Early years

Calcavecchia was born in Laurel, Nebraska. While he was a teenager, his family moved from Nebraska to West Palm Beach, Florida in 1973. He attended North Shore High School in West Palm Beach, and won the Florida high school golf championship in 1977 while playing for the North Shore golf team. While playing in junior tournaments, Calcavecchia often competed against Jack Nicklaus' son, Jackie, and as a result began a lifelong friendship at the age of 14 with the legendary pro.

College career

He 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 teams in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1978 to 1980. Calcavecchia earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors in 1979.

Professional career

Calcavecchia turned professional in 1981 and joined the PGA Tour in 1982. Calcavecchia was at his best in the late 1980s. His most notable achievement was in 1989, when he won The Open Championship (the "British Open"), one of golf's four major championships, by beating Wayne Grady and Greg Norman in a four-hole playoff. Upon being awarded the Open's Claret Jug, Calcavecchia (whose Italian surname translates as "old crowd") asked "How's my name going to fit on that thing?" He later revealed that he had initially not wanted to play in the Open Championship that year due to his wife expecting their first child, but he was persuaded to fly to Scotland to compete in the tournament by his wife. He also revealed that he didn't know that the Open Championship had a four-hole aggregate playoff format until just before he teed off in the playoff.

1989 was Calcavecchia's only multiple-win season on the PGA Tour, with two other titles complementing the Open. He also finished second behind Sandy Lyle at the 1988 Masters Tournament by a single stroke.

Calcavecchia has won 13 times on the PGA Tour and 13 times in other professional events. He spent 109 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from 1988 to 1991. In winning the 2001 Phoenix Open, he set the Tour scoring record at that time by making 32 birdies in 72 holes finishing at 28 under par for the tournament. He has won the Phoenix Open three times (1989, 1992, 2001), and his margins of victory in the Phoenix tournament are also his three largest.

Calcavecchia was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2002. His performance in 1991 is most remembered, as he lost a four-hole lead to Colin Montgomerie in the last four holes of his round. Thinking he had cost his team the victory, he broke down in tears—not knowing the U.S. team would still win.

On July 25, 2009, Calcavecchia set a PGA Tour record by getting nine consecutive birdies during his second round at the RBC Canadian Open at the Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. The birdies came on the 12th through 18th holes, and then on the first and second hole (he started his round on the 10th hole). The previous record of eight consecutive birdies was held by six golfers including J. P. Hayes, who was one of his partners at the time Calcavecchia achieved the new record.

Calcavecchia joined the Champions Tour in 2010, but still plays a limited PGA Tour schedule that includes The Open Championship.

Personal

Calcavecchia has two children, Eric and Britney, with his previous wife Sheryl. He married Brenda Nardecchia on May 5, 2005 in Lake Como, Italy. Calcavecchia's principal home is Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, but he also owns a house in Phoenix, Arizona.

Professional wins (31)

PGA Tour wins (13)

Legend

Major championships (1)

Other PGA Tour (12)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Sep 28, 1986	Southwest Golf Classic	−13 (68-70-66-71=275)	3 strokes	Tom Byrum
2	Mar 8, 1987	Honda Classic	−9 (69-72-68-70=279)	3 strokes	Bernhard Langer, Payne Stewart
3	Sep 18, 1988	Bank of Boston Classic	−10 (71-67-70-66=274)	1 stroke	Don Pooley
4	Jan 22, 1989	Phoenix Open	−21 (66-68-65-64=263)	7 strokes	Chip Beck
5	Feb 5, 1989	Nissan Los Angeles Open	−12 (68-66-70-68=272)	1 stroke	Sandy Lyle
6	Jul 23, 1989	The Open Championship	−13 (71-68-68-68=275)	Playoff	Wayne Grady, Greg Norman
7	Jan 26, 1992	Phoenix Open	−20 (69-65-67-63=264)	5 strokes	Duffy Waldorf
8	May 7, 1995	BellSouth Classic	−17 (67-69-69-66=271)	2 strokes	Jim Gallagher, Jr.
9	Aug 24, 1997	Greater Vancouver Open	−19 (68-66-65-66=265)	1 stroke	Andrew Magee
10	Mar 15, 1998	Honda Classic	−18 (70-67-68-65=270)	3 strokes	Vijay Singh
11	Jan 28, 2001	Phoenix Open	−28 (65-60-64-67=256)	8 strokes	Rocco Mediate
12	Sep 11, 2005	Bell Canadian Open	−5 (65-67-72-71=275)	1 stroke	Ben Crane, Ryan Moore
13	Mar 11, 2007	PODS Championship	−10 (75-67-62-70=274)	1 stroke	John Senden, Heath Slocum

