Lanny Wadkins

Last updated

Lanny Wadkins
Personal information
Full nameJerry Lanston Wadkins Jr.
NicknameLanny
Born (1949-12-05) December 5, 1949 (age 75)
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Residence Dallas, Texas, U.S.
SpousePenelope
Children3
Career
College Wake Forest University
Turned professional1971
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins33
Highest ranking 5 (March 1, 1987) [1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour21
European Tour1
Japan Golf Tour1
PGA Tour of Australasia1
PGA Tour Champions1
Other8
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters Tournament T3: 1990, 1991, 1993
PGA Championship Won: 1977
U.S. Open T2: 1986
The Open Championship T4: 1984
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 won 21 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1977 PGA Championship. He ranked in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for 86 weeks from the ranking's debut in 1986 to 1988. [2]

Contents

Early life and amateur career

Wadkins was born in Richmond, Virginia. He has a younger brother, Bobby Wadkins, who also became a professional golfer. Wadkins attended Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County. [3]

After high school, he attended Wake Forest University on an Arnold Palmer golf scholarship. [4] He joined Kappa Sigma fraternity at Wake Forest. He won the 1970 U.S. Amateur, one stroke ahead of Tom Kite. [5]

Professional career

Wadkins turned professional in 1971. In the summer he won the Greater Bangor Open in Maine for his first professional victory. [6] His first win on the PGA Tour came at the Sahara Invitational in Las Vegas in October 1972 where he finished one stroke ahead of runner-up Palmer, his scholarship benefactor. [4] Wadkins was later voted Rookie of the Year on the tour in 1972. Two more wins followed in 1973 before his form dipped for three years. He bounced back to win his sole major title at the 1977 PGA Championship. He prevailed on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff at Pebble Beach against Gene Littler. It was the first time the sudden-death format was used in a stroke-play major championship. [7] [8]

Wadkins was runner-up in four subsequent majors (U.S. Open in 1986, PGA Championship in 1982, 1984, 1987) and finished third in the Masters three times (1990, 1991, 1993). At The Open Championship his best finish was fourth at St. Andrews in 1984.

On the PGA Tour, Wadkins won 1979 Tournament Players Championship 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.

Like many star American golfers Wadkins was invited to play in a number of international tournaments. He won the 1978 Victorian PGA Championship on the PGA Tour of Australia and the 1979 Bridgestone Open on the Japan Golf Tour. He also finished runner-up at the 1979 German Open, 1980 Air New Zealand Shell Open, and 1990 Austrian Open. He also won significant events in South America and Canada.

Wadkins played for the United States in the Ryder Cup eight times between 1977 and 1993. Wadkins collected 21⁠1/2⁠ 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 at Oak Hill Country Club.

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 and did not become a regular winner at the senior level.

Broadcasting

Following the retirement of Ken Venturi in June 2002, Wadkins was the lead golf analyst for CBS Sports for over four years, until he was replaced by Nick Faldo after the 2006 season. The lead analyst for the Champions Tour on Golf Channel for 13 years, [9] he will retire in January 2025, [10] and be succeeded by Paul Azinger. [11]

Honors

Wadkins was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009. [12]

Personal

Lanny is married to Penelope Wadkins and they have three children: Jessica, Travis, and Tucker. Travis played on the Wake Forest University golf team 2006–2010. Tucker played on the University of Arizona golf team from 2011–2015. 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.

A nephew, Ron Whittaker, is a professional golfer on the second-tier Web.com Tour with 77 PGA Tour starts. [13]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (33)

PGA Tour wins (21)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Players Championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (19)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1Oct 29, 1972 Sahara Invitational 65-69-70-69=273−111 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Arnold Palmer
2Apr 29, 1973 Byron Nelson Golf Classic 71-68-71-67=277−3Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Dan Sikes
3Aug 19, 1973 USI Classic 71-69-70-69=279−92 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Lee Elder, Flag of the United States.svg Tom Jenkins,
Flag of the United States.svg Rik Massengale
4Aug 14, 1977 PGA Championship 69-71-72-70=282−6Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Gene Littler
5Sep 5, 1977 World Series of Golf 69-66-67-65=267−135 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Hale Irwin, Flag of the United States.svg Tom Weiskopf
6Feb 25, 1979 Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open 66-72-69-69=276−81 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Lon Hinkle
7Mar 25, 1979 Tournament Players Championship 67-68-76-72=283−55 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Tom Watson
8Jan 25, 1982 Phoenix Open 65-70-63-65=263−216 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Jerry Pate
9Apr 18, 1982 MONY Tournament of Champions 67-72-68-73=280−83 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Andy Bean, Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Graham,
Flag of the United States.svg Craig Stadler, Flag of the United States.svg Ron Streck
10Aug 22, 1982 Buick Open 66-71-71-65=273−151 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Tom Kite
11Apr 3, 1983 Greater Greensboro Open 72-69-67-67=275−135 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Craig Stadler, Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Denis Watson
12Apr 24, 1983 MONY Tournament of Champions (2)67-70-71-72=280−81 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Raymond Floyd
13Jan 13, 1985 Bob Hope Classic 67-67-68-66-65=333−27Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Craig Stadler
14Jan 27, 1985 Los Angeles Open (2)63-70-67-64=264−207 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Hal Sutton
15Oct 13, 1985 Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic 68-67-69-63=267−211 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Mike Donald, Flag of the United States.svg Scott Hoch
16Mar 1, 1987 Doral-Ryder Open 75-66-66-70=277−113 strokes Flag of Spain.svg Seve Ballesteros, Flag of the United States.svg Tom Kite,
Flag of the United States.svg Don Pooley
17Feb 14, 1988 Hawaiian Open 68-71-66-66=271−171 stroke Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Richard Zokol
18May 22, 1988 Colonial National Invitation 67-68-70-65=270−101 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Mark Calcavecchia, Flag of the United States.svg Ben Crenshaw,
Flag of the United States.svg Joey Sindelar
19Jul 8, 1990 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic 65-66-67-68=266−185 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Larry Mize
20Jan 20, 1991 United Hawaiian Open (2)69-67-69-65=270−184 strokes Flag of the United States.svg John Cook
21Aug 2, 1992 Canon Greater Hartford Open 68-70-71-65=274−62 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Dan Forsman, Flag of the United States.svg Donnie Hammond,
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Nick Price

