Dicky Pride

Dicky Pride
Pride at the 2023 U.S. Senior Open
Personal information
Full nameRichard Fletcher Pride III
Born (1969-07-15) July 15, 1969 (age 55)
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceOrlando, Florida
SpouseKim
Children2
Career
CollegeUniversity of Alabama
Turned professional1992
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Korn Ferry Tour
Professional wins3
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
Korn Ferry Tour1
PGA Tour Champions1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 1995
PGA ChampionshipT73: 1994
U.S. OpenT28: 2003
The Open ChampionshipDNP

Richard Fletcher Pride III (born July 15, 1969) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He previously played on the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour.

Early life and amateur career

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Pride was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He attended Tuscaloosa Academy and the University of Alabama, where he was a member of the golf team. Pride was named All-Southeastern Conference his junior and senior years. At Alabama, he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He was a semifinalist at the 1991 U.S. Amateur. He turned professional in 1992 and played in that season's U.S. Open, where he missed the cut.

Professional career

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Pride became a full-time PGA Tour member after his finish at the 1993 qualifying school. Pride earned his only win to date at the 1994 Federal Express St. Jude Classic, his 19th PGA Tour start. He won that event with a birdie on the first extra hole of a playoff against Hal Sutton and Gene Sauers. His best finish in a major was a tie for 28th at the 2003 U.S. Open.[1]

Pride developed severe health problems in 2002 (gall bladder, pancreatitis, plantar fasciitis, broken bones) which severely limited his playing time.[2] For the next decade, he split his playing time between the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He lives in Orlando, Florida, but remains an avid Crimson Tide fan.

In 2011, Pride was actively fund-raising for Alabama natives affected by the tornado that hit his hometown of Tuscaloosa. Playing in the past champion category (which is near the bottom of the PGA Tour exemption priority list), Pride started his 2012 season with two consecutive top-ten finishes, a T-5 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and T7 at the Honda Classic. Pride had his best finish since his only PGA Tour win at the 2012 HP Byron Nelson Championship, finishing second to Jason Dufner. He was tied for the lead on the 72nd hole, but hit his tee shot into the water hazard on the left, but saved par with a 22-foot putt after a good approach shot. Dufner holed a 25-foot birdie putt from a similar position on the green to deny Pride his first victory in almost 18 years (a win would have established a PGA Tour record for longest time between wins, beating Robert Gamez by over two years). Overall, Pride played in 19 events, made 12 cuts, earned $1,259,712, played in three stages of the FedEx Cup, and finished 70th on the 2012 money list, earning a full Tour card for 2013 and entry into invitational tournaments reserved for the top 70 money earners. At age 43, 2013 marked the first time since 1999 that Pride was fully exempt on the PGA Tour.

Pride was unable to follow up on his 2012 season and spent much of 2014 and 2015 on the Web.com Tour. He nearly regained his PGA Tour card during the 2014 Web.com Tour Finals, but missed the cut in the last event and finished outside the Top 50. He won the last regular season event during the 2015 season, jumping from 40th to fifth on the money list for his first professional win in 21 years and earning a PGA Tour card for the 2015–16 season.

In May 2021, Pride won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf near Atlanta, Georgia. This was his first win on the 50 and over PGA Tour Champions. Pride won the tournament by three strokes after Monday qualifying into the tournament.[3]

Professional wins (3)

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PGA Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 Jul 31, 1994 Federal Express St. Jude Classic −17 (66-67-67-67=267) Playoff United States Gene Sauers, United States Hal Sutton

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 1994 Federal Express St. Jude Classic United States Gene Sauers, United States Hal Sutton Won with birdie on first extra hole

Web.com Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Aug 30, 2015 WinCo Foods Portland Open −20 (65-66-66-67=264) 3 strokes United States Tim Herron

PGA Tour Champions wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 May 16, 2021 Mitsubishi Electric Classic −11 (71-67-67=205) 3 strokes Canada Stephen Ames, United States Paul Goydos,
United States Kirk Triplett

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2021 Ascension Charity Classic United States David Toms Lost to par on first extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open CUT
PGA Championship T73
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT T28
PGA Championship
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
PGA Championship
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Note: Pride never played in The Open Championship.

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Players Championship T49 CUT
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Players Championship CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013
The Players Championship CUT
  Did not play

"T" = Tied
CUT = missed the halfway cut

Results in senior major championships

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Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
The Tradition NT 13 T54 T15 T32
Senior PGA Championship NT T20 T43 28 CUT
U.S. Senior Open NT T34 CUT T6 CUT
Senior Players Championship T19 T25 T44 T7 T40
Senior British Open Championship T46 NT T46 T53 CUT
  Top 10

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Golf Major Championships". Retrieved January 21, 2008.
  2. ^ PGA Tour profile
  3. ^ "Dicky Pride wins Mitsubishi Electric for 1st senior title". Toronto Star. Associated Press. May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
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