Memorable Moments: Peete goes from rags to riches
 
Apr. 26, 2007

Editor's Note: This is the seventh in a series of 12 vignettes about memorable moments in the history of THE PLAYERS Championship. The 2007 event will be played May 10-13 on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

Calvin Peete looks back to 1985 to find one of to the highlight of his golf career, the completion of a rags-to-riches to story.

"Starting at 23, and to accomplish what I did, it has been the highlight of my life," he said. "And the highlight of that was winning THE PLAYERS Championship."

peete_200.jpg
Calvin Peete called his 1985 win, "the highlight of my life."

Peete, one of 19 children, was self taught. He won 11 of his 12 TOUR titles from 1982-86, with THE PLAYERS being the jewel. He outdueled D.A. Weibring to capture THE PLAYERS, utilizing his precise driving and iron play to win. From 1981-90, Peete led the TOUR in driving accuracy.

When Weibring surged on Sunday's back nine with a 4-under-par 32, Peete countered with the same finishing nine. Peete's 14-under-par 274 total set the record low score on the Stadium Course until Mark McCumber broke it three years later.

Today, far removed from his PGA TOUR career and three years into Champions Tour retirement, Peete, 61, remains an integral part of the game. He may be gone from the public eye, but the son of a migrant farm worker keeps interested on his own terms.

Peete loves working with The First Tee program in Jacksonville, and those he helped were so appreciative they named a park after him in St. Augustine. Peete works with young golfers despite being diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome in the late 1990s, a nervous disorder that causes involuntary movement of muscles or muscle groups.