Best Golfers from Every State: Nebraska Golf and Mark Calcavecchia
We continue our best golfers series by taking a look at Nebraska Golf, and the best product from the state, Mark Calcavecchia.
We’ve passed the halfway point in our series of best golfers from every state. We head back to the Midwest and Nebraska Golf to see who can join some other Midwest winners, including Gary Woodland and Tom Watson. The honor goes to Mark Calcavecchia.
You could tell Calc was talented early on, as he would win a state title while in high school playing golf. Moving on to Florida to play college ball, he earned a first-team honor while he was there, placing him on the path to professional golf, starting in 1981.
There weren’t a lot of other contenders, making it easy to pick Mark Calcavecchia as the top Nebraska Golf product.
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It would be a rough few first years on Tour for Calc. He lost his card in 85 but gained it right back in 86 when he won his first professional tournament.
After winning a tournament a year in 86, 87, and 88, 1989 would be the best year of his career. Two early wins would put him on track, but it would be during the summer at Royal Troon that would cement 89 as his best year.
The Open Championship in 1989 would be the lone major of his career. It was good that he won that year, as he rarely contended in majors. With only seven top-ten finishes, Calc winning in 1989 was an opportunity well-taken advantage of.
His great start and play during 1989 would also lead to the highest ranking of his career, as he would make it to number five in the world rankings.
He would go on to win an event every couple of years for the next two decades, finishing in 2007 with a win at the PODS Championship. His every couple of years’ trend of winning continued once he got to the Champions Tour, as he has won four times during the most recent decade.
Next. Best Golfers from Every State: Montana Golf and Edean Anderson Ihlanfeldt. dark
With 29 total wins in his career, 13 of which came on the PGA Tour, it’s understandable how Mark Calcavecchia takes the honor of the top of those to be born into Nebraska Golf.