Robert Raymond Tway IV (born May 4, 1959) 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 ...

. He has won numerous tournaments including eight

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 ...

victories. He spent 25 weeks in the top 10 of the

Official World Golf Ranking 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 1986–87.

Early life

Tway was born in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. He was introduced to

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

at the age of five by his father and grandfather. He participated in his first tournament at age seven. He won the Redding Country Club Championship as a junior golfer in

Redding, Connecticut Redding is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Regi ...

. Tway attended Joseph Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia.

Amateur career

Tway attended

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater is the tenth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and the county seat of Payne County, Oklahoma, Payne County. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177#Oklahoma, U.S. Route 177 and Oklahoma S ...

, where he had a distinguished career as a member of the golf team — a three-time, first-team

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 ...

his last three years. In 1978, Tway's freshman year, the

Cowboys A cowboy is a professional pastoralist or mounted livestock herder, usually from the Americas or Australia. Cowboy(s) or The Cowboy(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''Cowboy'' (1958 film), starring Glenn Ford * ''Cowboy'' (1966 film), ...

, led by seniors Lindy Miller and David Edwards, won the NCAA Championship. When Oklahoma State won again two years later, Tway was their star player. He was the winner of the

Haskins Award The Haskins Award is presented annually by the Haskins Commission to honor the most outstanding collegiate golfer in the United States. The award is named in memory of Fred Haskins, former golf teaching professional at the Country Club of Columbus ...

in his senior year.

Professional career

Tway turned pro in 1981 and joined the PGA Tour in 1985. In 1986, he was named PGA Player of the Year and finished the season with four victories including one

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

. He was second on the final money list that year — just a few dollars behind

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...

. The 1986 PGA Championship was held at the Inverness Club in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. Tway finished with a score of 276 — a two-stroke margin of victory over

. Tway holed a greenside bunker shot at the 18th hole on the final day, among the most memorable shots in golf history. Tway is also known for recording the worst score on the 17th Hole at

TPC Sawgrass The Tournament Players Club Sawgrass (TPC Sawgrass) is a golf course in the southeastern United States, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, southeast of Jacksonville. The course opened in the autumn of 1980 and was the first of several Tourn ...

, which occurred during the third round of the 2005 Players Championship. His first four attempts ended up in the water. After finally hitting the green on his fifth attempt, he three putted for 12 to go from 7-under-par and 4 strokes out of the lead to 2-over-par and 13 behind the leader. Tway has PGA Tour career earnings in excess of 15.7 million dollars. Upon reaching the age of 50 in May 2009, Tway began play on 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 ...

. His best finish in that venue is T-2 at the 2009 Administaff Small Business Classic, two strokes behind tournament winner John Cook.

Personal life

Tway lives in

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States. It is a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, located in Central Oklahoma. Its population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States census, a 16% increase from 2010. maki ...

. His son, Kevin Tway, is a professional golfer and has won on the PGA Tour.

Amateur wins

''this list may be incomplete'' *1978 Trans-Mississippi Amateur *1980 Southern Amateur

Professional wins (13)

PGA Tour wins (8)

''*Note: The 1986 Shearson Lehman Brothers Andy Williams Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.'' PGA Tour playoff record (4–4)

Other wins (5)

*1980 Georgia Open (as an amateur, tie with Tim Simpson) *1985

Oklahoma Open The Oklahoma Open is the Oklahoma state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Oklahoma Golf Association. It has been played every year since 1910 at a variety of courses around the state. It wa ...

*1987

, Chrysler Team Championship (with

Mike Hulbert Michael Patrick Hulbert (born April 14, 1958) is an American professional golfer and sportscaster. Hulbert was born in Elmira, New York. He grew up in Horseheads (village), New York, Horseheads, New York, and was a childhood friend and high scho ...

) *1988 Fred Meyer Challenge (with

Paul Azinger Paul William Azinger (born January 6, 1960) is an American professional golfer and TV golf He won 12 times on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1993 PGA Championship. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official Wo ...

)

Playoff record

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (0–1)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1987 U.S. Open – 1988 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1986 Masters – 1986 U.S. Open)

Results in The Players Championship

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

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

(winners) Professional *

Four Tours World Championship The Four Tours World Championship was an annual professional golf tournament that was played from 1985 to 1991. It was played between teams representing the four main professional tours: the American PGA Tour, the PGA European Tour, the PGA Tour o ...

: 1986, 1991 *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tway, Bob American male golfers Oklahoma State Cowboys golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Golfers from Oklahoma Sportspeople from Oklahoma City Sportspeople from Edmond, Oklahoma 1959 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen