Lanny Wadkins

Lanny Wadkins
Personal information
Full name	Jerry Lanston Wadkins, Jr.
Nickname	Lanny
Born	December 5, 1949 (1949-12-05) Richmond, Virginia
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Nationality	United States
Career
College	Wake Forest University
Turned professional	1971
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour Champions Tour
Professional wins	30
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	21
Japan Golf Tour	1
Champions Tour	1
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	T3: 1990, 1991, 1993
U.S. Open	T2: 1986
The Open Championship	T4: 1984
PGA Championship	Won: 1977
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2009 (member page)
PGA Player of the Year	1985

Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins, Jr. (born December 5, 1949) is an American professional golfer. He ranked in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 86 weeks from their debut in 1986 to 1988.

Wadkins was born in Richmond, Virginia. He attended Wake Forest University. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1970 and turned professional in 1971. His first win on the PGA Tour arrived quickly at the 1972 Sahara Invitational in Las Vegas and he was later voted 1972 PGA Rookie of the Year. Two more wins followed in 1973 before his form dipped for three years. He bounced back to record his only major championship victory in the 1977 PGA Championship courtesy of a three hole sudden-death playoff at Pebble Beach Golf Links against Gene Littler. Although second in four subsequent major championships (U.S. Open 1986, PGA Championship 1982, 1984, 1987), this remained his only victory. On three occasions, he finished third in the Masters Tournament (1990, 1991, 1993). In The Open Championship, his best finish was fourth at St. Andrews in 1984. On the PGA Tour, he won The Players Championship at Sawgrass in 1979 and was voted PGA Player of the Year in 1985. Over his career, he picked up a win more seasons than not until 1992, when he achieved his twenty-first and final PGA Tour victory at the Canon Greater Hartford Open. He has also won in Australia, Canada, Japan and South America in his career. He played for the United States in the Ryder Cup eight times between 1977 and 1993, which ties the highest number of appearances in the competition by an American, alongside Raymond Floyd and Billy Casper. Wadkins collected 21½ points during his Ryder Cup career, one of the very best records on either side in the history of the competition. He also captained the team in 1995.

Wadkins began play on the Champions Tour in 2000, and picked up a win in his first event at the ACE Group Classic in a four-way playoff. As a senior, he divided his time between competition and broadcasting work with CBS Sports and did not become a regular winner at senior level. Wadkins worked as an analyst for CBS from 2002 until 2007 when he was replaced by Nick Faldo.

Wadkins was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009.

Wadkins' younger brother Bobby currently plays on the Champions Tour. Lanny has two children, Travis and Jessica, also Wake Forest alumni. In 2011, Travis played on the eGolf Tour and made it to the final stage of the PGA Tour's Qualifying School but failed to earn a card. Watkins has a nephew, Ron Whittaker, who is a professional golfer on the second-tier Nationwide Tour with 77 PGA Tour starts.

Amateur wins (5)

• 1968 Southern Amateur
• 1969 Eastern Amateur
• 1970 U.S. Amateur, Southern Amateur, Western Amateur

Professional wins (30)

