Kennesaw State University Athletics

Nelson attended Kennesaw State when it was a junior college and has become one of the most successful figures in the history of professional golf. A 2006 inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame, Nelson qualified for the PGA Tour when he was 27 years old. He won a total of 10 events on the PGA Tour and became one of only 12 players to win three or more major championships in their career. He twice won the PGA Championship (1981, 1987) and also won the U.S. Open at Oakmont in 1983 when he came from seven strokes behind at the halfway point to defeat Tom Watson by one stroke.