Calvin Peete is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

er. He was the most successful African-American on the PGA Tour

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

, with 12 wins, before the emergence of Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...

.

Peete was born in Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

. He played on the 1983 and 1985 U.S. Ryder Cup

Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...

 teams. He won the Vardon Trophy

Vardon Trophy

The Vardon Trophy is awarded annually by the PGA of America to the PGA Tour's leader in scoring average. When the award was first given in 1937, it was awarded on the basis of a points system. No award was given from 1942–1946 due to World War II. In 1947, the PGA began awarding it for low...

 for lowest scoring average in 1984. He was in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings

Official World Golf Rankings

The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of male professional golfers...

 for several weeks when they debuted in 1986.

Peete did not begin playing golf until he was in his 20's, but immediately excelled at a game most pros learn as young children.