Tommy Aaron

PGA Tour Playoff record: 0-4
Joined Champions Tour: 1987
Champions Tour Playoff record: 0-2
PGA Tour Victories: 2 - 1970 Atlanta Classic; 1973 Masters
Champions Tour Victories: 1 - 1992 Kaanapali Classic
Other Victories: 1960 Western Amateur; 1969 Canadian Open; 1972 Lancome Trophy
Player Notes: Thomas Dean Aaron was born in Gainesville, Ga., on February 22, 1937. Inspired by the exploits of legendary Georgia golfer Bobby Jones, Aaron began playing golf at age 12. As a high-school student, he advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1954 U.S. National Junior Championship. In 1955, he won the state high-school individual title and the first of three Georgia Opens. After high school, Aaron attended the University of Florida, where he won the 1957 and 1958 Southeastern Conference individual titles and finished runner-up in the 1958 U.S. Amateur. Other amateur highlights include winning the 1957 and 1960 Georgia Amateur, the 1958 and 1960 Southeastern Amateur, and the 1960 Western Amateur. He helped secure a victory for the United States team at the 1959 Walker Cup Match, which pits American amateur against amateur teams from Great Britain and Ireland.
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1960, Aaron joined the PGA Tour the following spring. From 1961 to 1973, he placed in the top 60 on the tour's list of money earners, but he gained a reputation as a perennial runner-up, finishing second in 13 tournaments.
Aaron's first win came at the then-unofficial Canadian Open in 1969, where he defeated Sam Snead in an 18-hole playoff. He won the Atlanta Classic the next year and registered his biggest career win at the 1973 Masters, coming from four shots back with a final-round 68 to edge J.C. Snead. Aaron joined Claude Harmon as the only other native Georgian in history to win the Masters. Larry Mize became the third in 1987, but no Georgian has done it since then.
Aaron played on the 1969 and 1973 U.S. Ryder Cup teams.
In 1987, he joined the Champions Tour and won his only title at the 1992 Kaanapali Classic in Hawaii. He enjoyed his best earnings year on the Champions Tour in 1992, topping the $100,000 mark 10 times as a senior. Aaron's most remarkable achievement as a senior perhaps came at the 2000 Masters, when, at age 63 years, 1 month, and 16 days, he became the oldest player to make the 36-hole cut. That record was broken when Bernhard Langer, at age 63 years, 2 months, and 18 days became the oldest when he made the cut in 2020. Aaron played in his last Masters in 2005.
Aaron hasn't played in an official event since missing the cut at the 2006 Senior PGA Championship. He is a member of the University of Florida's Athletic Hall of Fame and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 1989. To this day, Aaron has never given much thought of moving away from his hometown of Gainesville, Georgia.