Remembering Calvin Peete

Wednesday morning we misplaced but another legendary golfer, this time to lung cancer. His name turned into Calvin Peete and he became seventy one.

Many of you may not also be aware about who Calvin Peete was, and that's a actual disgrace. FoxSports opened their article approximately his passing with a simple assertion approximately his profession:

Calvin Peete, who taught himself a way to play golfing at 24 and became the maximum a hit black participant at the PGA Tour earlier than the appearance of Tiger Woods, died Wednesday morning, the PGA Tour stated. He became seventy one.

But that doesn't even begin to sum up Peete's place in history. Before Fred Funk became Mr. Accuracy, that title belonged to Calvin Peete... for 10 years. He competed against Nicklaus and Trevino and Watson and Norman during some of their most competitive years. He won 14 pro tournaments, 12 of them on the PGA Tour, and while he never won a major he did win THE PLAYERS in 1985 and what is now the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in 1986.

For me for my part, Calvin Peete turned into the fellow I attempted to sample my sport after. When I took up the game in 1985, he became infamous for his capability to simply wear the field out. He changed into a median-period hitter however he just hit fairways and vegetables, round after spherical, tournament after event. If Calvin Peete become gambling, he changed into possibly near the pinnacle of the leaderboard.

Here are hyperlinks to three of the articles that had been written approximately him after his passing yesterday:

• on golfchannel.com
• on foxsports.com
• on npr.org

and they'll give you an overview of what he did and what other players thought of him.

But for me, he became my notion. He made me trust that a ordinary guy may want to play in opposition to the large boys and hold his personal. I'll constantly be thankful to him for that. Rest in peace, Calvin.