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Gene Sarazen
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Gene Sarazen (born Eugenio Saraceni) (February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) is one of only five golfers (along with Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tiger Woods) to win all the major championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam:
U.S. Open in 1922, 1932,
PGA Championship in 1922, 1923, 1933,
British Open in 1932, and
The Masters in 1935.
He was born in Harrison, New York and died in Naples, Florida from complications of pneumonia. Sarazen began caddying at age ten at local golf clubs, took up golf himself, and gradually developed his skills; he was essentially self-taught.
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Encyclopedia
Gene Sarazen (born Eugenio Saraceni) (February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) is one of only five golfers (along with Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tiger Woods) to win all the major championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam:
U.S. Open in 1922, 1932,
PGA Championship in 1922, 1923, 1933,
British Open in 1932, and
The Masters in 1935.
He was born in Harrison, New York and died in Naples, Florida from complications of pneumonia. Sarazen began caddying at age ten at local golf clubs, took up golf himself, and gradually developed his skills; he was essentially self-taught. He used the somewhat unusual, at the time, interlocking grip to hold the club.
Sarazen won his first major championships -- the 1922 U.S. Open and PGA Championship -- at age 20. He was a contemporary and great rival of Bobby Jones, who was born in the same year.
The winner of 39 PGA Tournaments, Gene Sarazen was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He was the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1932, a charter member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (1974), and won the PGA Tour's first Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.
He played on six U.S. Ryder Cup teams: 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, and 1937.
Sarazen invented the modern sand wedge and debuted the club at the British Open at Prince's Golf Club in 1932 (which he won). He called it the sand iron and his original club is still on display at Prince's. There had been previous sand-specific clubs, but Sarazen's innovation was to weld solder onto the lower back of the club, building up the flange so that it sat lower than the leading edge when soled. The flange, not the leading edge, would contact the sand first, and explode sand as the shot was played. The additional weight provided punch to power through the thick sand. Sarazen's new developed technique with the new club was to contact the sand a couple of inches behind the ball, not actually contacting the ball at all. Every top-class golfer since has utilized this wedge design and technique.
Sarazen hit "The shot heard 'round the world" in the 1935 Masters Tournament. It was a final round 235-yard 4-wood on the par-5 15th hole that went in, giving him a very rare albatross 2 on the hole. He trailed the leader by three shots at the time, and made them up all at once. It led to his later winning the tournament in a playoff over Craig Wood. At the time of his second shot a check for $1,500, the winning prize, had already been written to Craig Wood.
In spite of his height – he only stood tall – Sarazen could hit the ball a very long way, even when compared with larger, stronger players. As a multiple past champion, he was eligible to continue competing after his best years were past, and occasionally did so in the top events, well into the 1960s, and occasionally into the 1970s. Throughout his life, Sarazen competed wearing knickers or plus-fours, which were the fashion when he broke into the top level.
For many years after his retirement, Sarazen was a familiar figure as an honorary starter at the Masters. From 1981-1999, he joined Byron Nelson and Sam Snead in hitting a ceremonial tee shot before each Masters tournament. He also popularized the sport with his role as a commentator on the Wonderful World of Golf television show.
At the age of 71, Sarazan made a hole-in-one at the 1973 British Open Championship.
In 1992, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.
Asked how to say his name, he told the Literary Digest "Veteran Gene Sarazen/ Aims to play par again": . (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)
Sarazen had what is still the longest-running endorsement contract in professional sports - with Wilson Sporting Goods from 1923 until his death, a total of 75 years.
In 2000, Sarazen was ranked as the 11th greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.
PGA Tour wins (39)
- 1922 (3) Southern (Spring) Open, U.S. Open, PGA Championship
- 1923 (1) PGA Championship
- 1925 (1) Metropolitan Open
- 1926 (1) Miami Open
- 1927 (3) Long Island Open, Miami Open, Metropolitan PGA
- 1928 (4) Miami Beach Open, Miami Open, Nassau Bahamas Open, Metropolitan PGA
- 1929 (2) Miami Open, Miami Beach Open
- 1930 (8) Miami Open, Agua Caliente Open, Florida West Coast Open, Concord Country Club Open, United States Pro Invitational, Western Open, Lannin Memorial Tournament, Middle Atlantic Open
- 1931 (3) Florida West Coast Open, La Gorce Open, Lannin Memorial Tournament
- 1932 (4) True Temper Open, Coral Gables Open, U.S. Open, British Open
- 1933 (1) PGA Championship
- 1935 (3) The Masters, Massachusetts Open, Long Island Open
- 1937 (2) Florida West Coast Open, Chicago Open
- 1938 (1) Lake Placid Open
- 1941 (1) Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Ben Hogan)
(missing one win)
Major championships are shown in bold.
Source:
Other wins
this list may be incomplete
Senior wins
- 1954 PGA Seniors' Championship
- 1958 PGA Seniors' Championship
Major championships
Wins (7)
| Year | Championship | 54 Holes | Winning Score | Margin | Runner(s)-up |
|---|
1922 | U.S. Open | 4 shot deficit | 8 (72-73-75-68=288) 1 stroke | Bobby Jones | 1922 | PGA Championship | n/a | 4 & 3 | n/a | Emmet French | 1923 | PGA Championship (2) | n/a | 38 holes | n/a | Walter Hagen | 1932 | U.S. Open (2) | 1 shot deficit | 6 (74-76-70-66=286) 3 strokes | Bobby Cruickshank, Phil Perkins | 1932 | The Open Championship | 4 shot lead | (70-69-70-74=283) | 5 strokes | Macdonald Smith | 1933 | PGA Championship (3) | n/a | 5 & 4 | n/a | Willie Goggin | 1935 | The Masters | 3 shot deficit | Playoff 1 | Craig Wood |
Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958
1 Defeated Craig Wood in 36-hole playoff - Sarazen (144), Wood (149)
Results timeline
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF, F = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
See also
External links
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