Billy Mayfair was born on this day in 1966, in Phoenix, Arizona. Before his fifteenth birthday, he won numerous junior golf tournaments. In 1981, he was on the cover of Boys’ Life magazine as “golf’s junior hotshot”.
He attended Arizona State University and was a member of the golf team. He won the 1986 US Amateur Public Links and the 1987 US Amateur, defeating University of Tennessee graduate Eric Rebmann 4&3. He won the 1987 Haskins Award for the nation’s top collegiate golfer.
Mayfair turned professional in 1988 and has won five events on the PGA Tour, including the 1995 Tour Championship. He has featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings. He holds the distinction of being the only player to ever beat Tiger Woods in a playoff on the PGA Tour (1998 Nissan Open).
Mayfair was the medalist at the 2010 PGA Tour’s Qualifying School. He had finished 142nd on the Tour money list, which would have granted him conditional status for 2011. He finished the season 109th on the money list and retained his tour card.
Mayfair lives in Scottsdale, Arizona where he plays out of Estrella Mountain Range Golf Club. On July 31, 2006, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had surgery on August 3 of that year and it has been reported that the cancer was contained.