Andy Bean obit

Andy Bean, 11-time PGA Tour winner, dies after recent lung replacement surgery

 

He was not on the list.

Andy Bean, an 11-time PGA Tour winner, died Saturday, the PGA Tour confirmed. He was 70.

Born March 13, 1953, in LaFayette, Georgia, Bean was a standout collegian at the University of Florida, winning the 1973 team NCAA Championship and earning All-America honors three times. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978.

Bean turned professional in 1975 and earned his first Tour title two years later at the Doral-Eastern Open. He won three times in ’78 and then won at least once in six of the next eight seasons, his last title coming in the 1986 Byron Nelson Golf Classic.

Bean also had three wins on the PGA Tour Champions, including the 2008 Charles Schwab Cup Championship at age 55, and was a member of the 1979 and ’87 U.S. Ryder Cup teams.

It was reported last month that Bean had undergone double lung replacement surgery after a battle with COVID-19. The Tour confirmed that he passed away in his hometown of Lakeland, Florida, following a six-week fight to recover. Bean is survived by his wife, Debbie, his three daughter and his grandchildren.

Bean attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he became a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity (Florida Upsilon Chapter) and played for coach Buster Bishop's Florida Gators men's golf team from 1972 to 1975.[2] While he was a Florida student, he won four amateur tournaments. Bean and future fellow PGA Tour players Woody Blackburn, Phil Hancock, and Gary Koch were members of the Gators' 1973 team that won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and NCAA Championships. He was a first-team All-SEC selection in 1973 and 1975, and an All-American in 1973, 1974 and 1975. He graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in marketing in 1975, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1978.

Bean turned professional in 1975. He finished inside the top 35 on the money list from 1977 to 1986. In five of those years he was in the top seven. His first PGA Tour victory was at the Doral-Eastern Open in 1977, and his last was at the Byron Nelson Golf Classic in 1986. In 1978 he won three times. Bean played on the United States Ryder Cup team in 1979 and 1987 and spent several weeks ranked in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings in 1986 and 1987.

Bean never won a major championship but he finished second three times. He had a solo second-place finish behind Jack Nicklaus at the 1980 PGA Championship. At the 1983 British Open, Bean and Hale Irwin finished tied for second, one stroke behind Tom Watson; and in the 1989 PGA Championship, Bean, Mike Reid, and Curtis Strange tied for second, one stroke behind Payne Stewart.

After turning 50 in March, 2003, Bean played on the Champions Tour, where he won for the first time at the 2006 Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn. In May, 2008, he added a second Champions Tour title with a victory in the Regions Charity Classic. He won the season ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in 2008 at Sonoma, California, winning by nine shots over Gene Jones with a tournament record 20 under par total.

Bean was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.

 

Professional wins (18)

PGA Tour wins (11)

No.      Date            Tournament            Winning score Margin of

victory            Runner(s)-up

1          Mar 13, 1977            Doral-Eastern Open            −11 (67-67-71-72=277)            1 stroke            Australia David Graham

2          Jun 4, 1978            Kemper Open −15 (72-67-68-66=273)            5 strokes United States Mark Hayes, United States Andy North

3          Jun 11, 1978    Danny Thomas Memphis Classic −11 (70-68-69-70=277)            Playoff            United States Lee Trevino

4          Jul 2, 1978            Western Open −6 (70-71-75-66=282)            Playoff            United States Bill Rogers

5          Jun 10, 1979    Atlanta Classic −23 (70-67-61-67=265)            8 strokes United States Joe Inman

6          Feb 10, 1980            Hawaiian Open            −22 (71-63-66-66=266)            3 strokes United States Lee Trevino

7          Mar 1, 1981    Bay Hill Classic −18 (68-62-67-69=266)            7 strokes United States Tom Watson

8          Feb 28, 1982    Doral-Eastern Open (2)        −10 (68-69-72-69=278)            1 stroke   United States Scott Hoch, United States Mike Nicolette,

United States Jerry Pate

9          Apr 8, 1984    Greater Greensboro Open    −8 (71-67-72-70=280)            2 strokes United States George Archer

10        Mar 9, 1986    Doral-Eastern Open (3)        −12 (71-68-68-69=276)            Playoff            United States Hubert Green

11        May 11, 1986            Byron Nelson Golf Classic −11 (66-68-67-68=269)            1 stroke   United States Mark Wiebe