Three-time Southeastern Conference golf champion and LSU Athletics Hall of Fame member B. R. “Mac” McLendon passed away on Monday in Birmingham, Alabama at the age of 76.
Benson Rayfield “Mac” McLendon was the league champion for the Tigers in 1965, 1966 and 1967 in SEC events at Athens, Georgia, Baton Rouge and Gainesville, Florida. The Tigers as a team won the 1966 and 1967 events and also played in the NCAA Championships in those years where they finished T8 in 1966 and third in 1967.
He twice scored wins in the prestigious LSU National Invitational, which had its heyday in Baton Rouge from 1961-92. McLendon won the 1966 event with a two-round total of 141 and the 1967 tournament with a 54-hole total of 208.
After graduating from LSU, McLendon turned pro and joined the PGA Tour where he posted four victories – the 1974 Walt Disney World Team Championship with partner Hubert Green; the 1976 Southern Open; and, the 1978 Florida Citrus and Pensacola Open. The latter tournament was won with a par on the first extra hole of sudden death.
He had top 30 finishes in each of the three majors he teed up in – T29 in the 1978 Masters, T25 in the 1975 PGA Championship and T22 in the 1968 United States Open. He played in 15 majors between 1968 and 1979.
McLendon posted 43 top 10 PGA finishes and won $541,908 in official prize money.
At LSU, he was also a first-team All-America in 1967 and inducted into the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1970. He was a 2000 inductee into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
At LSU, he was also a first-team All-America in 1967 and inducted into the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1970. He was a 2000 inductee into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
McLendon is survived by his wife, Joan; daughter and son-in-law Amy McLendon McLevaine and Jason McLevaine; grandsons Landon Clark and Garrett Robert McLevaine; and sister, Suzanne McLendon Vickrey.
The funeral will be Friday (July 8) at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church in Vestavia Hills, Alabama with visitation from 10:30 a.m. to Noon, with the service to follow.
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