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Len Mattiace

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Len Mattiace
Personal information
Full nameLeonard Earl Mattiace
Born (1967-10-15) October 15, 1967 (age 57)
Mineola, New York
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceJacksonville, Florida
Children2
Career
CollegeWake Forest University
Turned professional1990
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Web.com Tour
Professional wins2
Highest ranking24 (May 11, 2003)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour2
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament2nd: 2003
PGA ChampionshipT48: 2002
U.S. OpenT24: 1997
The Open ChampionshipT30: 1999

Leonard Earl Mattiace (/məˈts/; born October 15, 1967) is an American professional golfer, formerly of the PGA Tour and now playing on the PGA Tour Champions.

Early life

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Mattiace was born in Mineola, New York. He attended Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

Amateur career

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Mattiace graduated from Wake Forest University in 1990 with a degree in sociology. While at Wake Forest, he played on the team that won the NCAA Division I Golf Championship in 1986.

Professional career

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Mattiace turned pro in 1990. He first gained notability when he surged into contention in the final round of the 1998 Players Championship. Trailing by one shot going into the par-3 17th hole, he hit his tee shot into the water, his third shot into a bunker, and his fourth shot into the water. He ended up with a quintuple-bogey 8 on the hole and finished in a tie for fifth, four strokes behind the eventual winner Justin Leonard.

Mattiace's career year was 2002, when he earned wins at the Nissan Open (his 220th PGA Tour start) and the FedEx St. Jude Classic. In 2003, he contended in the Masters Tournament by shooting a 65 in the final round which put him into a playoff with Mike Weir. On the first playoff hole, Mattiace found himself stymied by trees when his approach drifted offline. Weir needed only a bogey to secure the victory and Mattiace finished second, earning $648,000 in prize money. Shortly after the 2003 season, Mattiace's career was threatened by a skiing accident and torn ACLs in both knees.

Mattiace was not fully exempt on the PGA Tour after the 2005 season. He made his PGA Tour Champions debut in March 2018 at the Cologuard Classic.

Personal life

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Mattiace is naturally left-handed but plays right-handed.[2]

Amateur wins

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this list may be incomplete

  • 1984 FL State High School Champion
  • 1984 Dixie Amateur
  • 1985 Southern Amateur
  • 1989 Dixie Amateur

Professional wins (2)

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PGA Tour wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Feb 17, 2002 Nissan Open −15 (69-65-67-68=269) 1 stroke United States Brad Faxon, South Africa Rory Sabbatini,
United States Scott McCarron
2 Jun 30, 2002 FedEx St. Jude Classic −18 (69-68-65-64=266) 1 stroke United States Tim Petrovic

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1996 Buick Challenge United States Michael Bradley, United States Fred Funk,
United States Davis Love III, United States John Maginnes
Bradley won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2003 Masters Tournament Canada Mike Weir Lost to bogey on first extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1988 1989
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T24 T42
The Open Championship T30
PGA Championship CUT CUT
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Masters Tournament 2 CUT
U.S. Open T68 T57 CUT
The Open Championship T69 T65
PGA Championship CUT T48 T51
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 1 0 1 1 1 3 1
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 4
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2
Totals 0 1 0 1 1 2 16 10
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (2002 U.S. Open – 2003 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
The Players Championship T24 T5 CUT T9 CUT T69 CUT T33 T71
  Top 10

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 2002 2003
Match Play R64
Championship T46 T54
Invitational T36 T30
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

U.S. national team appearances

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Amateur

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 19 2003 Ending 11 May 2003" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  2. ^ "Len Mattiace". www.thetimes.com. October 11, 2003. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
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