Early years and amateur career

Verplank was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He was a leading member of the W.T. White High School Golf Team and a regular at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas. While attending Oklahoma State University, he won the 1985 Western Open, becoming the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Doug Sanders won the 1956 Canadian Open. While at Oklahoma State, Verplank was a member of the 1983 NCAA Championship team finishing T3 alongside teammates Tommy Moore, Willie Wood, Andy Dillard, and Philip Walton. He went on later to win the 1984 U.S. Amateur at the Oak Tree Golf Club, and in 1986, win the NCAA individual title.

Professional career

Verplank graduated and turned professional in 1986. He earned five wins on the PGA Tour, and two Ryder Cup appearances, in 2002 and 2006. He has diabetes and was awarded the 2002 Ben Hogan Award, given by the Golf Writers Association of America to an individual who has continued to be active in golf despite a physical handicap or serious illness. Verplank uses an insulin pump during play. He has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings, going as high as 11th in 2001.

He hit a hole-in-one on the 14th hole during a singles match against Pádraig Harrington at the 2006 Ryder Cup. The shot did not impact the overall result, however, as Europe had already won the trophy. Nonetheless, he was the first American player to achieve a hole-in-one during the Ryder Cup. His Ryder Cup record is 4 wins and 1 loss.

Verplank's most recent win was the 2007 EDS Byron Nelson Championship, in which he defeated Luke Donald by one stroke. Verplank called the EDS Byron Nelson Championship "a fifth major", and also mentioned that "Byron was with me today" (the 2007 tournament was the first held after Nelson's death). His best finish in a major championship was a T-4 at the 2011 PGA Championship.

In December 2010, Verplank was named a 2011 winner of the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, given annually to six former NCAA student-athletes for distinguished career accomplishment on the 25th anniversary of their college graduation.

Verplank competed in the 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational finishing T38 and then the following week at the Shell Houston Open in which Verplank finished T2 behind Phil Mickelson. Verplank had held a joint 54-hole lead with Mickelson and even held the lead on his own at a number of stages during the final round, however his lack of competitive golf proved costly throughout the final few holes and he was unable to close out the victory. This was his best finish on tour in 18 months since finishing T2 at the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2009. Verplank has amassed over $27 million in career earnings.

Verplank played the 2013 season on a Major Medical Extension after hip and wrist injuries in 2012. He started the 2014 season in a similar fashion, but was not able to satisfy the medical exemption and used his career money list exemption for the remainder of the season. Verplank turned 50 in July 2014 and made his Champions Tour debut at the U.S. Senior Open.

Amateur wins (7)

• 1983 Porter Cup
• 1984 U.S. Amateur, Sunnehanna Amateur
• 1985 Western Amateur, Sunnehanna Amateur, Porter Cup
• 1986 NCAA individual title

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 4, 1985	Western Open*	−9 (68-68-69-74=279)	Playoff	Jim Thorpe
2	Jul 31, 1988	Buick Open	−20 (66-66-70-66=268)	2 strokes	Doug Tewell
3	Aug 27, 2000	Reno-Tahoe Open	−13 (69-68-71-67=275)	Playoff	Jean van de Velde
4	Sep 9, 2001	Bell Canadian Open	−14 (70-63-66-67=266)	3 strokes	Joey Sindelar, Bob Estes
5	Apr 29, 2007	EDS Byron Nelson Championship	−13 (67-68-66-66=267)	1 stroke	Luke Donald

• Verplank won the Western Open as an amateur.

PGA Tour playoff record (2-4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1.	1985	Western Open	Jim Thorpe	Won with par on second extra hole
2.	1998	Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic	Trevor Dodds	Lost to par on first extra hole
3.	2000	Reno-Tahoe Open	Jean van de Velde	Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
4.	2001	Verizon Byron Nelson Classic	Robert Damron	Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
5.	2004	Ford Championship at Doral	Craig Parry	Lost to eagle on first extra hole
6	2010	Travelers Championship	Corey Pavin, Bubba Watson	Watson won with par on second extra hole Pavin eliminated with par on first hole

Other wins (3)

• 1997 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament
• 1998 World Cup of Golf - individual title (not a PGA Tour event)
• 2006 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson, unofficial event)

Results in major championships

Tournament	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	CUT	DNP	CUT
U.S. Open	T34 LA	T15	CUT	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	CUT	DNP	CUT	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	CUT

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT
U.S. Open	T61	DNP	DNP	DNP	T18	T21	DNP	DNP	T49	T17
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T15
PGA Championship	T31	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	T54	T34

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament	DNP	CUT	43	T8	29	T20	T16	T30	CUT	DNP
U.S. Open	T46	T22	CUT	T10	T40	CUT	CUT	T7	T29	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	T30	T37	CUT	T7	T23	T31	T57	T58	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT	T7	CUT	CUT	T62	T34	CUT	T9	CUT	CUT

Tournament	2010	2011	2012
Masters Tournament	T18	DNP	T54
U.S. Open	T47	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	T76	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT	T4	WD

LA = Low amateur
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	1	4	15	8
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	2	7	18	14
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	1	3	13	9
PGA Championship	0	0	0	1	3	3	19	8
Totals	0	0	0	1	7	17	65	39

• Most consecutive cuts made - 5 (2004 Masters - 2005 Masters)
• Longest streak of top-10s - 2 (2003 Masters - 2003 U.S. Open)

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Accenture Match Play Championship	R32	DNP	R32	R32	R64	R64	R64	R32	R64	R64
CA Championship	DNP	T48	NT1	T15	T51	T54	T62	T38	DNP	T40
Bridgestone Invitational	DNP	DNP	T17	T58	T46	T19	T51	T59	T9	T20

Tournament	2009	2010
Accenture Match Play Championship	DNP	R64
CA Championship	DNP	T30
Bridgestone Invitational	T51	T39
HSBC Champions	DNP	DNP

1Cancelled due to September 11, 2001 attacks
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy: 1984
• Walker Cup: 1985 (winners)

Professional

• World Cup: 1998 (individual title), 2004
• Ryder Cup: 2002, 2006
• Presidents Cup: 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]