Larry Gene Nelson (born September 10, 1947) 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 at both 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 Champions Tour level.

Early life and amateur career

Nelson was born in

Fort Payne, Alabama Fort Payne is a city in and county seat of DeKalb County, in northeastern Alabama, United States. It is near Lookout Mountain. At the 2020 census, the population was 14,877. This city developed around a fort of the same name, built in the 183 ...

and grew up in

Acworth, Georgia Acworth is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, this city had a population of 22,440, up from 20,425 in 2010. Acworth is located in the foothills of the North Georg ...

, northwest of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He did not play the game growing up – atypical for a successful professional golfer – focusing on

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. Nelson took up golf at the age of 21, after he returned from serving in the infantry in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

(Nelson was a 20-year-old newlywed when he was drafted into the U.S. Army). Nelson was first introduced to golf by Ken Hummel, a soldier and friend in his infantry unit, and Nelson carefully studied

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory, hi ...

's book ''The Five Fundamentals of Golf'' while learning how to play the game. He soon discovered that he had a talent for the game, breaking 100 the first time he played and 70 within nine months. Nelson went on to graduate from Kennesaw Junior College in 1970.

Professional career

In 1971, Nelson turned professional. He qualified for the

at 1973 PGA Tour Qualifying School. Nelson's breakthrough year came in 1979 when he won twice and finished second on the money list to Tom Watson. Nelson won 10 times on the

including three major championships. He earned his first major title at the 1981 PGA Championship which he won by four strokes over

Fuzzy Zoeller Frank Urban "Fuzzy" Zoeller Jr. (; born November 11, 1951) is an American professional golfer who has won ten PGA Tour events including two major championships. He is one of three golfers to have won the Masters Tournament in his first appea ...

. In 1983, Nelson was victorious at the U.S. Open at Oakmont coming from seven behind at the halfway point to defeat Tom Watson by a single shot. Nelson scored a U.S. Open record 65-67 over the last 36 holes at the difficult Oakmont course which broke a 51-year Open record established by Gene Sarazen. His 10-under-par 132 record score has yet to be equaled. In 1987, he finished tied with

Lanny Wadkins Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins Jr. (born December 5, 1949) is an American professional golfer. He won 21 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including one Men's major golf championships, major, the 1977 PGA Championship. He ranked in the top 10 of the Of ...

after the regulation 72 holes of 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 won the title with a par at the first playoff hole. Nelson played on the U.S.

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, 1981, and 1987. His record of 9–3–1 is one of the best since the event became USA v Europe in 1979; it had been a perfect 9–0–0 after the first two events. Nelson also had great success internationally. He won four tournaments on the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

. Nelson also finished runner-up at the 1982 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, 1985 Suntory Open, and the 1987 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters in Japan. In addition, in 1987 he finished runner-up at the

New Zealand Open The New Zealand Open is the premier men's golf tournament in New Zealand. It has been a regular fixture on the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule since the 1970s. The 2019 event was the 100th edition of the tournament. Since 2014 it has ...

on the PGA Tour of Australia. He lost to Northern Ireland's

Ronan Rafferty Ronan Patrick Rafferty (born 13 January 1964) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who formerly played on the European Tour. He won the European Tour Harry Vardon Trophy, Order of Merit in 1989 European Tour, 1989. Early life Rafferty was ...

in a sudden-death playoff. Since turning 50 in 1997, Nelson has had a very successful Champions Tour career, winning 19 times. Nelson is also active in golf course design and created th
LagRx Swing Trainer
to help golfers condition and improve their muscle memory.

Honors

Nelson was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in October 2006. In 2011, Nelson received the PGA Distinguished Service Award from the

PGA of America The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American organization of golf professionals that was founded in 1916. Consisting of nearly 29,000 members, the PGA of America's undertaking is to establish and elevate t ...

. The award "honors outstanding individuals who display leadership and humanitarian qualities, including integrity, sportsmanship and enthusiasm for the game of golf".

Professional wins (41)

PGA Tour wins (10)

PGA Tour playoff record (3–2)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (4)

''*Note: The 1983 Dunlop International Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.''
¹Co-sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (2–1)

Other wins (2)

*1978 Georgia Open *1988 PGA Grand Slam of Golf (United States - unofficial event)

Champions Tour wins (19)

Champions Tour playoff record (2–3)

Other senior wins (6)

*1999 Chrysler Senior Match Play Challenge *2004 Office Depot Father/Son Challenge (with son Drew) *2007 Del Webb Father/Son Challenge (with son Josh) *2008 Del Webb Father/Son Challenge (with son Drew) *2015 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf (Legends division, with Bruce Fleisher) *2016 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf (Legends division, with Bruce Fleisher)

Playoff record

PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (0–1)

Major championships

Wins (3)

¹Defeated Wadkins with a par on the first extra hole.

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut (3rd round cut in 1984 Open Championship)
DQ = disqualified
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1978 PGA – 1980 Open Championship) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1981 PGA – 1982 Masters)

Results in The Players Championship

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

U.S. national team appearances

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 ...

(winners),

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...