Calvin Peete was born in Detroit, Michigan. He played on the 1983 and 1985 U.S. Ryder Cup teams. He won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average in 1984. He was in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for several weeks when they debuted in 1986.
Peete did not begin playing golf until he was in his 20s, but immediately excelled at a game most pros learn as young children. He learned the game while peddling goods to migrant workers in Rochester, New York, playing on the public course at Genesee Valley Park. Growing up poor, Peete suffered a badly broken arm that was never properly set.
He was the leader in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour for 10 straight years, 198190.
The thing about Calvin is that he took a bad break and made it work for him. He was in some kind of accident - auto I think - and he had very limited range of motion as a result.
Thus he fashioned a golf swing around that limited motion, which was why his swing was consistent, his accuracy was amazing, altho he was one of the shortest hitters on tour. Great life lesson.
Well now I see the accident is mentioned in the article (shoulda read first) - still, a great lesson in lemons and lemonade so to speak....
Harvey Penick thought that Peete’s arm was the reason he played so well. Just a bit of trivia.