PGA Tour wins (21)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Sep 12, 1972	Sahara Invitational	-15 (65-69-70-69=273)	1 stroke	Arnold Palmer
2	Apr 29, 1973	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	-3 (71-68-71-67=277)	Playoff	Dan Sikes
3	Aug 19, 1973	USI Classic	-9 (71-69-70-69=279)	2 strokes	Lee Elder, Tom Jenkins, Rik Massengale
4	Aug 14, 1977	PGA Championship	-6 (69-71-72-70=282)	Playoff	Gene Littler
5	Sep 5, 1977	World Series of Golf	-13 (69-69-66-67=271)	5 strokes	Hale Irwin, Tom Weiskopf
6	Feb 25, 1979	Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open	-8 (66-72-69-69=276)	1 strokes	Lon Hinkle
7	Mar 31, 1979	Tournament Players Championship	-5 (67-68-76-72=283)	5 strokes	Tom Watson
8	Jan 25, 1982	Phoenix Open	-21 (65-70-63-65=263)	6 strokes	Jerry Pate
9	Apr 18, 1982	MONY Tournament of Champions	-8 (67-72-68-73=280)	3 strokes	Andy Bean, David Graham, Craig Stadler, Ron Streck
10	Aug 22, 1982	Buick Open	-15 (66-71-71-65=273)	1 stroke	Tom Kite
11	Apr 3, 1983	Greater Greensboro Open	-13 (72-69-67-67=275)	5 strokes	Craig Stadler, Denis Watson
12	Jan 12, 1983	MONY Tournament of Champions	-8 (67-70-71-72=280)	1 stroke	Raymond Floyd
13	Jan 13, 1985	Bob Hope Classic	-27 (67-67-68-66-65=333)	Playoff	Craig Stadler
14	Jan 27, 1985	Los Angeles Open	-20 (63-70-67-64=264)	7 strokes	Hal Sutton
15	Oct 13, 1985	Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic	-21 (68-67-69-63=267)	3 strokes	Mike Donald, Scott Hoch
16	Mar 1, 1987	Doral-Ryder Open	-11 (75-66-66-70=277)	3 strokes	Seve Ballesteros, Tom Kite, Don Pooley
17	Feb 14, 1988	Hawaiian Open	-16 (68-71-66-66=271)	1 stroke	Richard Zokol
18	May 22, 1988	Colonial National Invitation	-9 (67-68-70-65=270)	2 strokes	Mark Calcavecchia, Ben Crenshaw, Joey Sindelar
19	Jul 8, 1990	Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic	-18 (65-66-67-68=266)	5 strokes	Larry Mize
20	Jan 20, 1991	United Hawaiian Open	-18 (69-67-69-65=270)	4 strokes	John Cook
21	Aug 2, 1992	Canon Greater Hartford Open	-6 (68-70-71-65=274)	2 strokes	Dan Forsman, Donnie Hammond, Nick Price

PGA Tour playoff record (3-3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1972	Phoenix Open	Homero Blancas	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2	1973	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Dan Sikes	Won with par on first extra hole
3	1977	PGA Championship	Gene Littler	Won with par on third extra hole
4	1983	Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open	Gil Morgan, Curtis Strange	Morgan won with birdie on second extra hole
5	1985	Bob Hope Classic	Craig Stadler	Won with birdie on fifth extra hole
6	1987	PGA Championship	Larry Nelson	Lost to par on first extra hole

Other wins (8)

• 1978 Victorian PGA Championship (Australia), Canadian PGA Championship
• 1979 Bridgestone Open (Japan Golf Tour)
• 1980 PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event)
• 1981 Caribbean Open (Colombia)
• 1984 World Nissan Championship (Japan)
• 1990 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Bobby Wadkins)
• 1991 Shark Shootout Benefiting RMCC (with Tom Purtzer)

Champions Tour wins (1)

• 2000 ACE Group Classic

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runner-up
1977	PGA Championship	6 shot deficit	-6 (69-71-72-70=282)	Playoff1	Gene Littler

¹Defeated Gene Littler with a par on the third extra hole.

Results timeline

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
The Masters	CUT	CUT	T19	T29	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	T18	T7
U.S. Open	DNP	T13	T25	T7	T26	T38	DNP	DNP	CUT	T19
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	T7	T22	CUT	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	T16	T3	CUT	DNP	CUT	1	T34	70

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	CUT	T21	T33	T8	CUT	T18	T31	T12	T11	T26
U.S. Open	CUT	T14	T6	7	T11	T5	T2	T36	T12	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	T29	T4	CUT	DNP	T29	T34	T26
PGA Championship	T30	T33	2	CUT	T2	T10	T11	2	T25	CUT

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	T3	T3	T48	T3	T18	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T51	T63	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	T73	T45	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT	T43	T40	T14	T61	T63	CUT	T58	DNP	T34

Tournament	2000	2001
The Masters	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT	CUT

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

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Walker Cup: 1969 (winners), 1971
• Eisenhower Trophy: 1970 (winners)

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1977 (winners), 1979 (winners), 1983 (winners), 1985, 1987, 1989 (tie), 1991 (winners), 1993 (winners), 1995 (captain)
• World Cup of Golf: 1977, 1984, 1985
• Dunhill Cup: 1986
• 4 Tours World Championship: 1985, 1987, 1991
• US v Japan: 1982, 1983

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

External links

• Lanny Wadkins at the PGA Tour official site
• Lanny Wadkins at the Japan Golf Tour official site