Billy Mayfair


William Fred Mayfair is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Early years and amateur career

Mayfair was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Before his fifteenth birthday, he won numerous junior golf tournaments. In 1981, he was on the cover of Boys' Life magazine as "golf's junior hotshot". He attended Arizona State University and was a member of the golf team. He won the 1986 U.S. Amateur Public Links and the 1987 U.S. Amateur, defeating University of Tennessee graduate Eric Rebmann 4&3. He won the 1987 Haskins Award for the nation's top collegiate golfer.

Professional career

Mayfair turned professional in 1988 and has won five events on the PGA Tour, including the 1995 Tour Championship. He has featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings, going as high as 26th in 1996. He holds the distinction of being the only player to ever beat Tiger Woods in a playoff on the PGA Tour.
Mayfair was the medalist at the 2010 PGA Tour's Qualifying School. He finished 142nd on the Tour money list that year, which granted him conditional status for 2011. He finished the 2011 season 109th on the money list and retained his tour card for 2012. In 2013 and 2014 Mayfair split his playing time between the PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour, playing mostly on the Web.com Tour in 2014. During his PGA Tour career, Mayfair made 761 starts and earned over $20.3 million. In 2016, he joined PGA Tour Champions.

Personal

Mayfair lives in Scottsdale, Arizona where he plays out of Estrella Mountain Ranch Golf Club. On July 31, 2006, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had surgery on August 3 of that year and it has been reported that the cancer was contained.

Amateur wins

this list may be incomplete

PGA Tour wins (5)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1Sep 5, 1993Greater Milwaukee Open−18 Playoff Mark Calcavecchia, Ted Schulz
2Jul 9, 1995Motorola Western Open−9 1 stroke Jay Haas, Justin Leonard,
Jeff Maggert, Scott Simpson
3Oct 29, 1995The Tour ChampionshipE 3 strokes Steve Elkington, Corey Pavin
4Mar 1, 1998Nissan Open−12 Playoff Tiger Woods
5Aug 9, 1998Buick Open−17 2 strokes Scott Verplank

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11990Greater Milwaukee Open Ed Dougherty, Jim Gallagher Jr.Gallagher won with par on first extra hole
21990Nabisco Championship Jodie MuddLost to birdie on first extra hole
31993Greater Milwaukee Open Mark Calcavecchia, Ted SchulzWon with birdie on fourth extra hole
Schulz eliminated with par on first hole
41995Phoenix Open Vijay SinghLost to par on first extra hole
51995NEC World Series of Golf Greg Norman, Nick PriceNorman won with birdie on first extra hole
61998Nissan Open Tiger WoodsWon with birdie on first extra hole
72001WorldCom Classic - The Heritage of Golf José CóceresLost to par on fifth extra hole

Results in major championships

LA = Low Amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur
Professional