Curtis Strange

Curtis Strange
Personal information
Full name	Curtis Northrup Strange
Born	January 30, 1955 (1955-01-30) (age 56) Norfolk, Virginia
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Nationality	United States
Career
College	Wake Forest University
Turned professional	1976
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	28
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	17
Japan Golf Tour	1
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	T2: 1985
U.S. Open	Won: 1988, 1989
The Open Championship	T13: 1988
PGA Championship	T2: 1989
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2007 (member page)
PGA Tour leading money winner	1985, 1987, 1988
PGA Player of the Year	1988

Curtis Northrup Strange (born January 30, 1955) is an American professional golfer. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spent over 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between their debut in 1986 and 1990.^[1]

Early years through college

Strange and his identical twin brother, Allan,^[2] were born in Norfolk, Virginia.^[3] His father, a local country club owner, started him in golf at age 7.^[2] Strange is a graduate of Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He attended Wake Forest University and was a member of the NCAA Championship team with Jay Haas and Bob Byman that Golf World has labeled "the greatest of all time".^[4]

PGA Tour career

Strange is considered one of the leading golfers of the 1980s as 16 of his 17 PGA Tour victories took place in that decade. He topped the PGA Tour money list in 1985 and 1987 and in 1988, when he became the first man to win a million dollars in official money on the Tour in a season. His two majors were the 1988 and 1989 U.S. Opens.

Strange never won on the PGA Tour again after his 2nd U.S. Open victory. He played on five Ryder Cup teams (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, and 1995) and captained the team in 2002.^[2]

Later career and honors

After reaching the age of 50 in January 2005, Strange began play on the Champions Tour, remarking, "I was getting worse and said, 'To hell with it.'"^[5] His best finishes thus far are a 3rd place finish in the 2005 Constellation Energy Classic and a T-5 in the 2005 FedEx Kinko's Classic.^[2]

From 1997 to 2005 he served as the lead analyst for golf coverage on ABC television, and in recent years he has broadcast for ABC, NBC, and ESPN.

On April 18, 2007, Strange was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, and was inducted on November 12, 2007 at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Florida.

In May 2009, he was named to the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame, which honors athletes, coaches and administrators who contributed to sports in southeastern Virginia.

Amateur wins (5)

• 1974 Western Amateur, North and South Amateur, NCAA Division I Championship
• 1975 North and South Amateur, Eastern Amateur

Professional wins (28)

PGA Tour wins (17)

Legend Major championships (2) Other PGA Tour (15)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Oct 21, 1979	Pensacola Open	-17 (69-71-62-69=271)	1 stroke	Billy Kratzert
2	May 4, 1980	Michelob-Houston Open	-22 (66-63-66-71=266)	Playoff	Lee Trevino
3	Aug 17, 1980	Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic	-15 (69-65-70-69=273)	2 strokes	Gibby Gilbert
4	Aug 21, 1983	Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open	-20 (67-62-69-68=268)	1 stroke	Jay Haas, Jack Renner
5	Sep 30, 1984	LaJet Golf Classic	-15 (68-67-67-71=273)	2 strokes	Mark O'Meara
6	Mar 3, 1985	Honda Classic	-13 (67-64-70-74=275)	Playoff	Peter Jacobsen
7	Mar 24, 1985	Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational	-22 (69-73-64-66-66=338)	1 stroke	Mike Smith
8	Jul 7, 1985	Canadian Open	-9 (69-69-68-73=279)	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman
9	Apr 27, 1986	Houston Open	-14 (72-68-68-66=274)	Playoff	Calvin Peete
10	Jul 5, 1987	Canadian Open	-12 (71-70-66-69=276)	3 strokes	David Frost
11	Aug 2, 1987	Federal Express St. Jude Classic	-13 (70-68-68-69=275)	1 stroke	Russ Cochran, Mike Donald, Tom Kite, Denis Watson
12	Aug 30, 1987	NEC World Series of Golf	-13 (68-68-68-71=275)	3 strokes	Fulton Allem
13	May 1, 1988	Independent Insurance Agent Open	-18 (69-68-66-67=270)	Playoff	Greg Norman
14	May 29, 1988	Memorial Tournament	-14 (73-70-64-67=274)	2 strokes	David Frost, Hale Irwin
15	Jun 19, 1988	U.S. Open	-6 (70-67-69-72=278)	Playoff	Nick Faldo
16	Nov 13, 1988	Nabisco Championship	-9 (64-71-70-74=279)	Playoff	Tom Kite
17	Jun 18, 1989	U.S. Open	-2 (71-64-73-70=278)	1 stroke	Chip Beck, Mark McCumber, Ian Woosnam

Other wins (11)

• 1980 JCPenney Mixed Team Classic (with Nancy Lopez)
• 1981 Panama Open
• 1986 ABC Japan-U.S. Match (Japan Golf Tour), Fred Meyer Challenge (with Peter Jacobsen; tie with Greg Norman & Gary Player)
• 1988 Sanctuary Cove Classic (Australia)
• 1989 Palm Meadows Cup (Australia), RMCC Invitational (with Mark O'Meara), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event), Skins Game
• 1990 Skins Game
• 1993 Greg Norman's Holden Classic (Australia)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1988	U.S. Open	1 shot lead	-6 (70-67-69-72=278)	Playoff1	Nick Faldo
1989	U.S. Open (2)	3 shot deficit	-2 (71-64-73-70=278)	1 stroke	Chip Beck, Mark McCumber, Ian Woosnam

¹Defeated Nick Faldo in an 18 hole playoff - Strange 71 (E), Faldo 75 (+4).

Results timeline

Tournament	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
The Masters	CUT	T15 LA	CUT	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	T58	CUT

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	CUT	T19	T7	CUT	T46	T2	T21	T12	T21	T18
U.S. Open	T16	T17	T39	T26	3	T31	CUT	T4	1	1
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	T15	T29	DNP	DNP	T14	DNP	T13	T61
PGA Championship	T5	T27	T14	86	CUT	CUT	CUT	9	T31	T2

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	T7	T42	T31	WD	T27	9	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T21	CUT	T23	T25	4	T36	T27	CUT	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	CUT	T38	CUT	DNP	DNP	CUT	T72	T44	T19	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT	WD	CUT	CUT	T19	T17	T26	CUT	DNP	DNP

Tournament	2000	2001	2002
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T58	CUT	CUT

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = did not play
WD = withdrew
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

• Eisenhower Trophy: 1974 (winners)
• Walker Cup: 1975 (winners)

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1983 (winners), 1985, 1987, 1989 (tied), 1995, 2002 (non-playing captain)

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

References

1. ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "Biographical information from PGA Tour's official site". http://www.pgatour.com/players/s/?/00/21/59/media. Retrieved 2010-11-28. 
3. ^ "Profile on PGA Tour's official site". http://www.pgatour.com/players/00/21/59/. Retrieved 2010-11-28. 
4. ^ Golfdigest.com, My Shot - Interview with Curtis Strange
5. ^ The Gigantic Book of Golf Quotations, ed. Jim Apfelbaum. 2007.

External links

• Curtis Strange at the PGA Tour official site
• Curtis Strange at the Japan Golf Tour official site
• World Golf Hall of Fame profile

Persondata
Name	Strange, Curtis
Alternative names	Strange, Curtis Northrup
Short description	Professional golfer
Date of birth	January 30, 1955
Place of birth	Norfolk, Virginia
Date of death
Place of death