Tom Kite

Tom Kite
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Oliver Kite, Jr.
Born	December 9, 1949 (1949-12-09) 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
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 Rankings between 1989 and 1994.

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 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 holds the distinction of playing in the most Masters Tournaments without a win.

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 1980 & 1981, Bob Jones Award recipient in 1979 and Golf Digest Rookie of the Year in 1973.

Tom 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 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 nine victories including one senior major, The Countrywide Tradition.

Kite has added golf course designer to his resume 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.

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)

• 1980 European Open
• 1996 Oki Pro-Am

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

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
The Masters	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
The Masters	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
The Masters	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
The Masters	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

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
2000	The Countrywide Tradition	−8 (66−71−71−72=80)	Playoff1	Larry Nelson, Tom Watson

¹Kite won it on the sixth hole in a sudden-death playoff by making birdie, which defeated both Nelson and Watson.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

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

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1979 (winners), 1981 (winners), 1983 (winners), 1985, 1987, 1989 (tie), 1993 (winners), 1997 (captain)

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Golfers with most Champions Tour wins

External links

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