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Ken Green (golfer)

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For other people named Ken Green, see Ken Green (disambiguation).
Ken Green
Green in 2010
Personal information
Full nameKenneth J. Green
Born (1958-07-23) July 23, 1958 (age 66)
Danbury, Connecticut, U.S.
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceWest Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Career
CollegePalm Beach Junior College
University of Florida
Turned professional1979
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins11
Highest ranking15 (February 12, 1989)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour5
Japan Golf Tour1
Other5
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT11: 1989
PGA ChampionshipT16: 1991
U.S. OpenT7: 1996
The Open ChampionshipT29: 1987
Achievements and awards
Champions Tour
Comeback Player of the Year		2010

Kenneth J. Green (born July 23, 1958) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, the Nationwide Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. Green has won eleven tournaments as a pro, including five PGA Tour events and played on the U.S. team in the 1989 Ryder Cup. He is also known for returning to competition after losing his right leg in a 2009 RV accident.

Early life

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Green was born in Danbury, Connecticut. He started playing golf at age 12 in Honduras, where his father, Martin "Marty" Green, was principal of the American school, and his only choices of sports were golf or soccer. He quit school at 16 to pursue his dream of becoming a professional tour player. He received his GED in December 1976.

Amateur career

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Green later attended Palm Beach Junior College in Lake Worth, Florida for a year. He then accepted 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 team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1977 to 1979.[2] Green was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in 1979.[2]

Professional career

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Green turned pro in 1979 and joined the PGA Tour in 1980. He had five tournament victories on the PGA Tour; all five came in the mid to late 1980s. His first win came in 1985 at the Buick Open, and his last was at the Kmart Greater Greensboro Open in 1989. His best year in professional golf was 1988, when he won two events on the PGA Tour, as well as the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan. His best finish in a major was a seventh-place tie at the 1996 U.S. Open. Green also played on the U.S. team in the 1989 Ryder Cup.

During his time in professional golf, Green has had a reputation for rebelliousness and a propensity to pull stunts. He has had over two dozen fines levied by the PGA Tour for his bad boy antics. Some of his antics included sneaking friends into The Masters in the trunk of his car, drinking beer on the course while playing with Arnold Palmer at the 1997 Masters, and hitting golf balls through narrow openings in sliding-glass doors. Other fines were for more mundane offenses like swearing on the course, criticizing officials, and signing autographs while playing. His personal problems—divorces, gambling, clinical depression—led to near financial ruin, and affected his playing time and the quality of his play. In his 40s, Green had difficulty maintaining his PGA Tour playing privileges and was forced to play some on the Nationwide Tour.[3]

He has sometimes played tournament rounds dressed in green from head to toe, shoes included.

Green had 508 career starts on the PGA Tour, the last coming in 2006. He continues to compete in a limited number of Champions Tour events. In 2022, he was one of the participants in the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, a tournament for those with various impairments, held at Pinehurst Resort's No. 6 Course.

Personal life

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Green lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. He is the father of two sons, Ken Jr. and Hunter. He is an avid bowler who once rolled a 300 game.

In 2003, Green was reported to have jumped into a canal in Palm Beach County, Florida to save his German Shepherd dog, Nip, from the jaws of an alligator.[4]

In June 2009, Green was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident when his motor home left the road. Green was in his recreational vehicle traveling on Interstate 20 near Meridian, Mississippi, when the right front tire blew, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and go down a deep embankment before hitting a tree. The accident killed the passengers: William Green, his brother; Jeanne Hodgin, his girlfriend; and his dog, Nip. Even though his lower right leg was amputated as a result of injuries suffered in the accident, Green vowed to return to competitive golf.[5][6]

Green's estranged son Hunter died of a drug overdose in Dallas, Texas on January 22, 2010.[7]

In June 2019, Green released a self-published autobiography titled "Hunter of Hope: A Life Lived Inside, Outside and On the Ropes." In it, he revisits his life as a teen in Honduras, where, because of his alcoholic father's negligence, he was suffered years of sexual abuse by his father's friends. The golf course was a refuge from this abuse. He explains one reason for the book: "My plan has been simple: Use the adversity as my purpose and reason to live."[8]

Awards and honors

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In 2006, Green was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame.

Amateur wins

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this list may be incomplete

Professional wins (11)

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PGA Tour wins (5)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 Aug 18, 1985 Buick Open −20 (69-65-67-67=268) 4 strokes Australia Wayne Grady
2 Aug 17, 1986 The International 12 pts (8-4-7-12=12) 3 points West Germany Bernhard Langer
3 Sep 4, 1988 Canadian Open −13 (70-65-68-72=275) 1 stroke United States Bill Glasson, United States Scott Verplank
4 Sep 11, 1988 Greater Milwaukee Open −20 (70-69-61-68=268) 6 strokes United States Mark Calcavecchia, United States Jim Gallagher Jr.,
United States Donnie Hammond, United States Dan Pohl
5 Apr 23, 1989 KMart Greater Greensboro Open −11 (73-66-66-72=277) 2 strokes United States John Huston

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1988 KMart Greater Greensboro Open Scotland Sandy Lyle Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2 1988 Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic Spain Seve Ballesteros, South Africa David Frost,
Australia Greg Norman 		Ballesteros won with birdie on first extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 Nov 20, 1988 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament −15 (70-68-64-71=273) 2 strokes United States Fred Couples

Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runners-up
1 Feb 25, 1990 Martell Hong Kong Open −8 (66-67-72=205)* 4 strokes Canada Danny Mijovic, United States Brian Watts

*Note: The 1990 Martell Hong Kong Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.

Other wins (4)

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Results in major championships

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Tournament 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament 44 CUT T11
U.S. Open CUT T26 CUT T60 WD T31 T32 T46
The Open Championship T29 T61
PGA Championship T26 CUT CUT WD
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
Masters Tournament CUT T35 CUT
U.S. Open WD CUT CUT T7 CUT
The Open Championship CUT T49
PGA Championship T16 WD WD
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 3
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 1 13 6
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 2
Totals 0 0 0 0 1 3 30 14
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (1989 Masters – 1989 Open Championship)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
The Players Championship CUT T33 T24 CUT T21 T5 T27 DQ T6 CUT T61 T73
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

U.S. national team appearances

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 6 1989 Ending 12 Feb 1989" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Florida Men's Golf 2011 Media Supplement" (PDF). Gainesville, Florida: University Athletic Association. pp. 34, 39, 41. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  3. ^ McCleery, Peter (June 2003). "Into everyone's life a little Ken Green must fall". Golf Digest.
  4. ^ Kindred, Dave (December 2003). "Ken Green & Nip Take on a Gator". Golf Digest.
  5. ^ "Ken Green seriously injured in Mississippi RV accident". PGA Tour. Associated Press. June 9, 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  6. ^ Dolch, Craig (June 16, 2009). "Green begins recovery process after leg amputation". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  7. ^ Stoda, Greg (January 26, 2010). "Estranged son of local pro golfer Ken Green dies in his dorm room at SMU". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  8. ^ Green, Ken (July 9, 2019). "Ken Green's haunting secret". Golf Digest.
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