Sammy Rachels

Sammy Rachels
Personal information
Full nameSammy Tindol Rachels III
Born (1950-09-23) September 23, 1950 (age 74)
DeFuniak Springs, Florida, U.S.
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceDeFuniak Springs, Florida, U.S.
Career
CollegeColumbus College
Turned professional1972
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins4
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour Champions3
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipT45: 1990
U.S. OpenT6: 1981
The Open ChampionshipDNP

Sammy Tindol Rachels III (born September 23, 1950) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour, but found his greatest level of success on the Champions Tour.

Rachels was born, raised and lived his entire life in DeFuniak Springs, Florida. He attended Columbus College and won the 1971 NAIA Championship. He turned professional in 1972.

Rachels played on the PGA Tour from 1975–1985, and had 11 top-10 finishes in 123 career events. Although he never won, his career year was 1983 when he finished T-2 in the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic and the Bank of Boston Classic. He also had a runner-up finish in the unofficial Magnolia State Classic that year. His best finish in a major championship was T6 at the 1981 U.S. Open.[1] Four back operations forced him to leave the Tour and take a club pro job near his home in the Florida Panhandle.

Rachels joined the Nationwide Tour in his forties to prepare for the Champions Tour, which he joined after reaching the age of 50 in September 2000. He won three events in his first two years on the Champions Tour.

Professional wins (4)

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Other wins (1)

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Senior PGA Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Jun 3, 2001 BellSouth Senior Classic −17 ( 66-70-63=199) 4 strokes United States Hale Irwin
2 Oct 14, 2001 The Transamerica −14 (70-63-69=202) 1 stroke United States Raymond Floyd, United States Doug Tewell
3 May 5, 2002 Bruno's Memorial Classic −15 (70-64-67=201) Playoff United States Dana Quigley

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2002 Bruno's Memorial Classic United States Dana Quigley Won with birdie on second extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
U.S. Open T6
PGA Championship CUT T45 CUT

Note: Rachels never played in the Masters Tournament or The Open Championship.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

U.S. national team appearances

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  • PGA Cup: 1990 (winners), 1996 (tie)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Golf Major Championships". Retrieved January 21, 2008.
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