Billy Mayfair

He started to play golf at age 2, hitting plastic balls in the backyard with his father's cutdown clubs. Before his 15th 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. Won the 1986 U.S. Amateur Public Links and the 1987 U.S. Amateur, defeating University of Tennessee graduate Eric Rebmann, 4 and 3, in the final. Member of the 1987 USA Walker Cup Team and was 1987 Collegiate Player of the Year at Arizona State.
Mayfair turned professional in 1988 and won five PGA Tour events, including the 1995 Tour Championship. He has been featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings, going as high as 26th in 1996. He is the only player to beat Tiger Woods in a playoff on the PGA Tour (1998 Nissan Open). He played on the PGA Tour from 1989 to 2013, competing in 761 PGA Tour events and making 478 cuts. In his 25-plus years on the PGA Tour, he was in the top-25 184 times and the top-10, 73 times. On top of his five wins, he was runner-up 15 times and finished third five times. He earned $20,303,642, making over one million dollars a year seven times. His best year was 2005, when he finished 22nd on the money list with earnings of $2,236,455. One of the biggest highlights of his career is beating Tiger Woods in a playoff to win the Nissan Open. It would be the only time in a PGA Tour playoff that Woods lost.
Mayfair lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., 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.
2016 Notes: Officially made his PGA Tour Champions debut in August, finishing T-2nd at the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. That would be his best finish in nine Tour starts. He was 42nd on the money list and 43rd in Charles Schwab Ranking.
He made seven starts on the PGA Tour earlier in the year and recorded four cuts, with his best finish T-35th at the Puerto Rico Open. He also made one start on the Korn Ferry Tour but missed the cut at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open.
2017 Notes: He played his first full season, competed in 24 events, posted seven top-10 finishes, and was 11th on the final Charles Schwab Cup money list. He played well over the last two months of the year. During a span of eight events, he had five top-10 finishes. His best finish was T-2nd at the Japan Airlines Championship, one shot back of winner Colin Montgomerie. He was T-3rd at the Boeing Classic and Dominion Energy Charity.
2018 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour Champions events with four top-10 finishes. Was T-2nd at the Chubb Classic, closed with a final-round 64 to finish four strokes back of winner Joe Durant. Also, T-7th at the Rapiscan Systems Classic and T-10th at the Shaw Charity Classic. He was T-6th at the Dominion Energy Classic, three shots back of winner Woody Austin. He advanced to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship for the second time in his career. He finished 36th in the standings.
2019 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour Champions events with two top-ten finishes. He was 49th in the final Schwab rankings. Best finish T-7th at the Insperity Invitational, then T-5th at the Pure Insurance Championship, three shots back of the Triplett/Andrade playoff.
2020 & 2021 Notes: Played in 35 PGA Tour Champions events with three top-ten finishes. He was 46th in the final Schwab rankings. Best 2020 finish, T-20th at the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National. He was T-9th at the 2021 Chubb Classic. He led after the first round of the 2021 Shaw Charity Classic when he shot 8-under 62. Added rounds of 67-69 on the weekend to finish 5th six shots back of winner Doug Barron. He made five birdies and two bogeys in his final round at the 2021 Boeing Classic to finish T-2nd, a shot back of winner Rod Pampling. It was his first runner-up finish since the 2018 Chubb Classic. He ended the season T-17th at the TiberTech Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour Champions events with one top-25 finish. He was 67th in the Schwab rankings and 66th on the money list with earnings of $212,236. Best finish T-14th at the Kitchenaid Senior PGA Championship.
2023 Notes: Was T-8th at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic.