Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins Jr. (born December 5, 1949) is an American professional golfer. He won 21 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1977 PGA Championship. He ranked in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for 86 weeks from the ranking's debut in 1986 to 1988.[2]
Wadkins was born in Richmond, Virginia. He has a younger brother, Bobby Wadkins, who also became a professional golfer. Wadkins attended Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County.[3]
After high school, he attended Wake Forest University on an Arnold Palmer golf scholarship.[4] He joined Kappa Sigma fraternity at Wake Forest. He won the 1970 U.S. Amateur, one stroke ahead of Tom Kite.[5]
Wadkins turned professional in 1971. In the summer he won the Greater Bangor Open in Maine for his first professional victory.[6] His first win on the PGA Tour came at the Sahara Invitational in Las Vegas in October 1972 where he finished one stroke ahead of runner-up Palmer, his scholarship benefactor.[4] Wadkins was later voted Rookie of the Year on the tour in 1972. Two more wins followed in 1973 before his form dipped for three years. He bounced back to win his sole major title at the 1977 PGA Championship. He prevailed on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff at Pebble Beach against Gene Littler. It was the first time the sudden-death format was used in a stroke-play major championship.[7][8]
Wadkins was runner-up in four subsequent majors (U.S. Open in 1986, PGA Championship in 1982, 1984, 1987) and finished third in the Masters three times (1990, 1991, 1993). At The Open Championship his best finish was fourth at St. Andrews in 1984.
On the PGA Tour, Wadkins won 1979 Tournament Players Championship and was voted PGA Player of the Year in 1985. Over his career, he picked up a win more seasons than not until 1992 when he achieved his twenty-first and final PGA Tour victory at the Canon Greater Hartford Open.
Like many star American golfers Wadkins was invited to play in a number of international tournaments. He won the 1978 Victorian PGA Championship on the PGA Tour of Australia and the 1979 Bridgestone Open on the Japan Golf Tour. He also finished runner-up at the 1979 German Open, 1980 Air New Zealand Shell Open, and 1990 Austrian Open. He also won significant events in South America and Canada.
Wadkins played for the United States in the Ryder Cup eight times between 1977 and 1993. Wadkins collected 211/2 points during his Ryder Cup career, one of the very best records on either side in the history of the competition. He also captained the team in 1995 at Oak Hill Country Club.
Wadkins began play on the Champions Tour in 2000, and picked up a win in his first event at the ACE Group Classic in a four-way playoff. As a senior, he divided his time between competition and broadcasting work with CBS Sports and did not become a regular winner at the senior level.
Following the retirement of Ken Venturi in June 2002, Wadkins was the lead analyst for CBS for over four years, until he was replaced by Nick Faldo after the 2006 season. He is currently the lead analyst for the Champions Tour on Golf Channel.[9]
Wadkins was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009.[10]
Lanny is married to Penelope Wadkins and they have three children: Jessica, Travis, and Tucker. Travis played on the Wake Forest University golf team 2006–2010. Tucker played on the University of Arizona golf team from 2011–2015. In 2011, Travis played on the eGolf Tour and made it to the final stage of the PGA Tour's Qualifying School but failed to earn a card.
A nephew, Ron Whittaker, is a professional golfer on the second-tier Web.com Tour with 77 PGA Tour starts.[11]
PGA Tour playoff record (3–3)
European Tour playoff record (1–2)
Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)
1Defeated Littler with a par on the third extra hole.
CUT = missed the halfway cut (3rd round cut in 1985 Open Championship)
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Amateur
Professional