Andy Bean

Bean was born in LaFayette, Georgia in 1953,[1] and raised in Jekyll Island, Georgia, where his father was associated with a golf course. His family moved to Lakeland, Florida when he was 15, and his father bought a golf course there.[1]

He 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.[3] He was a first-team All-SEC selection in 1973 and 1975, and an All-American in 1973, 1974 and 1975.[2][4] 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.[5][6]

Bean turned professional in 1975 and had a very successful career on the PGA Tour. He finished inside the top 35 on the money list from 1977 to 1986, a stretch that included 5 top-seven finishes on the list. 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.[7]

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.[8]

After turning 50 years old in March 2003, Bean enjoyed a resurgence of his game 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.[1]

Bean lives in Lakeland, Florida, where he enjoys hunting and fishing. He and his wife Debbie have three grown daughters: Lauren, Lindsay, and Jordan.

• 1974 Eastern Amateur, Falstaff Amateur
• 1975 Dixie Amateur, Western Amateur

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

• 1995 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
• List of American Ryder Cup golfers
• List of Florida Gators men's golfers on the PGA Tour
• List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• List of Sigma Alpha Epsilon members
• List of University of Florida alumni
• List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members

• Andy Bean at the PGA Tour official site
• Andy Bean at the Japan Golf Tour official site
• Andy Bean at the Official World Golf Ranking official site