PGA Tour playoff record (1-4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1987	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Fred Couples	Lost to par on third extra hole
2	1989	The Open Championship	Wayne Grady, Greg Norman	Won 4-hole aggregate playoff Calcavecchia:4-3-3-3=13, Grady:4-4-4-4=16, Norman:3-3-4-x
3	1990	Doral-Ryder Open	Paul Azinger, Greg Norman, Tim Simpson	Norman won with eagle on first extra hole
4	1993	Greater Milwaukee Open	Billy Mayfair, Ted Schulz	Mayfair won with birdie on fourth extra hole Schulz eliminated with par on first hole
5	2005	Chrysler Classic of Tucson	Kevin Na, Geoff Ogilvy	Ogilvy won with birdie on second extra hole Calcavecchia eliminated with par on first hole

Asian Tour wins (1)

• 2004 Maekyung Open

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

• 1988 Australian Open

Other wins (11)

• 1989 Alfred Dunhill Cup (with Tom Kite and Curtis Strange), Spalding Invitational
• 1993 Argentine Open
• 1995 Argentine Open, Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (with Steve Elkington)
• 1997 Subaru Sarazen World Open
• 1999 Diners Club Matches (with Fred Couples)
• 2001 CVS Charity Classic (with Nick Price), Hyundai Team Matches (with Fred Couples)
• 2003 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with John Daly and Peter Jacobsen)
• 2007 Merrill Lynch Shootout (with Woody Austin)

Champions Tour wins (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 28, 2011	Boeing Classic	−14 (70-67-65=202)	Playoff	Russ Cochran
2	Jun 24, 2012	Montreal Championship	−16 (69-67-64=200)	4 strokes	Brad Bryant
3	Jun 7, 2015	Principal Charity Classic	−12 (67-68-69=204)	1 stroke	Joe Durant, Brian Henninger

Champions Tour playoff record (1-0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2011	Boeing Classic	Russ Cochran	Won with birdie on first extra hole

Other senior wins (2)

• 2011 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Kenny Perry and Jay Haas), Nedbank Champions Challenge

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runners-up
1989	The Open Championship	3 shot deficit	−13 (71-68-68-68=275)	Playoff1	Wayne Grady, Greg Norman

1Shot 13 (4-3-3-3) in a four hole playoff to defeat Wayne Grady (4-4-4-4=16) and Greg Norman (3-3-4-x).

Results timeline

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	DNP	T17	2	T31
U.S. Open	14	T17	T62	T61
The Open Championship	DNP	T11	CUT	1
PGA Championship	DNP	CUT	T17	DNP

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	T20	T12	T31	T17	CUT	T41	T15	T17	T16	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT	T37	T33	T25	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	CUT	CUT	T28	T14	T11	T24	T41	T10	T35	CUT
PGA Championship	CUT	T32	T48	T31	CUT	CUT	T36	T23	T44	T61

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament	DNP	T4	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	T20	CUT	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	T24	CUT	T20	T20	DNP	CUT	DNP	WD	DNP
The Open Championship	T26	T54	T80	CUT	T11	T60	T41	T23	CUT	T27
PGA Championship	T34	T4	7	T39	DQ	T70	WD	CUT	T63	DNP

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	73	CUT	T9	CUT	DNP	CUT
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
DQ = Disqualified
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	1	0	2	2	10	18	13
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	0	6	20	10
The Open Championship	1	0	0	1	3	9	28	19
PGA Championship	0	0	0	1	2	4	21	14
Totals	1	1	0	4	7	29	87	56

• Most consecutive cuts made - 9 (1991 PGA - 1993 PGA)
• Longest streak of top-10s - 1 (seven times)

Results in senior major championships

Results are not in chronological order prior to 2016.

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
The Tradition	T4	T5	T18	T12	2	T52	T33
Senior PGA Championship	DNP	T13	T12	CUT	T15	CUT
Senior Players Championship	WD	12	T4	T9	WD	T20
Senior British Open Championship	T14	2	T10	T65	DNP	T51
U.S. Senior Open	T24	3	T12	T54	CUT	CUT

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10.

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1987, 1989 (tie), 1991 (winners), 2002
• Dunhill Cup: 1989 (winners), 1990
• Presidents Cup: 1998

[ Source: Wikipedia ]