Lanny Wadkins


Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins Jr. is an American professional golfer. He ranked in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for 86 weeks from the ranking's debut in 1986 to 1988.

Early years

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Wadkins attended Meadowbrook High School, then Wake Forest University on an Arnold Palmer golf scholarship. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1970 in Oregon, one stroke ahead of runner-up Tom Kite, and turned professional in 1971.

PGA Tour

Wadkins' 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. 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 PGA Championship in 1977. 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.
Wadkins was runner-up in four subsequent majors, and finished third in the Masters three times. In The Open Championship, his best finish was fourth at St. Andrews in 1984.
On the PGA Tour, Wadkins won The Players Championship at Sawgrass in 1979 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, an event in Australia, and the 1979 Bridgestone Open, an event 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 unofficial events in South America, Canada, and Japan.
Wadkins played for the United States in the Ryder Cup eight times between 1977 and 1993, which ties the highest number of appearances in the competition by an American, alongside Raymond Floyd and Billy Casper. Wadkins collected 21 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.

Champions Tour

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

Television

Following the retirement of Ken Venturi in June 2002, Wadkins was the lead analyst for CBS for over four years, until he was replaced by Nick Faldo after the 2006 season. He is currently the lead analyst for the Champions Tour on Golf Channel.

Hall of Fame

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

Personal

Wadkins' younger brother, Bobby, currently plays on the Champions Tour. Lanny is married to Penelope Wadkins and has 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 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.

Amateur wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (21)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Oct 29, 1972Sahara Invitational65-69-70-69=273−111 stroke Arnold Palmer
2Apr 29, 1973Byron Nelson Golf Classic71-68-71-67=277−3Playoff Dan Sikes
3Aug 19, 1973USI Classic71-69-70-69=279−92 strokes Lee Elder, Tom Jenkins,
Rik Massengale
4Aug 14, 1977PGA Championship69-71-72-70=282−6Playoff Gene Littler
5Sep 5, 1977World Series of Golf69-66-67-65=267−135 strokes Hale Irwin, Tom Weiskopf
6Feb 25, 1979Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open66-72-69-69=276−81 stroke Lon Hinkle
7Mar 25, 1979Tournament Players Championship67-68-76-72=283−55 strokes Tom Watson
8Jan 25, 1982Phoenix Open65-70-63-65=263−216 strokes Jerry Pate
9Apr 18, 1982MONY Tournament of Champions67-72-68-73=280−83 strokes Andy Bean, David Graham,
Craig Stadler, Ron Streck
10Aug 22, 1982Buick Open66-71-71-65=273−151 stroke Tom Kite
11Apr 3, 1983Greater Greensboro Open72-69-67-67=275−135 strokes Craig Stadler, Denis Watson
12Apr 24, 1983MONY Tournament of Champions 67-70-71-72=280−81 stroke Raymond Floyd
13Jan 13, 1985Bob Hope Classic67-67-68-66-65=333−27Playoff Craig Stadler
14Jan 27, 1985Los Angeles Open 63-70-67-64=264−207 strokes Hal Sutton
15Oct 13, 1985Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic68-67-69-63=267−211 stroke Mike Donald, Scott Hoch
16Mar 1, 1987Doral-Ryder Open75-66-66-70=277−113 strokes Seve Ballesteros, Tom Kite,
Don Pooley
17Feb 14, 1988Hawaiian Open68-71-66-66=271−171 stroke Richard Zokol
18May 22, 1988Colonial National Invitation67-68-70-65=270−101 stroke Mark Calcavecchia, Ben Crenshaw,
Joey Sindelar
19Jul 8, 1990Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic65-66-67-68=266−185 strokes Larry Mize
20Jan 20, 1991United Hawaiian Open69-67-69-65=270−184 strokes John Cook
21Aug 2, 1992Canon Greater Hartford Open68-70-71-65=274−62 strokes Dan Forsman, Donnie Hammond,
Nick Price

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11972Phoenix Open Homero BlancasLost to birdie on first extra hole
21973Byron Nelson Golf Classic Dan SikesWon with par on first extra hole
31977PGA Championship Gene LittlerWon with par on third extra hole
41983Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open Gil Morgan, Curtis StrangeMorgan won with birdie on second extra hole
51985Bob Hope Classic Craig StadlerWon with birdie on fifth extra hole
61987PGA Championship Larry NelsonLost to par on first extra hole

European Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Aug 14, 1977PGA Championship69-71-72-70=282−6Playoff Gene Littler

European Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11977PGA Championship Gene LittlerWon with par on third extra hole
21987PGA Championship Larry NelsonLost to par on first extra hole
31990Austrian Open Bernhard LangerLost to birdie on third extra hole

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

Other wins (8)

Senior PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
12000ACE Group Classic José María Cañizares, Walter Hall,
Tom Watson		Won with par on third extra hole
Hall and Watson eliminated with par on first hole

Major championships

Wins (1)

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

Results timeline

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

Summary

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut

WD = withdrew

"T" indicates a tie for a place.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur
Professional