African-American golf great Calvin Peete dead at 71
African-American golf great Calvin Peete has died at the age of 71.
Born in Detroit on July 18, 1943, Peete notched 12 PGA Tour wins, including the 1985 Players Championship. He won four times in 1982, finishing fourth on the money list that year. He also had two-win seasons in 1983, ’85 and ’86.
Peete was a member of the 1983 and ’85 Ryder Cup teams, earning a 4-2-1 mark. He won the 1984 Vardon Trophy, awarded to the player with the PGA Tour’s lowest scoring average.
Despite suffering from a broken arm as a child that was never set right, Peete was one of the most accurate drivers of the ball in PGA Tour history. For 10 years, from 1981-1990, Peete led the Tour in driving accuracy. In 1983, he hit an astounding 84.55 percent of fairways. He’s the only player in the last 35 years to lead the PGA Tour in both driving accuracy and greens in regulation, doing so in 1981, ’82 and ’83.
Peete posted three top-four finishes in the majors, including a T-3 finish in the 1982 PGA, and T-4 efforts in the 1983 U.S. Open and 1984 PGA.
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