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Started playing the game at age 7, he lived next to a course
that he would sneak on. Despite being chased off most of the time,
he persisted, thanks to friends and neighbors giving him clubs to
play with. After High School, he worked odd jobs in construction
and didn’t attend college for four years. He played in a tournament
in Mexico and got into a playoff with Craig Stadler and Jack Renner.
Even though he lost to Stadler, the University of Houston liked
what they saw and recruited him. In his second year, Houston won
the NCAA team title, and Fiori was named to the All-American team.
He dropped out of Houston in the spring of 1977, played in a few
mini-tour events and earned his Tour card in Q-school. In his first
year on tour (1978) he finished 109th on the money list. Fiori showed
improvement in 1979 climbing to 65th on the money list, but the
year was capped off with his first victory in the Southern Open
when he defeated Tom Weiskopf in a playoff.
He also won the 1984 Jerry Ford Invitational, an unofficial
event.
Nicknamed "The Grip" because of his overly strong grip.
Was planing to retire from golf and become a charter-boat captain
but canceled his plans when he won 1996 Quad City. It was 14 years,
8 months and 2 days between victories, only Butch Baird who went
15 years, 5 months and 10 days had a longer drought.
Has had injuries in the ’90s including a foot injury in 1994, a
rotator cuff problem in 1995 and had surgery on his back in 1996.
Played in 587 PGA Tour events finishing in the top-10, 37 times.
Last top-10 finish was his win at the 1996 John Deere Classic.
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