SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Lanny Wadkins, a 21-time PGA Tour winner, has been elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame through the PGA Tour Ballot and will become a Hall of Fame member as part of the Class of 2009 on November 2. The announcement was made today at Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, the Champions Tour event where Wadkins will tee off with his brother, Bobby, tomorrow.
Ninety-four percent of the PGA Tour ballots that were mailed out were returned, and Wadkins was named on 61% of the returned ballots. A complete list of percentages for the 2009 PGA Tour Ballot Candidates is below.
"I am honored and pleased to be a part of such a prestigious group," said Wadkins. "I never expected to wind up in the Hall of Fame when I started playing golf. I played for the love of the game and to compete to win. This honor is the culmination of a lot of fun, which I had throughout my career. I am extremely pleased to share this honor with my family and friends who supported me for so long. For many, I know this means as much to them as it does to me, and I appreciate all of their support."
"Lanny Wadkins' reputation as one of the most fiercely competitive players of his generation was demonstrated time and time again, including his victories at the 1977 PGA Championship, where he won a sudden-death playoff, and at the 1979 PLAYERS Championship, when he overcame gale force conditions to win by five strokes," PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said. "His tournament record, coupled with his stout Ryder Cup success and time spent as a CBS analyst, rounds out a remarkable Hall of Fame career."
He was named Rookie of the Year in 1972 by Golf Digest and is among the top 30 on the all-time PGA Tour victory list. Wadkins was voted PGA Player of the Year in 1985, a year he won three TOUR titles.
Beginning in 1977, Wadkins played on the U.S. Ryder Cup Team eight times (a record he shares with Raymond Floyd and Billy Casper) and his 20-11-3 record is among the strongest in the history of the event. He served as U.S. Ryder Cup Team Captain in 1995.
A native of Richmond, Va., Wadkins attended Wake Forest University on a golf scholarship and was named Collegiate All-American in 1970 and 1971. He earned numerous amateur titles before turning professional, most notably the 1970 United States Amateur Championship. He was also a member of the U.S. Walker Cup teams in 1969 and 1971.
Wadkins was victorious in his first Champions Tour start, the 2000 ACE Group Classic, while splitting time between competition and the CBS broadcast booth, where he was lead analyst for the network's golf telecasts from 2002 through 2006.
Wadkins also claimed international wins in Australia, Canada, Japan and Colombia, and unofficial events in the United States, including 1980 PGA Grand Slam of Golf.
"Lanny Wadkins has enjoyed tremendous success at every turn of his career, from his days as an amateur, to his PGA Tour career to his position as one of the finest Ryder Cup players this country has ever produced," said Jack Peter, Senior Vice President and COO of the World Golf Hall of Fame. "It is certainly fitting that Wadkins' career is capped by receiving golf's highest honor - election into the World Golf Hall of Fame."
Additional announcements for the 2009 Class of Inductees are being scheduled in the coming weeks. The 2009 World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla. on Monday, Nov. 2.
For more information about the World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Process or the 2009 Induction Ceremony, visit www.wgv.com.
World Golf Hall of Fame, located at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla., honors and celebrates golf's greatest players and contributors. A World Golf Foundation initiative, the Hall of Fame represents collaboration among 26 national and international golf organizations, including the PGA TOUR, LPGA, USGA, Augusta National, PGA of America, The European Tour and The R&A. The museum houses interactive exhibits and historic and personal artifacts that tell the stories of its members and the game of golf. For more information, visit www.wgv.com.
As sole founding partner of World Golf Hall of Fame, The First Tee and World Golf Village, Shell Oil Company provides financial support and plays the lead role in charitable initiatives aimed at introducing golf to young people, and through the golf experience promotes scholastic achievement, community service and those values intrinsic to the game of golf: honesty, integrity and sportsmanship.
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