Thomas Andrew Bean (March 13, 1953 – October 14, 2023) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

and the

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

. Bean won numerous tournaments at both the amateur and professional level. Bean won 11 PGA Tour events, including the 1986 Byron Nelson Golf Classic, and three events on the Champions Tour, including a nine-stroke victory at the 2008

Charles Schwab Cup Championship The Charles Schwab Cup Championship is the final event of the season on the U.S.-based PGA Tour Champions, the world's leading golf tour for male professionals aged 50 and above. Played in late October or early November each year, it is PGA Tour ...

Early life

Bean was born in

LaFayette, Georgia LaFayette ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Walker County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 6,888. It was founded as Chattooga. LaFayette is part of the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical ...

, on March 13, 1953, and raised on

Jekyll Island, Georgia Jekyll Island is an island located in Glynn County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-s ...

, where his father was associated with a golf course. His family moved to

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...

, when he was 15, and his father bought a golf course there.

Amateur career

Bean attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

, where he became a member of the

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856.Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905).Baird's Manual of American College Fratern ...

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

( Florida Upsilon Chapter) and played for coach

Buster Bishop Bernays Emery "Buster" Bishop (1920 – November 19, 2004) was an American college golf coach. Bishop was best known for leading the Florida Gators men's golf team of the University of Florida to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

's Florida Gators men's golf team from 1972 to 1975.. While he was a Florida student, he won four amateur tournaments. Bean and future fellow PGA Tour players Woody Blackburn,

Phil Hancock Phillip Ranson Hancock (October 30, 1953 – December 12, 2024) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. Early life Hancock learned to play golf growing up in Greenville, Alabama, from his father a local dentist. Hancoc ...

, and

Gary Koch Gary D. Koch (born November 21, 1952) is an American professional golfer, sportscaster and golf course designer, who formerly played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour. Early years Koch was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana ...

were members of the Gators' 1973 team that won the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) and NCAA Championships. He was a first-team All-SEC selection in 1973 and 1975, and an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 1973, 1974 and 1975. He graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in marketing in 1975.

Professional career

Bean turned professional in 1975. He finished inside the top 35 on the money list from 1977 to 1986. In five of those years he was in the top seven. His first PGA Tour victory was at the

Doral-Eastern Open The Doral Open was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in the southeastern United States. It was played annually for 45 seasons, from 1962 to 2006, on the "Blue Monster" course at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Doral, Florida, a subu ...

in 1977, and his last was at the Byron Nelson Golf Classic in 1986. In 1978 he won three times. Bean played on the United States

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

team in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and spent several weeks ranked in the top 10 of the

Official World Golf Rankings The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

in 1986 and 1987. Bean never won a major championship but he finished second three times. He had a solo second-place finish behind

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

at the

1980 PGA Championship The 1980 PGA Championship was the 62nd PGA Championship, held August 7–10 at the East Course of Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. Jack Nicklaus won his fifth PGA Championship, seven strokes ahead of runner-up Andy Bean. The victory ...

. At the 1983 British Open, Bean and

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. ...

finished tied for second, one stroke behind Tom Watson; and in the

1989 PGA Championship The 1989 PGA Championship was the 71st PGA Championship, held August 10–13 at Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Long Grove, Illinois, northwest of Chicago. Payne Stewart won the first of his three major championships, one stroke ahead of runners-up ...

, Bean, Mike Reid, and

Curtis Strange Curtis Northrup Strange (born January 30, 1955) is an American professional golfer and TV color commentator. He is the winner of consecutive U.S. Open titles and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spe ...

tied for second, one stroke behind

Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane acciden ...

. After turning 50 in March, 2003, Bean played on the

, where he won for the first time at the 2006 Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn. In May, 2008, he added a second Champions Tour title with a victory in the

Regions Charity Classic The Regions Charity Classic, formerly known as the Bruno's Memorial Classic, was an American golf tournament on the Champions Tour. It was originally held at Greystone Golf & Country Club and moved to Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa, one of ten c ...

. He won the season ending

in 2008 at

Sonoma, California Sonoma () is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma' ...

, winning by nine shots over Gene Jones with a tournament record 20-under-par total.

Personal life and death

Bean lived in Lakeland, Florida, where he enjoyed hunting and fishing. He and his wife Debbie had three daughters: Lauren, Lindsay, and Jordan. Bean died from complications of double

lung transplant Lung transplantation, or pulmonary transplantation, is a surgical procedure in which one or both lungs are replaced by lungs from a donor. Donor lungs can be retrieved from a living or deceased donor. A living donor can only donate one Lobes of t ...

surgery in Lakeland on October 14, 2023. He was 70.

Awards and honors

* In 1978, Bean was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great." * In 2000, Bean was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.

Amateur wins

*1974

Eastern Amateur The Eastern Amateur is an annual amateur golf tournament. It has been played at Elizabeth Manor Golf and Country Club in Portsmouth, Virginia since 1957; the only exceptions were in 1977 when it was played at Sleepy Hole Golf Course in Suffolk, Virg ...

, Falstaff Amateur *1975 Dixie Amateur,

Western Amateur The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association. The Western Amateur features an international field of top-ranked amateur golfers. It was firs ...

Professional wins (18)

PGA Tour wins (11)

PGA Tour playoff record (3–3)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (2)

Other wins (2)

Champions Tour wins (3)

Champions Tour playoff record (1–0)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (1983 U.S. Open – 1985 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1980 Open Championship – 1980 PGA)

Results in The Players Championship

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

U.S. national team appearances

(winners),

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bean, Andy American male golfers Florida Gators men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Georgia (U.S. state) Golfers from Florida People from LaFayette, Georgia Sportspeople from Walker County, Georgia People from Glynn County, Georgia Sportspeople from Lakeland, Florida Sigma Alpha Epsilon members 1953 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen