Mark Calcavecchia

Mark Calcavecchia
Personal information
Full name	Mark John Calcavecchia
Nickname	Calc
Born	June 12, 1960 (1960-06-12) (age 51) Laurel, Nebraska
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	225 lb (102 kg; 16.1 st)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Career
College	University of Florida
Turned professional	1981
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	27
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	13
Asian Tour	1
PGA Tour of Australasia	1
Champions Tour	1
Other	11
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	2nd: 1988
U.S. Open	14th: 1986
The Open Championship	Won: 1989
PGA Championship	T4: 2001
Achievements and awards
Byron Nelson Award (Champions Tour)	2011

Mark John Calcavecchia (born June 12, 1960) is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he has won thirteen PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. Calcavecchia currently plays on the Champions Tour.

Early years

Calcavecchia was born in Laurel, Nebraska.^[1] While he was a teenager, his family moved from Nebraska to West Palm Beach, Florida in 1973.^[2] He attended North Shore High School in West Palm Beach, and won the Florida high school golf championship in 1977 while playing for the North Shore golf team.^[3] While playing in junior tournaments, Calcavecchia often competed against Jack Nicklaus' son, Jackie, and as a result began a lifelong friendship at the age of 14 with the legendary pro.^[4][5]

College career

He received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Buster Bishop and coach John Darr's Florida Gators men's golf teams in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1978 to 1980.^[6] Calcavecchia earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors in 1979.^[6]

Professional career

Calcavecchia turned professional in 1981 and joined the PGA Tour in 1982. Calcavecchia was at his best in the late 1980s. His most notable achievement was in 1989, when he won The Open Championship (the "British Open"), one of golf's four major championships, by besting Wayne Grady and Greg Norman in a four-hole playoff.^[7] Upon being awarded the Open's Claret Jug, Calcavecchia (whose Italian surname translates as "old crowd") asked "How's my name going to fit on that thing?"^[8] That year was his only multiple-win season on the PGA Tour, with two other titles complementing the Open. He also finished second behind Sandy Lyle at the 1988 Masters Tournament by a single stroke.^[9]

Calcavecchia has won 13 times on the PGA Tour and 13 times in other professional events. He spent 109 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from 1988 to 1991.^[10] In winning the 2001 Phoenix Open, he set the Tour scoring record at that time by making 32 birdies in 72 holes finishing at 28 under par for the tournament. He has won the Phoenix Open three times (1989, 1992, 2001), and his margins of victory in the Phoenix tournament are also his three largest.

Calcavecchia was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2002. His performance in 1991 is most remembered, as he lost a four-stroke lead to Colin Montgomerie in the last four holes of his round. Thinking he had cost his team the victory, he broke down in tears—not knowing the U.S. team would still win.

On July 25, 2009, Calcavecchia set a PGA Tour record by getting nine consecutive birdies during his second round at the RBC Canadian Open at the Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. The birdies came on the 12th through 18th holes, and then on the first and second hole (he started his round on the 10th hole).^[11] The previous record of eight consecutive birdies was held by six golfers including J. P. Hayes, who was one of his partners at the time Calcavecchia achieved the new record.^[12]

Calcavecchia retired from the PGA Tour and joined the Champions Tour in 2010.^[5][13]

Personal

Calcavecchia has two children, Eric and Britney, with his previous wife Sheryl.^[4] He married Brenda Nardecchia on May 5, 2005 in Lake Como, Italy.^[14] Calcavecchia's principal home is Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, but he also owns a house in Phoenix, Arizona.^[5][2]

Professional wins (26)

PGA Tour wins (13)

Legend Major championships (1) Other PGA Tour (12)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Sep 28, 1986	Southwest Golf Classic	-13 (68–70–66–71=275)	3 strokes	Tom Byrum
2	Mar 8, 1987	Honda Classic	-9 (69–72–68–70=279)	3 strokes	Bernhard Langer, Payne Stewart
3	Sep 18, 1988	Bank of Boston Classic	-10 (71–67–70–66=274)	1 stroke	Don Pooley
4	Jun 22, 1989	Phoenix Open	-21 (66–68–65–64=263)	7 strokes	Chip Beck
5	Feb 5, 1989	Nissan Los Angeles Open	-12 (68–66–70–68=272)	1 stroke	Sandy Lyle
6	Jul 23, 1989	The Open Championship	-13 (71–68–68–68=275)	Playoff	Wayne Grady, Greg Norman
7	Jan 26, 1992	Phoenix Open	-20 (69–65–67–63=264)	5 strokes	Duffy Waldorf
8	May 7, 1995	BellSouth Classic	-17 (67–69–69–66=271)	2 strokes	Jim Gallagher, Jr.
9	Aug 24, 1997	Greater Vancouver Open	-19 (68–66–65–66=265)	1 stroke	Andrew Magee
10	Mar 15, 1998	Honda Classic	-18 (70–67–68–65=270)	3 strokes	Vijay Singh
11	Jan 28, 2001	Phoenix Open	-28 (65–60–64–67=256)	8 strokes	Rocco Mediate
12	Sep 11, 2005	Bell Canadian Open	-5 (65–67–72–71=275)	1 stroke	Ben Crane, Ryan Moore
13	Mar 11, 2007	PODS Championship	-10 (75–67–62–70=274)	1 stroke	John Senden, Heath Slocum

