Craig Stadler

Craig Stadler is one of the most recognizable players in golf, and he has played with emotion and determination since turning professional in 1975. Craig broke through with two tournament victories in 1980, and followed those wins with a superstar season in 1982. He claimed four tournament titles in 1982, including playoff victories in both the Masters and the World Series of Golf, and he also earned the Arnold Palmer Award as the leading money winner.

Great golfers are seldom far from the winners’ circle on any given week. Craig Stadler proved that in 1991, ending a year in which he already had collected six top ten finishes by conquering the difficult Pinehurst #2 course at The Tour Championship. Competing in a prestigious field of the top thirty money winners on the 1991 PGA Tour, Craig held on in a final round seesaw battle with Russ Cochran and birdied both of the two sudden-death playoff holes for the win. The victory brought Craig’s earnings for the year to $827,628 and gave him second place on the PGA Tour money list.

In June 2003, Craig made his Champions Tour debut. He made his mark early on as the first player on the Champions Tour to win both a Champions Tour event and a PGA Tour event in the same season when he won back to back at the Ford Senior Players Championship and the PGA Tour’s BC Open. After collecting additional wins at the Champions Tour SBC Championship and Greater Hickory Classic, Craig received post-season honors as the Champions Tour Rookie of the Year for 2003.

Stadler’s career also has included success outside the United States, as he collected victories in both the 1990 Scandinavian Enterprise Open on the European Tour, and in 1987 at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan. Craig was also selected as a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in both 1983 and 1985.

Most Tour players have a solid amateur and collegiate history, and Craig is no exception, starting golf at the age of five under his father’s guidance. Able to play year-round in Southern California, Craig was soon competing in amateur events, and earned the World Junior title in 1971. Craig was a two-time All-American for the University of Southern California, and during his college years he also captured the 1973 U.S. Amateur championship at Inverness in Toledo, Ohio.

Craig lives in Colorado with his wife Sue. Their son Kevin, has just begun his career as a professional golfer after playing college golf at Craig’s alma mater USC, and son Chris plays football at Lake Forest College in Illinois. Hunting trips are Craig’s favorite escapes away from golf, and he also enjoys snow skiing and watching his favorite hockey team, the Colorado Avalanche.