Curtis Strange

Curtis Strange
Personal information
Full name	Curtis Northrup Strange
Born	January 30, 1955 (1955-01-30) (age 54) 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
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 2)
The Masters	T2: 1985
U.S. Open	Won: 1988, 1989
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]

College

Strange was born in Norfolk, Virginia. He is a graduate of Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Strange 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".^[2]

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.

Aftermath

At this point it seemed that Strange was on the verge of building a truly great career, but oddly he 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. 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.'"^[3] 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.

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)

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 Cup (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 71 to 75 in an 18 hole playoff.

Results timeline

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.

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

References

External links

• Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
• World Golf Hall of Fame profile

Curtis Strange in the Ryder Cup v • d • e United States Ryder Cup captains 1927 Walter Hagen · 1929 Walter Hagen · 1931 Walter Hagen · 1933 Walter Hagen · 1935 Walter Hagen · 1937 Walter Hagen · 1947 Ben Hogan · 1949 Ben Hogan · 1951 Sam Snead · 1953 Lloyd Mangrum · 1955 Chick Harbert · 1957 Jack Burke, Jr. · 1959 Sam Snead · 1961 Jerry Barber · 1963 Arnold Palmer · 1965 Byron Nelson · 1967 Ben Hogan · 1969 Sam Snead · 1971 Jay Hebert · 1973 Jack Burke, Jr. · 1975 Arnold Palmer · 1977 Dow Finsterwald · 1979 Billy Casper · 1981 Dave Marr · 1983 Jack Nicklaus · 1985 Lee Trevino · 1987 Jack Nicklaus · 1989 Raymond Floyd · 1991 Dave Stockton · 1993 Tom Watson · 1995 Lanny Wadkins · 1997 Tom Kite · 1999 Ben Crenshaw · 2002 Curtis Strange · 2004 Hal Sutton · 2006 Tom Lehman · 2008 Paul Azinger · 2010 Corey Pavin v • d • e United States Ryder Cup team – 1983 Ben Crenshaw · Raymond Floyd · Bob Gilder · Jay Haas · Tom Kite · Gil Morgan · Calvin Peete · Craig Stadler · Curtis Strange · Lanny Wadkins · Tom Watson · Fuzzy Zoeller · Jack Nicklaus (non-playing captain) v • d • e United States Ryder Cup team – 1985 Raymond Floyd · Hubert Green · Peter Jacobsen · Tom Kite · Andy North · Mark O'Meara · Calvin Peete · Craig Stadler · Curtis Strange · Hal Sutton · Lanny Wadkins · Fuzzy Zoeller · Lee Trevino (non-playing captain) v • d • e United States Ryder Cup team – 1987 Andy Bean · Mark Calcavecchia · Ben Crenshaw · Tom Kite · Larry Mize · Larry Nelson · Dan Pohl · Scott Simpson · Payne Stewart · Curtis Strange · Hal Sutton · Lanny Wadkins · Jack Nicklaus (non-playing captain) v • d • e United States Ryder Cup team – 1989 Paul Azinger · Chip Beck · Mark Calcavecchia · Fred Couples · Ken Green · Tom Kite · Mark McCumber · Mark O'Meara · Payne Stewart · Curtis Strange · Lanny Wadkins · Tom Watson · Raymond Floyd (non-playing captain) v • d • e United States Ryder Cup team – 1995 Fred Couples · Ben Crenshaw · Brad Faxon · Jay Haas · Peter Jacobsen · Tom Lehman · Davis Love III · Jeff Maggert · Phil Mickelson · Corey Pavin · Loren Roberts · Curtis Strange · Lanny Wadkins (non-playing captain) v • d • e United States Ryder Cup team – 2002 Paul Azinger · Mark Calcavecchia · Stewart Cink · David Duval · Jim Furyk · Scott Hoch · Davis Love III · Phil Mickelson · Hal Sutton · David Toms · Scott Verplank · Tiger Woods · Curtis Strange (non-playing captain)