Gay Brewer
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Gay Robert Brewer, Jr. (born March 19, 1932) is a former American professional golfer on the PGA Tour who won the 1967 Masters Tournament.
Brewer was born in Middletown, Ohio. Raised in Lexington, Kentucky, as an amateur, Gay Brewer, Jr. won the Kentucky State Boys Golf Championship three times from 1949 to 1951. In 1949 he also won the United States Boys Junior Amateur Golf Championship, the most prestigious amateur event for golfers under the age of eighteen. In 1952 won the Southern Amateur Golf Championship. Playing on the professional PGA Tour, in 1965 Gay Brewer, Jr. won the Hawaiian Open, the first ever PGA event held in that state. At the 1966 Masters Tournament, he bogeyed the final hole to finish in a three-way tie for the lead after regulation play but ended up finishing third to Jack Nicklaus following an 18-hole playoff. He came back to win the prestigious event the next year, scoring a one stroke victory over lifelong friend Bobby Nichols in the first live television broadcast of a golf tournament from the United States to Europe. He went on to become a member of the 1967 Ryder Cup winning team. That same year at the Pensacola Open he set a PGA Tour record for the best 54-hole total on a par-72 course. His score of 25-under par is a record that still stands almost forty years later. In the direct opposite vein, at the 1969 Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic he tied the record for a player having the largest lead with 18 holes to play and then losing.
Gay Brewer, Jr.'s 1966 performances earned him the Golf Digest Most Improved Golfer award and his 1967 performances earned him the cover of the August 7th issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. He won the 1972 Canadian Open and was again part of the U.S. team that won the 1973 Ryder Cup. Overall, Brewer was victorious in eleven tour events during his career. He joined the PGA's Senior's tour and won the 1984 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf tournament with Billy Casper and at age sixty-three he won the 1995 MasterCard Champions Championship.
In 2006, Gay Brewer, Jr. was voted to the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame.
[edit] PGA Tour wins (11)
- 1961 (3) Carling Open Invitational, Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational, West Palm Beach Open Invitational
- 1963 (1) Waco Turner Open Invitational
- 1965 (2) Greater Seattle Open Invitational, Hawaiian Open
- 1966 (1) Pensacola Open Invitational
- 1967 (2) Pensacola Open Invitational, The Masters
- 1972 (1) Canadian Open
(missing one win?)
Major championship is shown in bold.
[edit] Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | T11 | CUT | T25 | CUT | 3 | 1 | T35 | CUT |
| U.S. Open | DNP | CUT | 5 | CUT | T5 | 16 | T36 | T38 | T9 | CUT |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT | T6 | 15 |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | CUT | T49 | 8 | T28 | 27 | T28 | T20 | T25 |
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T31 | CUT | DNP | T10 | CUT | CUT | T23 | CUT | T29 | CUT |
| U.S. Open | 7 | T9 | T25 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | 26 | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | T32 | DNP | DNP | T10 | 38 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | CUT | DNP | T7 | T64 | T17 | T33 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | CUT | T15 | 45 | 47 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | WD |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | WD |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|
| The Masters | CUT | WD |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10
