 Jack Fleck† 1956 Cary Middlecoff 1957 Dick Mayer† 1958 Tommy Bolt 1959 Billy Casper 1960 Arnold Palmer 1961 Gene Littler 1962 Jack Nicklaus† 1963 Julius Boros† 1964 Ken Venturi 1965 Gary Player† 1966 Billy Casper† 1967 Jack Nicklaus 1968 Lee Trevino 1969 Orville Moody 1970‡ Tony Jacklin 1971 Lee Trevino† 1972 Jack Nicklaus 1973 Johnny Miller 1974 Hale Irwin 1975 Lou Graham† 1976 Jerry Pate 1977 Hubert Green 1978 Andy North 1979 Hale Irwin 1980 Jack Nicklaus 1981 David Graham 1982 Tom Watson 1983 Larry Nelson 1984 Fuzzy Zoeller† 1985 Andy North 1986 Raymond Floyd 1987 Scott Simpson 1988 Curtis Strange† 1989 Curtis Strange 1990 Hale Irwin† 1991 Payne Stewart† 1992 Tom Kite 1993 Lee Janzen 1994 Ernie Els† 1995 Corey Pavin 1996 Steve Jones 1997 Ernie Els 1998 Lee Janzen 1999 Payne Stewart 2000‡ Tiger Woods 2001 Retief Goosen† 2002‡ Tiger Woods 2003 Jim Furyk 2004 Retief Goosen 2005 Michael Campbell 2006 Geoff Ogilvy 2007 Ángel Cabrera 2008 Tiger Woods† 2009 Lucas Glover 2010 Graeme McDowell 2011‡ Rory McIlroy 2012 Webb Simpson 2013 Justin Rose 2014‡ Martin Kaymer 2015 Jordan Spieth

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur

The Tradition champions

1989 Don Bies 1990 Jack Nicklaus 1991 Jack Nicklaus 1992 Lee Trevino 1993 Tom Shaw 1994 Raymond Floyd† 1995 Jack Nicklaus† 1996 Jack Nicklaus 1997 Gil Morgan 1998 Gil Morgan 1999 Graham Marsh 2000 Tom Kite† 2001 Doug Tewell 2002 Jim Thorpe† 2003 Tom Watson 2004 Craig Stadler 2005 Loren Roberts† 2006 Eduardo Romero† 2007 Mark McNulty 2008 Fred Funk 2009 Mike Reid† 2010 Fred Funk 2011 Tom Lehman† 2012 Tom Lehman 2013 David Frost 2014 Kenny Perry 2015 Jeff Maggert†

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

PGA and PGA Tour Players of the Year

PGA Players of the Year

PGA Tour Players of the Year

Tom Kite in the Ryder Cup

United States Ryder Cup captains

United States Ryder Cup team – 1979

Andy Bean Lee Elder Hubert Green Mark Hayes Hale Irwin Tom Kite John Mahaffey Gil Morgan Larry Nelson Lee Trevino Lanny Wadkins Fuzzy Zoeller Billy Casper (non-playing captain)

Won: 17 – 11

United States Ryder Cup team – 1981

Ben Crenshaw Raymond Floyd Hale Irwin Tom Kite Bruce Lietzke Johnny Miller Larry Nelson Jack Nicklaus Jerry Pate Bill Rogers Lee Trevino Tom Watson Dave Marr (non-playing captain)

Won: 18.5 – 9.5

United States Ryder Cup team – 1983

Ben Crenshaw Raymond Floyd Bob Gilder Jay Haas Tom Kite Gil Morgan Calvin Peete Craig Stadler Curtis Strange Lanny Wadkins Tom Watson Fuzzy Zoeller Jack Nicklaus (non-playing captain)

Won: 14.5 – 13.5

United States Ryder Cup team – 1985

Raymond Floyd Hubert Green Peter Jacobsen Tom Kite Andy North Mark O'Meara Calvin Peete Craig Stadler Curtis Strange Hal Sutton Lanny Wadkins Fuzzy Zoeller Lee Trevino (non-playing captain)

Lost: 11.5 – 16.5

United States Ryder Cup team – 1987

Andy Bean Mark Calcavecchia Ben Crenshaw Tom Kite Larry Mize Larry Nelson Dan Pohl Scott Simpson Payne Stewart Curtis Strange Hal Sutton Lanny Wadkins Jack Nicklaus (non-playing captain)

Lost: 13 – 15

United States Ryder Cup team – 1989

Paul Azinger Chip Beck Mark Calcavecchia Fred Couples Ken Green Tom Kite Mark McCumber Mark O'Meara Payne Stewart Curtis Strange Lanny Wadkins Tom Watson Raymond Floyd (non-playing captain)

Tied: 14 – 14

United States Ryder Cup team – 1993

Paul Azinger Chip Beck John Cook Fred Couples Raymond Floyd Jim Gallagher, Jr. Lee Janzen Tom Kite Davis Love III Corey Pavin Payne Stewart Lanny Wadkins Tom Watson (non-playing captain)

Won: 15 – 13

United States Ryder Cup team – 1997

Fred Couples Brad Faxon Jim Furyk Scott Hoch Lee Janzen Tom Lehman Justin Leonard Davis Love III Jeff Maggert Phil Mickelson Mark O'Meara Tiger Woods Tom Kite (non-playing captain)

Lost: 13.5 – 14.5

Players Championship champions

1974 Jack Nicklaus 1975 Al Geiberger 1976 Jack Nicklaus 1977 Mark Hayes 1978 Jack Nicklaus 1979 Lanny Wadkins 1980 Lee Trevino 1981 Raymond Floyd† 1982 Jerry Pate 1983 Hal Sutton 1984 Fred Couples 1985 Calvin Peete 1986 John Mahaffey 1987 Sandy Lyle† 1988 Mark McCumber 1989 Tom Kite 1990 Jodie Mudd 1991 Steve Elkington 1992 Davis Love III 1993 Nick Price 1994 Greg Norman 1995 Lee Janzen 1996 Fred Couples 1997 Steve Elkington 1998 Justin Leonard 1999 David Duval 2000 Hal Sutton 2001 Tiger Woods 2002 Craig Perks 2003 Davis Love III 2004 Adam Scott 2005 Fred Funk 2006 Stephen Ames 2007 Phil Mickelson 2008 Sergio García† 2009 Henrik Stenson 2010 Tim Clark 2011 K. J. Choi† 2012 Matt Kuchar 2013 Tiger Woods 2014 Martin Kaymer 2015 Rickie Fowler†

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

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Tom Kite

Amateur wins (1)

Professional wins (38)

PGA Tour wins (19)

European Tour wins (2)

Other wins (7)

Champions Tour wins (10)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Summary

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

U.S. national team appearances

See also

References

External links