Ed Fiori
| Ed Fiori | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Edward Ray Fiori |
| Born | April 21, 1953 Lynwood, California, U.S. |
| Died | July 6, 2025 (aged 72) |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Weight | 220 lb (100 kg; 16 st) |
| Sporting nationality |  United States |
| Residence | Sugar Land, Texas |
| Career | |
| College | University of Houston |
| Turned professional | 1977 |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour Champions Tour |
| Professional wins | 7 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 4 |
| PGA Tour Champions | 1 |
| Other | 2 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | T6: 1980 |
| PGA Championship | T9: 1989 |
| U.S. Open | T35: 1978 |
| The Open Championship | DNP |
Edward Ray Fiori (April 21, 1953 – July 6, 2025) was an American professional golfer who won four times on the PGA Tour and one time on the Champions Tour.
Early life and education
[edit]Fiori was born in Lynwood, California. During his childhood, Fiori would sneak through a barbed wire fence to a nine-hole course near his home in Downey, California, to practice his game.[1] He attended the University of Houston where he played on the golf team. He turned pro in 1977 and joined the PGA Tour in 1978.
Career
[edit]Fiori's first of four tournament wins on the PGA Tour was at the 1979 Southern Open. His last victory at the 1996 Quad City Classic led to the postponement of his plans to retire from the game and become a charter-boat captain.[1] Fiori's previous PGA tour victory was at the 1982 Bob Hope Desert Classic.[2] Fiori beat Tiger Woods at Quad City preventing Woods from gaining his first PGA Tour title. This would be the first of only four times in Woods' career that he would fail to win after holding the 54-hole-lead, and the only one until Yang Yong-eun outplayed Woods 13 years later at the 2009 PGA Championship.[3]
Personal life
[edit]Fiori had been plagued with weight-related health problems, which led to him undergoing spinal fusion surgery in 2005.[4] He lived in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land, Texas.[5]
Ed Fiori died of cancer on July 6, 2025 at the age of 72.[6][7]
Professional wins (7)
[edit]PGA Tour wins (4)
[edit]| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oct 14, 1979 | Southern Open | −14 (69-72-65-68=274) | Playoff |  Tom Weiskopf
|
| 2 | Jul 5, 1981 | Western Open | −11 (74-67-69-67=277) | 4 strokes | Jim Colbert, Greg Powers, Jim Simons
|
| 3 | Jan 17, 1982 | Bob Hope Desert Classic | −25 (70-65-66-67-67=335) | Playoff | Tom Kite
|
| 4 | Sep 15, 1996 | Quad City Classic | −12 (66-68-67-67=268) | 2 strokes | Andrew Magee
|
PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1979 | Southern Open | Tom Weiskopf
|
Won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 2 | 1982 | Bob Hope Desert Classic | Tom Kite
|
Won with birdie on second extra hole |
Other wins (2)
[edit]- 1981 Southern California Open
- 1984 Jerry Ford Invitational
Champions Tour wins (1)
[edit]| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 7, 2004 | MasterCard Classic | −6 (72-71-67=210) | Playoff |  Graham Marsh
|
Champions Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2004 | MasterCard Classic | Graham Marsh
|
Won with par on third extra hole |
Results in major championships
[edit]| Tournament | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T6 | CUT | CUT | CUT | ||||||||
| U.S. Open | T35 | CUT | T46 | CUT | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | T33 | T54 | T55 | CUT | T51 | T52 | T9 |
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | |||||||
| U.S. Open | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | T69 | CUT |
Note: Fiori never played in The Open Championship.
- CUT = missed the half-way cut
- "T" = tied
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Biographical information from PGA Tour's official site". Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- ^ Zullo, Allan (2001). Astonishing but True Golf Facts. Forest Fairview, North Carolina: Andrew McMeels Publishing.
- ^ Arkush, Michael (July 10, 2019). "'Even today, people call me the Tiger killer': Ed Fiori revisits the day he took down Tiger Woods". Golf Magazine. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "'Even today, people call me the Tiger killer': Ed Fiori revisits the day he took down Tiger Woods". Golf. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
- ^ sltAdmin (November 15, 2024). "Famous People from Sugar Land, Texas: Celebrated Locals Recognized Nationally - Sugar Land, Texas". sugar-land-texas.com. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
- ^ Livsey, Laury. "Four-time PGA TOUR winner Ed Fiori passes away". www.pgatour.com. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
- ^ Presse, AFP-Agence France. "Fiori, Famous For Vanquishing A Young Tiger Woods, Dies At 72". barrons. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
External links
[edit]- Ed Fiori at the PGA Tour official site
- Ed Fiori at the Official World Golf Ranking official site