Curtis Strange

Curtis Northrup Strange (born January 30, 1955) is an American professional golfer and TV color commentator. He is the winner of consecutive U.S. Open titles and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spent over 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between their debut in 1986 and 1990.

Early years through college
Strange and his identical twin brother, Allan, were born in Norfolk, Virginia. His father, a local country club owner, started him in golf at age 7. Strange graduated from Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, then enrolled at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He played golf for the Demon Deacons and was part of the NCAA Championship team with Jay Haas and Bob Byman that Golf World has labeled "the greatest of all time".

PGA Tour career
Strange was one of the leading players on the PGA Tour in the 1980s; 16 of his 17 tour victories took place in that decade. He topped the money list in 1985, 1987, and 1988, when he became the first to win a million dollars in official money in a season. His two majors were consecutive U.S. Opens in 1988 and 1989. Since World War II, only three golfers have successfully defended their titles at the U.S. Open; Brooks Koepka in 2018, Strange in 1989,and Ben Hogan in 1951.

The 1989 U.S. Open was Strange's last win on tour. In other majors, he led midway through the final round at The Masters in 1985, but finished two strokes back. Strange was also a runner-up at the PGA Championship in 1989, one stroke back. He played on five Ryder Cup teams (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, and 1995) and captained the team in 2002.

Despite skipping the British Open several times in his prime, Strange played a number of tournaments outside of the United States and often did well. He won an event on the Japan Golf Tour in 1986. He also played very well on the Australasian Tour with three wins and runner-up finishes at the 1976 Australian Open, 1977 Colgate Champion of Champions, 1986 Air New Zealand Shell Open, and the 1990 Daikyo Palm Meadows Cup.

Like Henrik Stenson, Strange was a natural left-hander who played right-handed.

Later career and honors
After reaching the age of 50 in January 2005, Strange began play on the Champions Tour, remarking, "I was getting worse and said, 'To hell with it.'" His only top-five finishes came that first season; third place at the Constellation Energy Classic and a tie for fifth at the FedEx Kinko's Classic.

In 1997, he was hired as the lead golf analyst for ESPN/ABC, working alongside host Mike Tirico. He left due to a contract dispute before the 2004 U.S. Open, but rejoined ESPN/ABC at the 2008 U.S. Open, four years after he first left. In 2016, he was hired by Fox as a course reporter for their USGA championships.

In this capacity he has provided commentary for several notable events, including Tiger Woods' playoff win at the 1997 Mercedes Championships, David Duval's final round of 59 at the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Jean van de Velde's collapse at the 1999 Open Championship, Woods achieving the career grand slam at the 2000 Open Championship, Peter Jacobsen becoming one of the oldest Tour winners at age 49 during the 2003 Greater Hartford Open, Woods' winning performance with a torn ACL and a broken leg at the U.S. Open in 2008 (early rounds), Tom Watson nearly winning The Open Championship at age 59 in 2009, and Phil Mickelson's final nine charge to win in 2013.

On April 18, 2007, Strange was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, and was inducted on November 12 at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Florida.

In May 2009, he was named to the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame, which honors athletes, coaches and administrators who contributed to sports in southeastern Virginia.

Amateur wins (5)

 * 1974 Western Amateur, North and South Amateur, NCAA Division I Championship
 * 1975 North and South Amateur, Eastern Amateur

PGA Tour wins (17)
PGA Tour playoff record (6–3)

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

 * 1986 ABC Japan-U.S. Match

Australasian Tour wins (3)

 * 1988 Sanctuary Cove Classic
 * 1989 Daikyo Palm Meadows Cup
 * 1993 Greg Norman's Holden Classic

Other wins (7)

 * 1980 JCPenney Mixed Team Classic (with Nancy Lopez)
 * 1981 Panama Open
 * 1986 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Peter Jacobsen; Shared title with Greg Norman & Gary Player)
 * 1989 RMCC Invitational (with Mark O'Meara), PGA Grand Slam of Golf (unofficial event), Skins Game
 * 1990 Skins Game

Wins (2)
1Defeated Nick Faldo in an 18-hole playoff – Strange 71 (E), Faldo 75 (+4).

Results timeline
{{legend|lime|Win}} {{legend|yellow|Top 10}} {{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}} LA = Low amateur CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

 * Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (1987 Masters – 1990 U.S. Open)
 * Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
 * Eisenhower Trophy: 1974 (winners)
 * Walker Cup: 1975 (winners)

Professional
 * Ryder Cup: 1983 (winners), 1985, 1987, 1989 (tied), 1995, 2002 (non-playing captain)
 * Dunhill Cup: 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989 (winners), 1990, 1991, 1994
 * Four Tours World Championship: 1985 (winners), 1987 (winners), 1988 (winners), 1989 (winners)
 * UBS Cup: 2001 (winners), 2002 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2004 (winners)

Equipment
In 1988 when Strange won the U.S. Open, Ping recognized him with a golden putter replica of the Ping Zing 2 he used to win. A second one was made and placed in the Ping Gold putter vault.