Gary George Hallberg (born May 31, 1958) 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 has 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 ...

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. ...

, and Champions Tour.

Amateur career

Hallberg was born in

Berwyn, Illinois Berwyn () is a suburban city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, Coterminous municipality, coterminous with Berwyn Township, Illinois, Berwyn Township, which was formed in 1908 after breaking off from Cicero Township, Cook County, Illinois, ...

. He attended

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

and was a member of the

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 ...

team. He was a member of the 1977 Walker Cup team. In addition, Hallberg was the individual medalist at the 1979 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships. There were expectations that he would turn pro at this time. However, Hallberg asserted that he intended to return to Wake Forest for his senior year. Hallberg was the first four-time, first-team All-American in the history of intercollegiate golf. As of May 1979, Hallberg intended to try to qualify for the PGA Tour at Fall 1980 PGA Tour Qualifying School.

Professional career

Hallberg was able to circumvent the

PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament The annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, also known as Qualifying School or Q-School, was historically the main method by which golfers earned PGA Tour playing privileges, commonly known as a Tour card. From 2013 to 2022, Q-School granted privil ...

, however. He was the first player to obtain his PGA Tour card by winning a set level of money (in this case $8,000 in 1980) rather than by going to q-school. Hallberg won three PGA Tour events during his career. He was PGA Tour ''Rookie of the Year'' in 1980. His best finish in major championships was a T-6 at both the 1984

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 ...

and

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major golf championships, men's major championships in Professional golf tours, professional golf. Schedul ...

in 1985. At the 1991 Open Championship, Hallberg was tied for the lead after 36 holes before finishing T32. During his late forties, he played mostly on the

, winning once. Hallberg began playing on the Champions Tour in 2008 after turning 50. He won his first title in 2010 at the Ensure Classic at Rock Barn. He shot a final round of 11-under par 61 in the final round to come from behind and win by one over

Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples (born October 3, 1959) is an American professional golfer who has competed on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. A former World No. 1, he has won 64 professional tournaments, most notably the Masters Tournament ...

and by two over

Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first number one ranked playe ...

. The win made him the fourth player to win on all the PGA Tour sponsored tours (PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and Champions Tour). Hallberg has also done some analyst work for CNBC and

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

. He lives in

Castle Rock, Colorado Castle Rock is a home rule town that is the county seat and the most-populous municipality of Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The town’s population was 73,158 at the 2020 census, a 51.68% increase since the 2010 census. Castle Ro ...

. Gary's son Eric is also a professional golfer who qualified for the PGA Tour's 2015 Frys.com Open, and has also qualified to play on the

Korn Ferry 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. ...

, PGA Tour Latinoamérica and

PGA Tour Canada PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, was a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States–based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed ...

Amateur wins

*1976 Western Junior *1978

North and South Amateur The North and South Men's Amateur Golf Championship, commonly known as the North and South Amateur, is an annual golf tournament held since 1901 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina, US. An invitational tournament, participants ar ...

*1979

, NCAA Division I Championship

Professional wins (12)

PGA Tour wins (3)

''*Note: The 1992 Buick Southern Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.'' PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

Buy.com Tour wins (1)

South American Golf Circuit wins (1)

*1980 Argentine Open

Other wins (5)

*1977 Illinois Open Championship (as an amateur) *1981 Lille Open (France) *1982 Illinois Open Championship *1986 Chrysler Team Championship (with

Scott Hoch Scott Mabon Hoch ( ; born November 24, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who represented his country in the Ryder Cup in 1997 and 2002. Early life Hoch was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. While attending Needham B. Broughton High Scho ...

) *1988 Jerry Ford Invitational

Champions Tour wins (1)

Results in major championships

LA = low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (1992 U.S. Open – 1993 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1984 PGA – 1985 Masters)

Results in The Players Championship

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

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

(winners)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallberg, Gary American male golfers Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers American golf commentators Golfers from Illinois Golfers from Colorado Sportspeople from Berwyn, Illinois People from Castle Rock, Colorado Sportspeople from Douglas County, Colorado 1958 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen