Thomas Oliver Kite Jr. (born December 9, 1949) is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He won the U.S. Open in 1992 and spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1989 and 1994.

Early life and amateur career

Kite was born in McKinney, Texas. He began playing golf at age six, and won his first tournament at age 11. Kite attended the University of Texas on a golf scholarship and was coached by Harvey Penick. At Texas, Kite was a first-team All-American in 1972 when he also shared the individual NCAA championship with team mate Ben Crenshaw. He helped the Longhorns win two NCAA Team Championships in 1971 an 1972 and Southwest Conference Championships in 1970 and 1972. He was a second-team All-American in 1970 and 1971 and won nine collegiate tournaments during his four years. In 1984 he was inducted into the Longhorns Hall of Honor.

Professional career

In 1972, Kite turned professional and was a consistent money winner until his retirement. Known for his innovation, he was the first to add a third wedge to his bag, one of the first players to use a sports psychologist, and one of the first to emphasize physical fitness for game improvement. He also underwent laser eye surgery, due to his partial blindness, in a bid to improve his game late in his career. He has 19 PGA Tour victories, including the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He competed on seven Ryder Cup squads (1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1993) and served as the 1997 captain. Kite holds a unique record of making the cut for the first four U.S. Opens held at Pebble Beach: 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2000. Kite also shares the distinction (with Gene Littler) of playing in the most Masters Tournaments without a win. Kite was the first in Tour history to reach $6 million, $7 million, $8 million, and $9 million in career earnings. He was the Tour's leading money-winner in 1981 and 1989. In his prime, Kite had few peers with the short irons. In 1993, Johnny Miller referred to Kite as "the greatest short-iron player the game has seen." In 2005 he led the PGA Tour's Booz Allen Classic by one shot going into the final round at the age of 55. If he had been able to stay ahead he would have beaten Sam Snead's record as the oldest winner on the PGA Tour by three years, but he fell away to finish tied 13th, seven shots behind Sergio García. Kite played the Champions Tour until 2020, claiming ten victories including one senior major, The Countrywide Tradition. At the 2012 U.S. Senior Open, Kite shot a front nine 28 (seven under par) in the first round. This was the lowest nine-hole score ever recorded in any USGA championship. He finished the tournament tied for 12th. In 1996, Kite had a cameo in The Simpsons episode "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield", in which he gave Homer Simpson golf tips.

Awards and honors

Amateur wins

Professional wins (37)

PGA Tour wins (19)

• Note: The 1993 Nissan Los Angeles Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain. PGA Tour playoff record (6–4)

European Tour wins (3)

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (1)

Other wins (5)

Other playoff record (0–1)

Champions Tour wins (10)

Champions Tour playoff record (3–2)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

{{legend|lime|Win}} {{legend|yellow|Top 10}} {{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}} CUT = missed the halfway cut (3rd round cut in 1982 Open Championship) "T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

Results timeline

{{legend|lime|Win}} {{legend|yellow|Top 10}} {{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}} CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place.

Senior major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2021. {{legend|lime|Win}} {{legend|yellow|Top 10}} {{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}} CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic Note: The Senior British Open was not a Champions Tour major until 2003.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur Professional