Corey Pavin


Corey Allen Pavin is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and currently on the PGA Tour Champions. He spent over 150 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1986 and 1997 and achieved his highest world ranking of No. 2 in June 1996.
Pavin won 15 events on the PGA Tour, was 1991 Player of the Year and achieved one major championship victory, the 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. He finished in the top-5 on the money list in 1991, 1992, and 1995. Pavin has also won six official professional golf events internationally, on several different golf tours, making him a winner on five continents.

Life and career

Pavin was born in Oxnard, California, the son of Barbara and Jack Pavin. He attended Oxnard High School. He then attended the University of California, Los Angeles. He won two gold medals at the 1981 Maccabiah Games, the Jewish Olympics in Israel, and turned professional the following year. He quickly established himself in the sport, with three international victories in 1983, and his first PGA Tour victory at the 1984 Houston Coca-Cola Open.
He won at least one event on either the PGA Tour or the international tour nearly every year for the next decade, and topped the PGA Tour's money list in 1991, when he was the last man to achieve this without winning at least one million dollars in prize money. Pavin's success culminated in his only major victory, the 1995 U.S. Open. Rather than marking a move to a new level of achievement, however, this was soon followed by a long slide down the world rankings from a high ranking of 2nd. After Pavin won the Bank of America Colonial in 1996, he did not win another PGA Tour tournament for ten years. His 89th-place finish on the 2004 money list was the first time he had made the top one hundred since 1998. Pavin finally won his 15th career title in 2006 at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, ending a streak of 242 consecutive tournaments without a win.
Pavin played on three Ryder Cup teams: 1991, 1993, and 1995. The 1993 edition was the source of some controversy: the majority of the squad was unwilling to meet with president Bill Clinton before the cup owing to their differing political views. Pavin stated that he had voted for Bush, and so was not particularly excited at the prospect of meeting Clinton.
In 2002 he was named to the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame.
On July 27, 2006, during the first round of what would become his 15th tour title, Pavin broke the record for the fewest strokes needed to complete nine holes at a PGA Tour event, with an 8-under par score of 26. The previous record of 27 strokes was held by Mike Souchak, Andy North, Billy Mayfair and Robert Gamez, with Mayfair and Gamez' scores being 9-under par. His 36-hole total of 125 also tied the record for fewest shots taken in the first 36 holes of a PGA Tour event held by Tom Lehman, Mark Calcavecchia, and Tiger Woods.
Pavin was the only top Jewish player on the tour until 1991. In that year, he converted to Christianity. He was named the 117th-greatest Jewish athlete in the 2007 book The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes by Peter S. Horvitz.
In December 2008, Pavin was named captain for the 2010 Ryder Cup U.S. team by the PGA of America. In October 2010, the U.S. Ryder Cup team lost 13½ to 14½, against the European side.
Pavin began playing on the Champions Tour in 2010. In June 2010, he lost in a sudden death playoff to Bubba Watson at the Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour. In his 35th start, Pavin won his maiden Champions Tour event in February 2012 at the Allianz Championship. He defeated Peter Senior at the first sudden death playoff hole with a birdie to take the title, after having finished regulation play at 11 under.
Pavin made a cameo appearance playing himself in the 1996 movie Tin Cup starring Kevin Costner. In the movie, Pavin tells Fred Couples, "It's hard to believe that a guy named 'Tin Cup' might have his name beneath mine on the trophy." Pavin was married to Shannon Healy, with whom he has two children. He married Lisa Nguyen in 2003.

Amateur wins (1)

PGA Tour wins (15)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Apr 29, 1984Houston Coca-Cola Open−10 1 stroke Buddy Gardner
2May 19, 1985Colonial National Invitation−14 4 strokes Bob Murphy
3Feb 16, 1986Hawaiian Open−16 2 strokes Paul Azinger
4Sep 21, 1986Greater Milwaukee Open−16 Playoff Dave Barr
5Jan 18, 1987Bob Hope Chrysler Classic−19 1 stroke Bernhard Langer
6Feb 8, 1987Hawaiian Open −18 Playoff Craig Stadler
7Oct 16, 1988Texas Open−21 8 strokes Robert Wrenn
8Feb 10, 1991Bob Hope Chrysler Classic −29 Playoff Mark O'Meara
9May 12, 1991BellSouth Atlanta Golf Classic−16 Playoff Steve Pate
10Mar 15, 1992Honda Classic−15 Playoff Fred Couples
11Feb 13, 1994Nissan Los Angeles Open−13 2 strokes Fred Couples
12Feb 26, 1995Nissan Open −16 3 strokes Jay Don Blake, Kenny Perry
13Jun 18, 1995U.S. OpenE 2 strokes Greg Norman
14May 19, 1996MasterCard Colonial −8 2 strokes Jeff Sluman
15Jul 30, 2006U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee −20 2 strokes Jerry Kelly

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11986Greater Milwaukee Open Dave BarrWon with birdie on fourth extra hole
21987Hawaiian Open Craig StadlerWon with birdie on second extra hole
31991Bob Hope Chrysler Classic Mark O'MearaWon with birdie on first extra hole
41991BellSouth Atlanta Golf Classic Steve PateWon with par on second extra hole
51991Canon Greater Hartford Open Billy Ray Brown, Rick FehrBrown won with birdie on first extra hole
61992Honda Classic Fred CouplesWon with birdie on second extra hole
71992Southwestern Bell Colonial Bruce LietzkeLost to birdie on first extra hole
81995Kemper Open Lee JanzenLost to birdie on first extra hole
92010Travelers Championship Scott Verplank, Bubba WatsonWatson won with par on second extra hole
Pavin eliminated with par on first hole

European Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Jul 31, 1983Lufthansa German Open−13 3 strokes Seve Ballesteros, Tony Johnstone
2Jun 18, 1995U.S. OpenE 2 strokes Greg Norman

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

Sunshine Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (2)

PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11998ANZ Players Championship Stephen LeaneyLost to par on first extra hole

Other wins (6)

Champions Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12012Allianz Championship Peter SeniorWon with par on first extra hole
22013Pacific Links Hawai'i Championship Mark WiebeLost to par on second extra hole

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half way cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur
Professional