Lanny’s older brother, Bobby Wadkins turned pro in 1973 after graduating from East Tennessee State University. Over the next three decades Wadkins played in hundreds of PGA Tour events.
And he never won.
Wadkins came in second six times. He lost twice in playoffs. Winning on the PGA Tour eluded Bobby — sometimes in strange, inexplicable ways — although he did win events in Europe and Japan.
Meanwhile, brother Lanny was a PGA Tour star who won 21 times, including the 1977 PGA Championship.
Bobby Wadkins epitomized the term “journeyman,” an experienced and competent but undistinguished worker (The Free Dictionary). After toiling nearly 30 years at his craft, journeyman Wadkins got the golf equivalent of his AARP card when he joined the Champions Tour in 2001.
Today he is a champion.
On Sunday Wadkins won the ACE Group Classic when he rolled in a 13-foot birdie putt on the final hole. It was his fourth win on the Champions Tour. Last year Bobby won twice, including his first major, the Senior Players Championship.
“I’ve been lucky,” Wadkins was quoted as saying. “I’ve made some nice putts on the last hole to win some tournaments and I did it again today, so it’s pretty sweet.”
And he would know after all those years of grinding without a victory on Tour. Hats off to the other Wadkins.
The Armchair Golfer
Armchair golfer,
Love your blog.
I’m doing something similar at http://www.talesfromthelinks.blogspot.com
I live in Scotland so some of the humour is a wee bit “Scottish” but I hope you enjoy anyway.
I’m thinking about linking other golf blogs to our site.
Would you be interested in doing a recipricel link?
All the best
GBonn Jnr
gbonn@hotmail.co.uk