Bob Friend (born December 5, 1963) is 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

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

Early life

Friend's father is the former MLB

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Bob Friend Robert Bartmess Friend (November 24, 1930 – February 3, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher between and , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. A fou ...

(1930–2019).

Professional career

In 1990, Friend joined the

Ben Hogan Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

. He recorded five top-10 finishes including a second-place finish at the Ben Hogan El Paso Open. The following year, in 1991, he won the Ben Hogan Fort Wayne Open. Late in the year he attended 1991 PGA Tour Qualifying School and earned his PGA Tour card. In 1992, his rookie year on tour, he didn't play well enough to retain full-time status but his 137th-place finish gave him partial status. In 1993, Friend split time between the PGA Tour and its developmental tour. His main highlights of the year coming on the Nationwide Tour where he recorded a second-place finish and a joint third-place finish. In 1994, Friend played full-time on the Nationwide Tour where he recorded five top-10 finishes and two third-place finishes. He struggled in 1995 but recorded two top-10 finishes. He didn't play on Tour in 1996 and returned to the Nationwide Tour in 1997 where he recorded three top-10 finishes. He returned to the PGA Tour in 1998, earning his card through qualifying school. He played very well during his second stint on Tour, finishing 57th on the money list. He lost in a playoff to

Billy Andrade William Thomas Andrade (born January 25, 1964) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Champions Tour. He was previously a member of the PGA Tour, where he was a four-time winner. Early life Andrade was born in Bris ...

at the

Bell Canadian Open The Canadian Open () is a professional golf tournament in Canada. It is co-organized by Golf Canada (formerly known as the Royal Canadian Golf Association) and the PGA Tour. It was first played in 1904, and has been held annually since then, ex ...

and recorded three top-10 finishes. He didn't play as well the following year and had to go through qualifying school to retain his card. In 2000, his final year on the PGA Tour, he struggled and returned to the Nationwide Tour the following year where he would play until 2003.

Personal life

Friend is father of three children. He currently works as a real estate agent for Howard Hanna Real Estate in the Fox Chapel area.

Amateur wins (7)

*1984 Western Pennsylvania AmateurLove of golf good reason for Friend to play on
/ref> *1985 Western Pennsylvania Amateur,

Pennsylvania Amateur The Pennsylvania Amateur Golf Championship is an annual golf tournament in the American state of Pennsylvania. Jay Sigel Robert Jay Sigel (November 13, 1943 – April 19, 2025) was an American professional golfer. He enjoyed one of the more i ...

*1986 SEC Championship,

Monroe Invitational The Monroe Invitational Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament in the United States, played since 1937 at Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford, New York, a suburb southeast of Rochester. Originally a match play event, it switched to 72-hole s ...

Northeast Amateur The Northeast Amateur is an amateur golf tournament played annually at the Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, Rhode Island. It was first played in 1962. In December 2021, the Northeast Amateur joined with six other tournaments to form the Elit ...

, Mid-Atlantic Amateur

Professional wins (2)

Nike Tour wins (1)

Nike Tour playoff record (1–1)

Other wins (1)

*1998

Panama Open The Panama Open was a golf tournament played from 1938 to 1982, during which time it was won by some of the biggest names in professional golf, including Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer. It was an event on the PGA-sponsored Caribbean Tour between 19 ...

Playoff record

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Friend, Bob American male golfers LSU Tigers golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfers from Pittsburgh Golfers from West Virginia 1963 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen