Topic: Andy Bean

Thomas Andrew Bean (born March 13, 1953) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the amateur and professional level including 11 PGA Tour victories.

Bean was born in LaFayette, Georgia in 1953, and raised in Jekyll Island, Georgia, where his father was associated with a golf course. His family moved to Lakeland, Florida when he was 15, and his father bought a golf course there. He attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he became a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity (Florida Upsilon Chapter) and played for the Florida Gators men's golf team from 1972 to 1975. While he was a Florida student, he won four amateur tournaments. Bean and future fellow PGA Tour players Woody Blackburn, Phil Hancock and Gary Koch were members of the Gators' 1973 team that won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and NCAA Championships. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1978.

Bean turned professional in 1975, and was a dominant player on the PGA Tour from 1977 to 1986. He did not finish outside the top 35 on the money list during those years, a stretch that included 5 top-seven finishes on the list. His first PGA Tour victory was at the Doral-Eastern Open in 1977, and his last was at the Byron Nelson Golf Classic in 1986. In 1978, he won three times. He played on the Ryder Cup team in 1979 and 1987. He spent several weeks ranked in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from their debut in 1986 and 1987.