Jerry Pate
1 Major Championship • 90th All-Time
1
Wins
0
2nd Place
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First Win Age
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Last Win Age
Major Championship Wins
Career Highlights
- 1976 U.S. Open — Won as a 22-year-old rookie at Atlanta Athletic Club, defeating Al Geiberger and Tom Weiskopf by 2 strokes
- 1976 Canadian Open — Closed with remarkable 63 to beat Jack Nicklaus by 4 strokes just five weeks after U.S. Open win
- 1982 TPC Sawgrass — Won inaugural Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, celebrated by throwing Pete Dye and Deane Beman into the lake, then jumping in himself
- 1974 U.S. Amateur — Won as college player at Alabama; also won Eisenhower Trophy individually and played on victorious Walker Cup team
- PGA Tour — 8 career wins, all before age 29 when shoulder injuries curtailed his career
- 1981 Ryder Cup — Member of victorious U.S. team
Did You Know?
- Lake-Jumping Tradition: Jerry's famous dive into the lake at TPC Sawgrass in 1982 wasn't his first — he also jumped in after a victory in June 1981, ending a nearly three-year winless drought
- Career Cut Short: Shoulder injuries forced Pate's final PGA Tour win at age 28, robbing golf of what could have been a Hall of Fame career after his brilliant start
- Academic Achievement: In the late 1990s, Jerry returned to the University of Alabama to complete his bachelor's degree in administrative science, graduating alongside his daughter Jenni at the same 2001 ceremony