Larry Laoretti (born July 11, 1939) is an American

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 ...

er.

Early life

Laoretti was born in

Mahopac, New York Mahopac ( or ) is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the town of Carmel in Putnam County, New York, United States. Also known as Lake Mahopac, the exurb is located some north of New York City, on U.S. Route 6 at the county's southern ce ...

. He worked for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

in his early adulthood.

Professional career

For most of his career as a golfer, Laoretti worked as a club professional. He won no tournaments of note until he was past 50. His best finish in a

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 ...

was T-49 at the 1966

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 ...

. In 1989, Laoretti won both the regular and senior Florida PGA championships, and he joined the

Senior PGA 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 ...

the following season. In

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, he won the U.S. Senior Open. His trademark was playing, including during his swing, with a li
cigar in his mouth

Professional wins (1)

Senior PGA Tour wins (1)

Senior major championships

Wins (1)

U.S. national team appearances

Professional *

Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge The Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge was an unofficial golf event held in November at the Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada at Reflection Bay Golf Club. The tournament was a unique stroke play event, and, as the name suggests, pitted three teams, ...

(representing Senior PGA Tour): 1992

References

External links

* American male golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Winners of senior major golf championships Golfers from New York (state) Golfers from Jupiter, Florida People from Mahopac, New York Sportspeople from Titusville, Florida 1939 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-golf-bio-stub