Mark John Calcavecchia (born June 12, 1960) is an
American golfer.
Calcavecchia was born in Laurel, Nebraska. He
attended the University of Florida, turned
professional in 1981 and joined the PGA Tour in
1982. He earned All-SEC honors in 1979.
Calcavecchia was at his best in the late 1980s,
notching up his most notable achievement in 1989,
when he won The Open Championship (aka the British
Open), which is one of golf's four major
championships, winning a four hole playoff over
Wayne Grady and Greg Norman. Upon being awarded the
Claret Jug, Calcavecchia (whose lengthy Italian
surname translates to "old crowd") famously said,
"How's my name going to fit on that thing?" That
year was his only multi-win season on the PGA Tour,
with two other titles complementing the Open. He
also finished second at the 1988 Masters to Sandy
Lyle.
Calcavecchia has won 13 times on the PGA Tour and 11
further times in other professional events. He spent
over 100 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World
Golf Rankings from 1988 to 1991. In winning the 2001
Phoenix Open, he set the Tour scoring record at that
time by making 32 birdies in 72 holes finishing at
28 under par for the tournament.
Calcavechhia was a member of the United States Ryder
Cup team in 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2002.
Calcavecchia married Brenda Nardecchia on May 5,
2005 in Italy. He had two children, Eric and
Brittany, with his previous wife.
