A former PGA Tour golfer who is best known for being one of the only players to come from behind to beat Tiger Woods has died.
Ed Fiori, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, died on Sunday following a battle with cancer. He was 72.
Fiori’s fourth PGA Tour victory came at the 1996 Quad City Classic, an event that is now known as the John Deere Classic. Woods had just recently turned pro and was the leader at the tournament after 54 holes. Those who have followed Tiger’s career know he has been virtually unbeatable when he has the 54-hole lead, but Fiori got the best of him.
Woods had a one-shot lead over Fiori entering the final round at Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley, Ill. He was leading by three shots on the fourth hole before he hit two balls into the water and carded a quadruple-bogey. Fiori made three birdies on the back nine and won the tournament, with Tiger finishing four shots back.
Tiger has lost only four times in his career when having at least a share of the lead after 54 holes. He has been in that spot 59 times. That is what makes Fiori’s 1996 win, which was the final of his career, so special.
Fiori, who was from Lynwood, Calif., played in college at the University of Houston, where he won a national championship in 1977. He also played in 58 PGA Tour Champions events after he turned 50 and had one win on the senior tour.