Other wins (13)

• 1988 Australian Open
• 1989 Alfred Dunhill Cup (with Tom Kite and Curtis Strange), Spalding Invitational
• 1993 Argentine Open
• 1995 Argentine Open, Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (with Steve Elkington)
• 1997 Subaru Sarazen World Open
• 1999 Diners Club Matches (with Fred Couples)
• 2001 CVS Charity Classic (with Nick Price), Hyundai Team Matches (with Fred Couples)
• 2003 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with John Daly and Peter Jacobsen)
• 2004 Maekyung Open (Asian Tour)
• 2007 Merrill Lynch Shootout (with Woody Austin)

Champions Tour wins (1)

• 2011 Boeing Classic

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runners-up
1989	The Open Championship	3 shot deficit	−13 (71–68–68–68=275)	Playoff1	Wayne Grady, Greg Norman

¹Shot 13 (4–3–3–3) in a four hole playoff to defeat Wayne Grady (4–4–4–4=16) and Greg Norman (3-3-4-x).

Results timeline

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	DNP	T17	2	T31
U.S. Open	14	T17	T62	T61
The Open Championship	DNP	T11	CUT	1
PGA Championship	DNP	CUT	T17	DNP

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	T20	T12	T31	T17	CUT	T41	T15	T17	T16	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT	T37	T33	T25	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	CUT	CUT	T28	T14	T11	T24	T41	T10	T35	CUT
PGA Championship	CUT	T32	T48	T31	CUT	CUT	T36	T23	T44	T61

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
The Masters	DNP	T4	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	T20	CUT	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	T24	CUT	T20	T20	DNP	CUT	DNP	WD	DNP
The Open Championship	T26	T54	T80	CUT	T11	T60	T41	T23	CUT	T27
PGA Championship	T34	T4	7	T39	DQ	T70	WD	CUT	T63	DNP

Tournament	2010	2011
The Masters	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	73	CUT
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP

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

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1987, 1989 (tie), 1991 (winners), 2002
• Presidents Cup: 1998
• Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1989 (winners), 1990

See also

	Biography portal
	Golf portal

• Florida Gators
• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• List of Florida Gators golfers

References

1. ^ PGATour.com, Players, Mark Calcavecchia. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
2. ^ ^{a b} Tim Rosaforte, "My Town: Mark Calcavecchia," Golf Digest (February 1, 2010). Retrieved July 16, 2011.
3. ^ FHSAA Boys Golf 2010–11 Championship Records, Florida High School Athletic Association, Tallahassee, Florida, p. 5 (2010). Retrieved July 15, 2011.
4. ^ ^{a b} Jaime Diaz, "Regular Guy: Want a candid opinion? Brace yourself for straight talk from Mark Calcavecchia," Golf Digest (August 2002). Retrieved July 15, 2011.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Edgar Thompson, "Mark Calcavecchia, a Palm Beach Gardens resident, will leave PGA Tour to focus on Champions events," The Palm Beach Post (May 25, 2010). Retrieved July 15, 2011.
6. ^ ^{a b} Florida Men's Golf 2011 Media Supplement, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 28, 34, 39, 41 (2010). Retrieved July 11, 2011.
7. ^ Gordon S. White, Jr., "Calcavecchia Wins British Open in 3-way Playoff," The New York Times (July 24, 1989). Retrieved July 15, 2011.
8. ^ Jim Apfelbaum, ed., The Gigantic Book of Golf Quotations, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., New York, New York (2007). Retrieved July 15, 2011.
9. ^ Bob Harig, "Lyle still relishes memory of Masters-winning bunker shot," ESPN.com (April 5, 2008). Retrieved July 16, 2011.
10. ^ Official World Golf Rankings, Archives, "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking." Retrieved July 15, 2011.
11. ^ "Calcavecchia sets birdie record," BBC Sport (July 26, 2009). Retrieved July 15, 2011.
12. ^ Associated Press, "Calcavecchia sets record with nine straight birdies." PGATour.com (July 25, 2009). Retrieved July 15, 2011.
13. ^ Associated Press, "Calcavecchia ready for Champions Tour debut," Golf.com (Jun 25, 2010). Retrieved July 15, 2011.
14. ^ "Mark Calcavecchia is late for his wedding," Golf Today (Undated May 2005). Retrieved July 15, 2011.

External links

• Mark Calcavecchia at the PGA Tour official site
• Mark Calcavecchia at Gaylord Sports

Persondata
Name	Calcavecchia, Mark
Alternative names	Calcavecchia, Mark John; Calcavecchia, Mark J.
Short description	American college golfer, professional golfer, PGA Tour member, British Open champion, Champions Tour member
Date of birth	June 12, 1960
Place of birth	Laurel, Nebraska, United States
Date of death
Place of death