PGA Tour playoff record (3–3)

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

European Tour wins (1)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other European Tour (0)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Aug 14, 1977 PGA Championship 69-71-72-70=282−6Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Gene Littler

European Tour playoff record (1–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1977 PGA Championship Flag of the United States.svg Gene Littler Won with par on third extra hole
2 1987 PGA Championship Flag of the United States.svg Larry Nelson Lost to par on first extra hole
3 1990 Austrian Open Flag of Germany.svg Bernhard Langer Lost to birdie on third extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Oct 28, 1979 Bridgestone Tournament 66-71-69-71=277−111 stroke Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Yoshikazu Yokoshima

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Oct 22, 1978 Garden State Victorian PGA Championship 75-68-69-69=281−73 strokes Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Shearer

Canadian Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1Aug 20, 1978 Labatt's International Golf Classic 69-68-64-69=270−1812 strokes Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Dale Hayes, Flag of New Zealand.svg Simon Owen

Other wins (8)

Senior PGA Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1Feb 13, 2000 ACE Group Classic 67-68-67=202−14Playoff Flag of Spain.svg José María Cañizares, Flag of the United States.svg Walter Hall,
Flag of the United States.svg Tom Watson

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2000 ACE Group Classic Flag of Spain.svg José María Cañizares, Flag of the United States.svg Walter Hall,
Flag of the United States.svg Tom Watson 		Won with par on third extra hole
Hall and Watson eliminated by par on first hole

Major championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
1977 PGA Championship 6 shot deficit−6 (69-71-72-70=282)Playoff1 Flag of the United States.svg Gene Littler

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

Results timeline

Tournament1970197119721973197419751976197719781979
Masters Tournament CUTCUTT19T29CUTT18T7
U.S. Open T13T25T7T26T38CUTT19
The Open Championship T7T22CUTCUT
PGA Championship T16T3CUTCUT1T3470
Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989
Masters Tournament CUTT21T33T8CUTT18T31T12T11T26
U.S. Open CUTT14T67T11T5T2T36T12CUT
The Open Championship T29T4CUTT29T34T26
PGA Championship T30T332CUTT2T10T112T25CUT
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999
Masters Tournament T3T3T48T3T18CUT
U.S. Open T51T63CUT
The Open Championship CUTT73T45CUT
PGA Championship CUTT43T40T14T61T63CUTT58T34
Tournament20002001
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUTCUT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut (3rd round cut in 1985 Open Championship)
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament 00335122317
U.S. Open 01025112016
The Open Championship 000123149
PGA Championship 13156102820
Totals1441118368562

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
1979 Tournament Players Championship 3 shot lead−5 (67-68-76-72=283)5 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Tom Watson

Results timeline

Tournament1975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996
The Players Championship WDT65T34CUT1T45CUTCUTCUTT5CUTT40CUTT6T41CUT62T29CUTCUTCUTCUT
  Win
  Top 10

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Week 09 1987 Ending 1 Mar 1987" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  2. ↑ "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Class of 1996: Lanny Wadkins". Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Rookie Wadkins scrambles to first golf tour win". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. October 30, 1972. p. 15.
  5. ↑ "Wadkins captures Amateur golf title". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. September 6, 1970. p. D2.
  6. ↑ "28 Jul 2007, 12 - The Bangor Daily News at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  7. ↑ Parascenzo, Marino (August 15, 1977). "Littler comes apart, Wadkins captures PGA". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 20.
  8. ↑ Jenkins, Dan (August 22, 1977). "The battle of the ages". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.
  9. ↑ "Lanny Wadkins Joins Golf Channel Champions Tour Broadcast Team". Golf Channel. January 17, 2013. Retrieved August 3, 2013.[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ Schupak, Adam (November 8, 2024). "Lanny Wadkins leaving as lead analyst of PGA Tour Champions: 'I've had my run'". Golfweek. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  11. ↑ Schupak, Adam (November 11, 2024). "Paul Azinger returning to broadcasting in 2025 as lead analyst for PGA Tour Champions". Golfweek. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Wadkins to join World Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2009". PGA Tour. April 23, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  13. ↑ "PGA Tour Media Guide – Ron Whittaker". PGA Tour. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Greater Bangor Open". treeoflifeworkshop.com. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Sports results, details". Canberra Times. October 31, 1984. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
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