Calvin Peete Dies at 71

12-Time PGA Tour champion was one of the most accurate drivers ever

Wire Reports

Calvin Peete, who won 12 PGA TOUR events and led the tour in driving accuracy for 10 consecutive years from 1981-90, has died in Atlanta at age 71.

Following in the footsteps of Pete Brown, Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder, Peete was of the few African-Americans to compete on the tour.

And until the advent of Tiger Woods, he was the most successful.

During his 25-year career, Peete won more than $3 million in tournament purses. In 1982, he tied Craig Stadler and Tom Watson with four PGA Tour victories, and in 1985 he captured the Players Championship, which he called “my mountaintop.”

The Detroit native won the Vardon Trophy in 1984, awarded annually to the Tour's overall scoring leader. He also competed in the 1983 and 1985 Ryder Cups, where he posted a 4-2-1 individual record.

Despite—or perhaps because of—a left elbow that couldn't bend fully, Peete ranks as one of golf's all-time straightest drivers. How straight? Since 1980, only four times has a player hit at least 82.6 percent of his fairways in one season. Calvin Peete did it all four times.

Peete's wife, Pepper, and seven children survive him.

“Along with his wife, Pepper, he made such a difference working with The First Tee and junior golf in the Ponte Vedra Beach area,” PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said. “Calvin will always be remembered as a great champion and an individual who consistently gave back to the game. We will dearly miss him.”

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