Mark Lye

Early life and amateur career

In 1952, Lye was born in Vallejo, California.

Lye attended San Jose State University, where he was a three-time All-American on the golf team. He graduated in 1975.

Professional career

In 1975, Lye turned pro. Early in his career, he played in Australia. Lye won the PGA Tour of Australia's 1976 Colgate Champion of Champions by one stroke over New Zealand's Simon Owen and two over Australia's Kel Nagle. Lye did not even expect to stay in Australia after he failed to qualify for that year's Australian Open. A friend encouraged him to remain and play in the Melbourne event. After a 70-71 start, he was three under, six shots behind Nagle. Lye then shot 68-67 to defeat a field that included, in addition to Owen and Nagle, 1975 U.S. Open champion Lou Graham, 1975 Open Championship winner Tom Watson, and recent Australian Tour champion Greg Norman. Lye went on to win the 1976 PGA Tour of Australia Order of Merit.

Lye joined the PGA Tour in 1977. He was a full-time member of tour from 1977 to 1991. In 1980 he finished 39th on the money list, with two runner-up finishes. Later in the fall, at the last event of the season, he had a runner-up finish at the Pensacola Open. He had six top-10s in total for 1983, his most ever,

Lye's win qualified him for the 1984 Masters Tournament. He shot first round 69 (−3) and then surged to a three shot lead after a 66. He fell back a little after a third round 73 but was still in second place, one behind Tom Kite. He had a final round of 74, finishing T-6, his best finish in a major championship. Lye had an additional four top-10s in 1984 and finished 43rd on the money list.

In 1995, at the age of 43, Lye tore a ligament in his right hand at the FedEx St. Jude Classic and retired from the tour. He then began working as an analyst for The Golf Channel, eventually rising to lead analyst for men's tournament coverage. After reaching the age of 50 in November 2002, Lye joined the Champions Tour as a part-time player. His best finish on that tour was a solo 9th at the 2004 Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn. To compete in select Champions Tour events, Lye transitioned to being an on-course reporter.

In August 2015, Lye was hired as one of the cohosts of "The Scorecard," a pregame show for Saturday and Sunday rounds of every broadcast PGA Tour event, on Sirius XM. He was fired in February 2022 after making negative on-air comments about women's sports.

Personal life

Lye plays guitar, in particular blues guitar, and has played with a member of Eric Clapton's band. Late in his career he formed Jake Trout and the Flounders, a cover band with fellow professional golfers Payne Stewart and Peter Jacobsen.

Lye is diabetic and has had additional health issues.

Lye lives in Naples, Florida. He and his wife Lisa have two children, Lucas and Eva.

Lye served as script consultant for the 1996 film Happy Gilmore.

Awards and honors

• In 1976, Lye won the Order of Merit for the PGA Tour of Australia.
• In 2007, Lye was inducted into the California Golf Writers Hall of Fame.

Professional wins (2)

PGA Tour wins (1)

Source:

PGA Tour of Australia wins (1)

Results in major championships

WD = withdrew

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

References

References

1. Stone, Peter. (November 15, 1976). "Lye Downs Them". The Age.
2. "Mark Lye – Profile". PGA Tour.
3. "Money List – 1980". PGA Tour.
4. (1983-09-12). "Lye Makes up 8 Shots for First Victory". The New York Times.
5. "Money List – 1984". PGA Tour.
6. (August 13, 2015). "Mark Lye to Debut New SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio Show". SiriusXM.
7. Beall, Joe. (February 7, 2022). "Former PGA Tour player fired after sexist comments on tour's radio station".
8. Moffit, David. (April 13, 1984). "Mark Lye was so excited he was having trouble...".
9. Jenkins, Dan. (April 23, 1984). "A Breakthrough For The Heartbreak Kid".
10. (April 22, 1998). "Meet The Rock & Roll Stars Of Golf". CBS News.
11. Roach, David. (December 24, 2003). "New Birth: Battling cancer, professional golfer finds true success in Christ". Baptist Press.
12. (2014-09-04). "At Home With Mark and Lisa Lye".
13. Schmitt, Tim. (February 16, 2024). "Happy Gilmore: Here are 4 things you might not know about the movie".
14. "Biographical information from The Golf Channel's On Air Talent page". Golf Channel.
15. "Mark Lye". PGA Tour.