Athletes - Tom Kite

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	Athletes - Tom Kite

Tom Kite (born December 9, 1949 in Austin, Texas) is an American golfer.

Career outline

Kite began playing golf at age 6 and won his first tournament at age 11. Kite attended the University of Texas on a golf scholarship and was coached by Harvey Penick. He turned professional in 1972 and has been a consistent money winner ever since. Known for his innovation, he was the first to add a third wedge to his bag, one of the first players to use a sports psychologist and one of the first to emphasize physical fitness for game improvement.

He has 19 PGA TOUR victories, including the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He competed on seven Ryder Cup squads and served as the 1997 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain.

In 1989 he was named PGA of America Player of the Year; in 1981 the Golf Writers Association Player of the Year, the Vardon Trophy winner in 1981 & 1980, Bob Jones Award recipient in 1979 and Golf Digest Rookie of the Year in 1973.

Tom Kite was the first in Tour history to reach $6 million, $7 million, $8 million, and $9 million in career earnings. He was the Tour’s leading money-winner in 1981 and 1989.

In 2005 he led the PGA Tour's Booz Allen Classic by one shot going into the final round at the age of 55. If he had been able to stay ahead he would have beaten Sam Snead's record as the oldest winner on the PGA Tour by three years, but he fell away to finish tied thirteenth, seven shots behind Sergio Garcia.

Kite currently plays the over 50s Champions Tour, where he has eight victories including one senior major.

PGA Tour wins

1976 IVB-Bicentennial Golf Classic
1978 B.C. Open
1981 American Motors Inverrary Classic
1982 Bay Hill Classic
1983 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am
1984 Doral-Eastern Open, Georgia-Pacific Atlanta Golf Classic
1985 MONY Tournament of Champions
1986 Western Open
1987 Kemper Open
1989 Nestle Invitational, The Players Championship, Nabisco Championship
1990 Federal Express St. Jude Classic
1991 Infiniti Tournament of Champions
1992 BellSouth Classic, U.S. Open
1993 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Nissan Los Angeles Open

Kite's major championship is shown in bold.

Champions Tour wins

2000 The Countrywide Tradition, SBC Senior Open
2001 Gold Rush Classic
2002 MasterCard Championship, SBC Senior Classic, Napa Valley Championship
2004 3M Championship
2006 AT&T Classic

Kite's senior major is shown in bold.

Other wins

1972 NCAA Championship(individual (tie); amateur event)
1974 Air New Zealand Open
1980 European Open
1981 JCPenney Classic (with Beth Daniel
)
1987 Kirin Cup (individual)
1989 Alfred Dunhill Cup (team)
1992 Shark Shootout (with Davis Love III
}
1996 Oki Pro-Am, Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (with Jay Haas
).

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Tom Kite ]

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