Legendary 11x PGA Tour winner dies after complications from his double-lung replacement surgery
The 11-time PGA Tour title winner Andy Bean passed away on October 14, 2023, after suffering complications from the double lung replacement surgery he underwent in early September. The surgery was required after the 70-year-old former golfer' lungs were badly damaged due to COVID-19.
The legendary golfer is survived by his wife, Debbie, three daughters, and his grandchildren.
The PGA Tour shared a tribute post on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote in the honor of the former golfer:
"Andy was a tenacious competitor on the course but the kindest of men off of it."
Despite never winning a single major in his golf career, Andy Bean did come close to achieving his dream three times. These were - the 1980 PGA Championship, the 1983 Open Championship, and the 1989 PGA Championship, where he finished as runner-up.
Back in 2015, he told Lakeland Ledger, as quoted by PGA Tour:
"I would have still liked to have won a major, on either tour."
Exploring the life and career of PGA Tour's legendary golfer Andy Bean
Born on March 13, 1953, in LaFayette, Georgia, the late golfer spent most of his childhood in Jekyll Island, Georgia, where his father had connections with a golf course. At the age of 15, his family moved to Lakeland, Florida, where his father bought a golf course, which eventually made him fall in love with the game of golf.
Andy Bean had apparently a very intriguing collegiate golf career. He was enrolled at the University of Florida and was part of coach Buster Bishop's Florida Gators men's golf team.
He completed his bachelor's in marketing in 1975 and was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978. He was honored with the nickname 'Gator Great'.
Back in 1975, during a South Florida-based PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, he was playing alongside Sandy Galbraith. The Georgia native spotted an alligator through a distance while walking in the fairway.
He knew his partner was not so used to seeing gators, so he rushed to his rescue, grabbed its tail, and pushed the gator to a nearby lake.
Impressed Galbraith shared the story with quite a few people and that eventually garnered popularity for the 6 foot 4 inch golfer and his new nickname - Legend of Alligator Wrestler - was coined.
Andy Bean had a seemingly successful professional career. He had registered a total of 18 wins as a professional golfer. 11 wins came on the PGA Tour, two came on the PGA of Japan Tour, three on the Champions Tour, and a few more on other tours.
Looking at the list of events he won on the PGA Tour:
- 1977 - Doral-Eastern Open
- 1978 - Kemper Open
- 1978 - Danny Thomas Memphis Classic
- 1978 - Western Open
- 1979 - Atlanta Classic
- 1980 - Hawaiian Open
- 1981 - Bay Hill Classic
- 1982 - Doral-Eastern Open
- 1984 - Greater Greensboro Open
- 1986 - Doral-Eastern Open
- 1986 - Byron Nelson Golf Classic
Andy Bean had a dominating performance on the PGA Tour for almost one decade between 1977 and 1986. The golfing fraternity will certainly miss the former PGA Tour golfer.