Fuzzy Zoeller

Full Name

ZELL-er

Pronunciation

5 ft, 10 in (178 cm)

Height

190 lbs (86 kg)

Weight

November 11, 1951

Birthday

70

AGE

New Albany, Indiana

Birthplace

Floyds Knobs, Indiana

Residence

Wife, Diane; Sunnye Noel, Heide Leigh, Gretchen Marie, Miles Remington

Family

Edison (Florida) Junior College; University of Houston

College

1973

Turned Pro

$10,473,314

Career Earnings

Floyds Knob, IN, United States

City Plays From

JOINED TOUR

PGA TOUR Champions: 2002

PGA TOUR Victories (10)

1979 Season

Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational
Masters Tournament

1981 Season

Colonial National Invitation

1983 Season

Sea Pines Heritage
Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic

1984 Season

U.S. Open Championship

1985 Season

Hertz Bay Hill Classic

1986 Season

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
Sea Pines Heritage
Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic

PGA TOUR Champions Victories (2)

2002 Season

Senior PGA Championship

2004 Season

MasterCard Championship

International Victories (3)

2002 Senior Slam
2008 Wendy's Champions Skins Game [with Peter Jacobsen]
2009 Wendy's Champions Skins Game [with Ben Crenshaw]

Additional Victories (6)

1972 Florida State Junior College Championship [indiv]
1973 Indiana State Amateur
1985 Skins Game
1986 Skins Game
1987 Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out Championship
2003 Tylenol Par-3 Challenge

PLAYOFF RECORD

PGA TOUR (2-2)

1979 Defeated Ed Sneed, Tom Watson, Masters Tournament
1983 Lost to Jim Colbert, Colonial National Invitation
1984 Defeated Greg Norman, U.S. Open Championship
1994 Lost to Mark McCumber, THE TOUR Championship

Personal

Always a gallery favorite because of his humor and relaxed approach to the game.
Has an interest in golf-course design and one of his projects is TPC Summerlin, host course of the PGA TOUR's Las Vegas event.
Won USGA's Bob Jones Award in 1985, an award given in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.
Lists Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan as his favorite athletes. Arnold Palmer was his idol growing up.
Enjoys the outdoors and went sheep hunting in Alaska in 2001.
Ran the successful and popular Wolf Challenge in his hometown for several years, which benefited area charities. The event has raised more than $2 million since its inception.
Came out with his own line of vodka in the summer of 2009.
Sponsors IndyCar driver Ed Carpenter, who drives the car emblazoned with "Fuzzy's Vodka." Carpenter won the pole position at the 2013 and 2014 Indianapolis 500 and eventually finished 10th and 27th, respectively.

Special Interests

All sports, golf course design

Career Highlights

2017 Season

Played in just one event during the year at the Principal Charity Classic

2016 Season

Played in just five events and none after the Principal Charity Classic in June.

2015 Season

Competed in just six events during the season. Was chosen as the winner of the Bruno Award by the Champions Tour Tournament Advisory Council in December at the Champions Tour's annual meetings. The award goes to an individual judged to have made special and outstanding contributions to the Champions Tour.
ACE Group Classic: His best finish came in his second starts when he was T25 at the ACE Group Classic.

2014 Season

Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf presented by Bass Pro Shops: Once again limited his schedule to eight events, with his best finish a T28 in the Champions Division in the Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf in June with long-time partner John Jacobs.

2013 Season

Limited his season to just eight events.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf Demaret Division: Teamed with John Jacobs to finish T29 at the Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf.

2012 Season

Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf Demaret Division: Was T30 along with partner John Jacobs at the Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf.

2011 Season

Continued his involvement in auto racing, supporting driver Ed Carpenter in his Indy Car competition endeavors.

Toshiba Classic: Lone top-20 finish among 18 official starts came at the Toshiba Classic early in the season. Put together three consecutive sub-70 scores for the only time during the year in a stroke-play event and was T17 at Newport Beach CC.

2010 Season

Allianz Championship: Lone top-25 performance in an official event came when he was T22 early in the year at the Allianz Championship.
Wendy's Champions Skins Game: Along with Ben Crenshaw, finished second in defense of their Wendy's Champions Skins Game title. Duo combined for five skins and $230,000 on Maui in mid-January.

2009 Season

Administaff Small Business Classic: Top individual effort came late in the season when he closed with a 67 at The Woodlands to finish 13th at the Administaff Small Business Classic.
Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf: Best performance came in late April at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. He and partner John Jacobs shared the first-round lead after carding a better-ball score of 61. Duo eventually finished T9 in Savannah.
Masters Tournament: Made his 31st and final start at the Masters Tournament but missed the cut after posting rounds of 79-76 at Augusta National.
Wendy's Champions Skins Game: Started his season in Hawaii by teaming with Ben Crenshaw to win the Wendy's Champions Skins Game. Duo collected 13 skins, 12 of them on the final nine holes, and a record $530,000.

