Golf legend Andy Bean, 11-time PGA Tour winner, dies at 70

Legendary golfer Andy Bean died Saturday after complications from double lung replacement surgery last month, the PGA Tour confirmed. He was 70.

Bean was an 11-time PGA Tour winner. His first victory came in 1977 at the Doral-Eastern Open, and his most recent victory was in 1986 at the Byron Nelson Golf Classic in Texas.

Bean was also victorious three times on the Champions Tour.

He was born March 13, 1953, in Lafayette, Georgia, and played golf for the Florida Gators. 

During his time at Florida, Bean competed on a team that featured future PGA Tour players Gary Koch, Woody Blackburn, Phil Hancock and current Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley.

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Bean turned professional in 1975. Four years later, he became a member of the United States Ryder Cup team, making the team a second time in 1987.

In 1980 and 1989, Bean finished second at the PGA Championship. Although he never won a major, he did finish in second at the 1983 Open Championship.

“Andy was a tenacious competitor on the course but the kindest of men off of it,” PGA Tour Champions President Miller Brady said.

“He was affectionately referred to as a gentle giant, someone who always had time for fans, the media and his fellow players. As a multiple-tournament winner after turning 50, he exemplified those same traits on PGA Tour Champions that he did during his stellar PGA Tour career. We send our best to Andy’s family.”

Bean reportedly started having respiratory trouble after a battle with COVID-19. He underwent a double lung transplant in September.

Bean his survived by his wife Debbie and the couple’s three daughters.