2008 Season

Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach: Was a distant T2 at the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, thanks to a final-round 69 on the host course. Performance on the Monterey Peninsula was his best on the circuit since winning the 2004 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai. Teamed with Sydney Burlison of Salinas, CA, to win the pro-junior portion of the event by eight strokes. Better-ball score of 25-under 191 was a tournament record.
Wendy's Champions Skins Game: Teamed with Peter Jacobsen to claim the Wendy's Champions Skins Game. The pair earned the final skin worth $100,000 on the first playoff hole to claim the title at the Royal Ka'anapali GC on Maui.

2007 Season

Had four top-10 finishes to his credit.

Regions Charity Classic: Finished T6 at Regions Charity Classic.

2006 Season

Allianz Championship: Attracted attention at the Allianz Championship when he had one of the highlights of the season. He made an unusual hole-in-one on No. 16 in the second round. His 7-iron landed just off the back of the green and remained there for nearly 10 seconds before rolling back into the hole for the 17th ace of his competitive career.

2005 Season

Blue Angels Classic: T3 at the Blue Angels Classic thanks to a final-round 6-under 64 on Sunday.

2004 Season

Voted as the Champions Tour's February Player of the Month.

Allianz Championship: Shot 6-under 29 on the front side of Glen Oaks during the second round of the Allianz Championship, a nine-hole record at the course.
Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am: Shot career-best 10-under 61 on Sunday at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, equaling the TPC Tampa Bay course record. Birdied 11 of his first 14 holes including seven straight, at the TPC Tampa Bay and briefly held the lead before a bogey on the final hole eventually left him in a T3.
MasterCard Championship: Won his first event on the Champions Tour in just over 19 months when he started the season with a come-from-behind victory at the MasterCard Championship. Shot 64 in the final round and outdueled Dana Quigley down the stretch, thanks to birdies on the last three holes, including a clutch 18-foot putt on No. 18 for the win. Had 23 total birdies for the week.

2003 Season

Senior PGA Championship: Made a spirited defense of his Senior PGA Championship title and was the only player in the field to shoot par or better for all four rounds. Was leading early in the final round, but eventually finished T3 at Aronimink GC, three strokes behind winner John Jacobs.
Tylenol Par-3 Challenge: Easily won the Tylenol Par-3 Challenge at Treetops Resort in Michigan, banking $330,000.

2002 Season

Among the top 10 in one-third of his starts as a Champions Tour rookie.

Senior Slam: Held off Don Pooley by one stroke to win the Senior Slam on the Lost Gold Course at Superstition Mountain in early November. His 36-hole score of 6-under 138 in the event pitting the winners of the four major championships, earned him a $300,000 check.
Senior PGA Championship: Became the 11th player to make his first Champions Tour title a major when he held off Bobby Wadkins and Hale Irwin for the Senior PGA Championship crown. Was the only player in the 144-man field to finish under par (2-under) over 72 holes at Firestone and ended a TOUR victory drought of 15 years, 10 months, 27 days dating back to the 1986 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic.
Royal Caribbean Classic: Made his official debut on the Champions Tour at the Royal Caribbean Classic, T51 at Crandon Park with a 1-under-143 total in the rain-shortened event.

Amateur Highlights

Owner of two major titles–1979 Masters and the 1984 U.S. Open.
Claimed Masters title on second playoff hole with Ed Sneed and Tom Watson. Became just the third player (Horton Smith in 1934 and Gene Sarazen in 1935) to win the prestigious event at Augusta National in his first attempt.
Bested Greg Norman in an 18-hole playoff for 1984 U.S. Open at Winged Foot GC in New York.
Was also the runner-up to Larry Nelson in the 1981 PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club and finished third in the 1994 Open Championship at Turnberry, Scotland.
Has won 10 PGA TOUR titles overall, including three in 1986.
Best season from a financial standpoint came in 1994 when he went over the $1-million mark for the only time in his career ($1,016,804). Although he didn't win that season, recorded five runner-up finishes (at the time the most since Jack Nicklaus and Arn
First TOUR win came at the 1979 Wickes-Andy Williams San Diego Open. Came back after an opening-round 76 to defeat Bill Kratzert, Wayne Levi, Artie McNickle and Watson by five strokes.
Has long history of back trouble, which first became known at 1984 PGA Championship when he was hospitalized before first round. Underwent surgery for ruptured discs later that year and was sidelined until February of 1985.
In third start after return, won the Bay Hill Classic.
Played on three American Ryder Cup teams (1979, 1983, 1985).
Also won the 1985 and 1986 Skins Game and claimed the 1987 Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out Championship.
Won 1972 Florida State Junior College and 1973 Indiana State Amateur titles.
Member of the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Competed at Edison Community College in Fort Myers, Fla.
Was the recipient of the Dave Marr Award during the week of the 2010 Administaff Small Business Classic.

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